As the arrival of spring was only gently announcing itself in Montreal, the stage at the Maison symphonique erupted with the raw, throbbing pulse of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a performance that felt less like a welcoming of the season and more like its primal awakening.
The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal finished up a CD project by recording the Stravinsky at this concert. The augmented time and focus clearly invested in preparation clearly paid off with a rendition that sizzled with raw energy. The OSM fully exploited Stravinsky's revolutionary use of tone colours, thereby attaining a level of transparency rarely achieved in the countless other performances of this masterpiece. Stéphane Lévesque's playing of the unaccompanied bassoon opening was gorgeous, maintaining a beautiful tone quality even in his instrument's uppermost range. One could argue that such a mellifluous approach does not evoke the tense, nasal quality of traditional Lithuanian village singing that Stravinsky wanted this solo to depict; nonetheless it was a stunning display of bassoon virtuosity.
Some instruments less used to the spotlight take on crucial roles in this ballet music, such as alto flute (Albert Brouwer), bass clarinet (André Moisan), English horn (Pierre-Vincent Plante) and timpani (Andrei Malashenko). All these players came through with flying colours. Conductor Rafael Payare kept a firm hand on the reins; only rarely did the OSM's decibel level skew the overall balance. To fully elicit its atavistic character, this music calls for an intensity that springs not from sheer power, but from the harnessing of that power.
The Stravinsky was by no means the sole highlight of the evening. Former Montrealer Bruce Liu's craftsmanship in Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto was world class. Even in densely orchestrated sections, Liu could always be heard – displaying the heft of Yefim Bronfman. The first movement cadenza was played with ephebic exuberance interspersed with some introspective pianississimo material. In his encore, Debussy's ensorcelling Rêverie, Liu's interpretation revealed profound insights that belied his youth.
The concert had begun with the premiere of Québecois composer Denis Gougeon's La Traversée. The work is comprised of a series of instrumental dialogues, the most interesting of which was between two disparate members of the woodwind family, the piccolo (Christopher James) and the contrabassoon (Michael Sundell). This sold out concert was testament to Rafael Payare's drawing power, attracting a notably younger demographic. It's no wonder that the OSM announced this week that its Music Director's contract has been extended through to the 2031-32 season.
