Thrice Blessed
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Allan Pulker - The Whole Note– Cover Story
February 1 - March 7 2007

TSO double bass player Tim Dawson is the driving force behind the Bach Consort whose February 23 performance of Bach’s B-minor Mass is to be conducted by the young Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Nézet-Séguin. Tim tells me, has recently been appointed Valery Gergiev’s successor with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. “This is one of the highest profile positions ever offered to a Canadian-born conductor” Tim says. “Those of us who have heard Yannick’s concerts or have been lucky enough to work with him know that he is on track to becoming one of the world’s great conductors.”

I have heard him in Toronto twice, first the Bach Consort in a performance of the Christmas Oratorio and subsequently the TSO in October 2004 when he stepped in at the last minute, replacing an ailing Emmanuel Krivine, to conduct an all Russian program which included Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Consequently I knew he was good, but…the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Valery Gergiev’s successor…totally amazing !

WholeNote readers have three opportunities in February to hear Nézet-Séguin: as operatic conductor of the COC’s Faust, opening February 1; as collaborative pianist with baritone Alexander Dobson in Schubert’s Winterreise at the Heliconian Hall on February 3; and, as mentioned, with the Bach Consort on February 23.

I connected with Nézet-Séguin during a Faust rehearsal break.

AP: Since we’re here, let’s begin with opera. Traditionally in Europe young conductors begin their careers conducting opera and move on to symphony orchestras. Surely conducting opera is more difficult than conducting symphonic music – there are just so many more things to take into consideration – soloists, a chorus, entrances and exits, timing etc. Why is this challenging art form the beginning rather than the pinnacle ?

YNS: I think it has to do with the human voice, because it is the primary instrument that other instruments try to imitate. You can start conducting opera, but choral music can also be the start, as it was for me. Yes, starting with opera is a tough school, but it’s the best because it always reminds me to breathe, to go with the flow of the phrase and to be reminded that the strings must always listen to the woodwind solos. I tend to apply what I know from opera to my symphonic conducting. The opposite can be dangerous, because symphonic conducting can be very calculated, but opera is all about the moment and taking risks.

AP: How do you like conducting in the new opera house ?

YNS: Very much ! So far I’ve only had the piano in the pit with the singers on stage, and still it’s magical – a magical place ! I can hardly wait until we have all the elements there. I feel really honoured to be part of the first season. The COC is a great company, and across the country people are proud of it and all that has been achieved, both artistically and also, of course, the new opera house.

AP: Do you plan to continue conducting opera ?

YNS: Oh yes ! I need it. What I am trying to do is conduct one or two operas a season to achieve a balance of about 60% symphonic and 40% opera.

AP: Another performance coming up for you in February is the B-minor Mass with the Bach Consort, your third performance with them. I have the impression that there is a great warmth in your relationship with them.

YNS: I have conducted the B-Minor Mass before with the Chapelle de Montréal, which I founded when I was very young. I am very happy to collaborate with the Bach Consort, which is a very unusual organization. We have developed a relationship, and I now know everyone; I think we do better music when we know each other more. Baroque music is very important to me, especially Bach. It’s a bit like opera – if I don’t do it I feel deprived!

AP: As Tim Dawson pointed out, you have risen very high in the conducting firmament. What advice do you have for aspiring young Canadian conductors who hope to follow your example ?

YN-S: I think I owe a great deal to the trust people have put in me – managers, audience, broadcasters, the press and especially the musicians. I didn’t have to go elsewhere to show that I could do something, and that’s maybe a change of mentality in Canada. Of course, when someone puts their trust in you, it’s up to you to meet their expectations. I am often disappointed to hear people in their teens say that it’s their dream to make a career in music but it’s so difficult they might as well do something else. It’s a reasonable idea, but once you start with it, there’s no way, because it undermines the will to make the sacrifices that are needed and the drive to just do it.

AP: On February 3 you are performing Die Winterreise with Alexander Dobson. How did this come about and where does performing as a collaborative pianist fit into your career plans ?

