The light is still warm on this summery September 18 in Montreal, the terraces packed and the rue Sainte-Catherine black with people. Place des Arts, the Maison symphonique is preparing to receive the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) and its musical director, the Venezuelan Rafael Payare. A high-end poster: after the piano concertoby Schumann, by Daniil Trifonov, the fantastic symphonyby Berlioz, two works that, among other things, will appear in the program of the European tour scheduled for November 19 to 30, one of whose stages will stop on November 22 at the Paris Philharmonic.
In the OSM’s luggage, two magnificent gilt bronze bells – the notes G and C –, which the public will hear in the I dream of a Saturday night Berlioziano. Blonde and curvy, pampered like beauty queens, “They will also be part of the journey”says Sébastien Almon, director of artistic operations and international development at the OSM.
The link between Quebec musicians and Europe is not anecdotal, as recalled by maestro Kent Nagano, who was stationed in Montreal from 2006 to 2020. “The orchestra has never broken with its European rootsunderlines. When French is your primary language, there is inevitably an impact on phrasing, sound and breathing. Musically, this translates into a certain flexibility and a particular sense of color, which, combined with the well-known precision and efficiency of North American phalanxes, make the OSM unique. » Same observation for maestro Rafael Payare, who arrived in 2021, who appreciated the tasty alloy of his first concert in 2018 “virtuosity, flexibility and transparency” of 92 musicians, as well as the breadth of their repertoire.
Historical directory
If there is anyone who is delighted with this upcoming outing, it is solo bass trombonist Pierre Beaudry. At 63 years old, the Quebecer who joined the WSO in 1982 has seen the quarter century of Charles Dutoit (1978-2002), the fourteen years of Kent Nagano (2006-2020) and, for two years, he has taken possession of Rafael Payare. . With the first, a period of great emotion. “In the 70s, we did three tours a year – more than thirty between 1981 and 2000 – and we “recorded” like crazy”he confesses, highlighting the numerous recordings (more than 80) made by the OSM under the direction of the Swiss conductor.
At that time, the musicians performed in the Wilfrid-Pelletier hall, a multifunctional space with nearly 3,000 seats named after one of the founders of the orchestra, created on November 16, 1934. La Maison symphonique, designed by the Architect Jack Diamond, whose 2,000-seat auditorium, clad in 70% Canadian blonde beech wood from Outaouais and 175 rubber insulating pads, has offered excellent acoustics since 2011, will change their lives. Pierre Beaudry savors its functionality and elegance, as on these rehearsal days when he arrives at 7:30 a.m., while the collective work begins at 10 a.m. “I start with lunchsaid, Then I take my instrument. Completely alone in my workspace, I feel a bit like M. de Sainte-Colombe in his music room, in the movie. Every morning in the world [1991]by Alain Corneau. »
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