What to call the opening last night of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra season? That's what Paul and I -- well at least I -- asked myself last night. Paul actually fell asleep at the end of the first piece. His deep sonorous, (or was it snoring?) breathing at the end of the first piece pulled me into action as I had to elbow him to wake up! Concert does not quite describe what we saw, although a concerted effort it certainly was, indoors, outdoors, on radio, television and the Internet, and featuring what one presumes was the first performance led by a real-time holographic image of Kent Nagano.
The outdoor folks got that eye-popping premiere, on the vacant northeast corner of Place des Arts, so I cannot testify to the calibre of the technology or how Mozart's Adagio and Fugue sounded as played by student musicians on loan from the Conservatoire and the Universite de Montreal. Paul and I paid to watch the indoor part of the concert. This is something Paul prefers because he can easily order Hagen Daas ice cream during the intermission.
The outdoor folks got that eye-popping premiere, on the vacant northeast corner of Place des Arts, so I cannot testify to the calibre of the technology or how Mozart's Adagio and Fugue sounded as played by student musicians on loan from the Conservatoire and the Universite de Montreal. Paul and I paid to watch the indoor part of the concert. This is something Paul prefers because he can easily order Hagen Daas ice cream during the intermission.
I can report the evening succeeded as an occasion, and one that, happily, did not subsume the music.
It all started outdoors, a little after sunset, with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as performed for a crowd of about 3,500 by pianist Alain Lefvre, the student orchestra and the genuine, corporeal Nagano. The effect of Gershwin's masterpiece of urban romance, as dusk settled and the lights of Complexe Desjardins where the jazz festival outdoor concerts are held.
People could watch the stage or a video image on the exterior wall of Salle Wilfrid Pelletier.
Nagano then rushed indoors to conduct the MSO. There were some unexpected visuals here, too, as a backdrop projection of the Montreal skyline alternated with more abstract images, for the benefit of the television and Internet transmissions. A cherry-picker camera, photographers and 3 other television cameras lent further weirdness to the setting.
Amid all this emerged the famous opening (think 2001 A Space Odyssey) of Strauss's Sprach Zarathustra. The MSO account caught my ear, and kept it, though Strauss's alternately rapturous, mordant and comic reflections on Nietzsche and the progress of man seemed to send Paul into either a rapturous or mordant or comic sleep.
Still, this did not have the polish of a top-notch MSO performance, which might be forthcoming in the repeat of the concert tonight (which will be without, as we Catholics say, the smells and bells... as the outdoor portion will not be repeated tonight). It should be noted an extra element was added to the debate between the B Major woodwinds and the C Major double basses at the end: A cellphone siding with the woodwinds. I can't get over it -- the last two concerts I have gone to has had a cell phone ring during the most quiet of moments!
After intermission (during which Nagano conducted Samuel Barber's Adagio, outdoors) we heard the Mozart, with Nagano dressed in a white suit that would not disgrace Sammy Davis Jr. - this was necessary for the holographic transmission for the outside concert goers. He was back in black tails as contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux took to the stage for three Mozart arias. Non so piu, from The Marriage of Figaro. Ms. Lemieux was as pregnant as can be without breaking water on stage. With each note the baby would take a new position -- I was not alone, as many of us looked away from her on the high notes, expecting perhaps a spontaneous birth on a sustained high-C.
Then Nagano concluded with Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel, a comic masterpiece full of pictorial elements. The pace and the atmosphere were both relaxed. But the story behind it will tell you what passes for "humor" in Strauss's time: it details a pixie, who disguises himself as a priest and makes fun of God, and ends up being very worried about his transgression. Listening to the music, which has no words, brought none of this out, but if you read the program notes, you'd be informed... Anyways, it is a good piece of music and it was not a bad way to end a very busy and frenetic evening.
It all started outdoors, a little after sunset, with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as performed for a crowd of about 3,500 by pianist Alain Lefvre, the student orchestra and the genuine, corporeal Nagano. The effect of Gershwin's masterpiece of urban romance, as dusk settled and the lights of Complexe Desjardins where the jazz festival outdoor concerts are held.
People could watch the stage or a video image on the exterior wall of Salle Wilfrid Pelletier.
Nagano then rushed indoors to conduct the MSO. There were some unexpected visuals here, too, as a backdrop projection of the Montreal skyline alternated with more abstract images, for the benefit of the television and Internet transmissions. A cherry-picker camera, photographers and 3 other television cameras lent further weirdness to the setting.
Amid all this emerged the famous opening (think 2001 A Space Odyssey) of Strauss's Sprach Zarathustra. The MSO account caught my ear, and kept it, though Strauss's alternately rapturous, mordant and comic reflections on Nietzsche and the progress of man seemed to send Paul into either a rapturous or mordant or comic sleep.
Still, this did not have the polish of a top-notch MSO performance, which might be forthcoming in the repeat of the concert tonight (which will be without, as we Catholics say, the smells and bells... as the outdoor portion will not be repeated tonight). It should be noted an extra element was added to the debate between the B Major woodwinds and the C Major double basses at the end: A cellphone siding with the woodwinds. I can't get over it -- the last two concerts I have gone to has had a cell phone ring during the most quiet of moments!
After intermission (during which Nagano conducted Samuel Barber's Adagio, outdoors) we heard the Mozart, with Nagano dressed in a white suit that would not disgrace Sammy Davis Jr. - this was necessary for the holographic transmission for the outside concert goers. He was back in black tails as contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux took to the stage for three Mozart arias. Non so piu, from The Marriage of Figaro. Ms. Lemieux was as pregnant as can be without breaking water on stage. With each note the baby would take a new position -- I was not alone, as many of us looked away from her on the high notes, expecting perhaps a spontaneous birth on a sustained high-C.
Then Nagano concluded with Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel, a comic masterpiece full of pictorial elements. The pace and the atmosphere were both relaxed. But the story behind it will tell you what passes for "humor" in Strauss's time: it details a pixie, who disguises himself as a priest and makes fun of God, and ends up being very worried about his transgression. Listening to the music, which has no words, brought none of this out, but if you read the program notes, you'd be informed... Anyways, it is a good piece of music and it was not a bad way to end a very busy and frenetic evening.
He's such a good conductor... i think that Charles got a good replacement! I miss going to concerts with you Dad! -maureen
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