YNS: We rehearsed yesterday. This has been a dream. Alex and I got to know each other when I was working for Montreal Opera and he was in the studio as an apprentice. Alex sang Winterreise a few years ago but I’ve never done it. Since he now lives in the Toronto area and I am here for a few weeks we said “Why not ?” It’s wonderful for me as a pianist to do a few projects each season. It’s good for my musical health to be back at the keyboard. As a conductor you’re always asking everyone else to make music, so making music myself keeps me in touch with the process of making the connection between what you want to achieve and actually doing it. Also, when you’re working with the voice there’s the text which can open some doors to understanding the composer’s other music.

AP: This is interesting in relation to what you said about musical instruments as extensions of the voice, as imitating the voice. When you’re performing, is this what you are trying to do with the piano ?

YNS: It’s interesting you mention this, because when I was a young student I was seeing the piano as a symphonic instrument, so I was playing very big and very loud – not harsh, because my teacher was very good ! Now my playing has changed so much, because I am hearing the piano more as a human voice.

AP: I interviewed Spanish conductor Jesús Amigo in the November WholeNote. He pointed out that aspiring conductors are faced with a “catch-22” situation: they need an instrument (an orchestra) to practise on but no orchestra wants to be used for practice. They want you after you have practised ! How did you get past this hurdle ?

YNS: As a pianist I had a great advantage of the understanding of harmony but a great disadvantage of not having played in an orchestra, so I had to create opportunities just to observe. Choral conducting was where I really learned to stand in front of people and make the music happen, but of course there’s so much more to it than just that. It requires a lot of knowledge. You need to know about the instruments, about bowing. What is really important to me is to be as wide open as possible to every aspect of music – history, analysis, the voice, repertoire and psychology. Giulini used to say the important thing is not the gesture but what’s in your mind. If your mind is really clear, then your gestures will be clear. But it’s not only knowing what you want to achieve but it’s knowing how to keep conducting as a relationship, learning to balance what I want to achieve with identifying what needs to be done to get there. The only way I have of getting around this is to work and work and work to be as prepared as I possibly can. It’s never finished – you always wish you were more prepared ! The thing is to be convinced that this is the way so that you can convince others; above all what this requires is to be sincere and to be open to the others. Otherwise it’s a one-way relationship.


AP: I understand you wanted to be a conductor at a very young age. What attracted you then? Have your reasons changed since then ?

YNS: At the age of ten I knew I wanted to be a conductor, but I had no idea why. It felt like a call, something I had to do, a tremendous attraction. For me now it’s about the balance between the very individual work of studying the scores and the very gregarious work of making music with other people. That contrast is what I enjoy. When I am with the musicians it is very important to create an atmosphere, an ambience, of work – not that we’re doing this because we have to but because we want to. Then the music is so different.

AP: The Orchestre Métropolitain de Grand Montréal was a real break that enabled you to establish yourself as an orchestral conductor. What goals did you set when you began there and to what extent have you succeeded in achieving those goals?

YNS: The Orchestre Métropolitain was the big example of people putting their trust in me. I could never have imagined that at 25 I would become the music director of an important organization in Montreal, my home town. We have done good work together over the past seven years. The place and the mission of the orchestra and their playing are all better than when I began and beyond what I expected. I enjoy the orchestra very much and it will always remain very close to my heart. So, even with Rotterdam I don’t plan to leave it. What I wanted to do was to secure the personality of the orchestra, its identity through the character of the music-making and its sound.

AP: Can you say a little about that personality ?

YNS: I am always searching in concert for the intensity of the playing. Yes, the beauty of the sound, the accuracy, but above all, the risk-taking and the electricity in the performance. I don’t say that we succeed every time, but we’re trying to create that special energy.

AP: Will you be looking for more of the same in Rotterdam ?

YNS: Absolutely ! It’s an orchestra with such a drive, it’s incredible. They’re extremely virtuosic, extremely proud and there’s a raw energy there which is incomparable. It’s extraordinary, and I’m so much looking forward to this.

Meanwhile we WholeNote readers are thrice blessed — three gloriously various opportunities to acquaint ourselves with Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s work this month. You can be sure such opportunities will be rarer for us as he continues his rise.