In Canada, vagabond hockey teams comprised of retired NHL greats draw huge crowds wherever they play. Adapting that concept, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal invited back three musical dynamos, all of whom had earned a first place victory in an OSM Competition. However these three are a long way from being past their prime. Violinist Blake Pouliot (2016 winner), cellist Bryan Cheng (2019) and pianist Angela Hewitt (1975) joined forces for a performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto.
Prior to the main event, French conductor Laurence Equilbey led the OSM in Beethoven's Coriolan Overture. Aside from an unfortunate mishap just prior to the conclusion, the orchestra offered a well honed reading. Anomalously, there was absolutely no crescendo on the tied whole notes followed by a staccato quarter note motif that is oft stated in this overture. Although the score does not indicate a crescendo on those tied whole notes, the intensity, if not the volume, is usually ratcheted up, but not in this interpretation, arguably with stultifying consequences. In general, a more dramatic and passionate reading would have been welcomed. Perhaps the OSM players were jet-lagged from their recent European tour, or they were weakened by the absence of a sizeable contingent of their top tier members who sat out this concert.
Fortunately the evening's three soloists brought phenomenal energy and commitment to the Triple Concerto. Cheng's passionate lyricism was a standout and Pouliot followed suit when the solo line was handed off to him. Beethoven wrote the solo piano part for one of his patrons who was an accomplished but not virtuosic pianist; nonetheless the legendary Hewitt, who has quite possibly eclipsed fellow Canadian Glenn Gould as the premier interpreter of Bach's keyboard works, maximized the expressiveness and emotional impact of her role.
All three soloists spontaneously responded to one another's phrasings, very much in the moment. Unfortunately the orchestra did not jump on board and provided a somewhat pedestrian accompaniment. At the start of the first movement, the melodic line shared by the double basses and second violins went off the rails, likely due in no small part to the acoustical shortcomings of the venue. Fortunately the ebullient contributions of Pouliot, Cheng and Hewitt saved the day; this evening's performance of the Triple Concerto undeniably electrified the audience.
Louise Farrenc's Symphony no. 1 in C minor rounded out the program, a work that is currently very much in vogue in North America. Despite some awkwardly orchestrated inner passages, it is a sublime composition that sublimely exemplifies French romanticism. In the Adagio cantabile, Equilbey and the OSM collaborated on some exquisitely crafted lyrical passages; the woodwinds in general, and principal flutist Albert Brouwer in particular, were outstanding in this regard. Montrealers would no doubt enjoy hearing their orchestra's account of Farrenc's other symphonies in the near future.
