National is back

« Symphonie de Bizet caracolante ».

« La Tragédie de Salomé de Florent Schmitt, clou de la soirée, est sulfureuse et l’imaginaire saturé de couleurs jusque dans sa frayeur conclusive. Il est admirable d’entendre cette phalange retrouver ses timbres et équilibres dans son répertoire sous une direction aussi inspirée ».

Musique française au National

Avec à sa tête un chef québécois de trente-trois ans, le National n’en a pas moins joué un programme typique de ceux qu’il aurait pu donner dans les années 1950 – ou du moins de l’idée qu’on peut s’en faire –, entièrement consacré à la musique française. Avec une gestuelle nerveuse et extravertie qui rappelle celle d’Emmanuel Krivine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin confère l’élan nécessaire à la juvénile Symphonie en ut (1855) de Bizet.

(…) D’une baguette plus transparente que capiteuse, animant la partition avec un grand sens dramatique, Nézet-Séguin fait ressortir en quoi cette musique (La Tragédie de Salomé de Stravinski) renvoie bien plus à Debussy ou Ravel qu’à Strauss, dont la Salomé n’est antérieure que de deux ans.

Éloge et défense de la musique française

A trente-trois ans, le chef québécois Yannick Nézet-Séguin, est une étoile montante de la direction d’orchestre. Outre son activité à la tête de l’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, il assure les fonctions de Chef principal invité au Philharmonique de Londres et vient de succéder à Valery Gergiev à Rotterdam. Sa réputation n’est pas un leurre à en juger par sa prestation au TCE avec l’Orchestre National de France. Dynamique, il insuffle à la Symphonie en ut de Bizet, composée par un jeune homme de dix-sept ans, une verve, un élan, un éclat orchestral qui va même parfois au-delà du caractère de cette œuvre aux parfums subtils mais non insistants. …

En deuxième partie, La Tragédie de Salomé, op. 50 de Florent Schmitt (1870-1958), bien moins connue que les œuvres précédentes, retrouve ses lettres de noblesse, sous la baguette claire et précise de Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Créée en 1909, elle ne doit qu’au relatif oubli dans lequel est tombé le compositeur (des propos antisémites y sont peut-être pour quelque chose) le peu d’intérêt qui lui est porté au concert. Pourtant, l’opulence orchestrale, la luxuriance des couleurs, l’impact dramatique, l’orientalisme sublimé en font une partition de tout premier ordre dont Stravinsky d’ailleurs s’inspira. L’Orchestre National se déchaîne (Danse des éclairs, Danse de l’effroi) sous l’impulsion énergique d’un chef dont on n’a pas fini d’entendre parler.

“Yannick made it clear once more that he can excel in repertoire (L’oiseau de feu de Stravinsky) that seemed to exist in only one version in Rotterdam (Gergiev’s).”

“Yannick found a lot of interesting details in the accompaniment (Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto) but kept the orchestra in perfect balance with the soloist. He reminded me in this way of the young Simon Rattle, also a conductor who treats his accompaniments seriously and enjoys to make music together.”

“Again (in Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye), Yannick showed his total command by highlighting certain details, relishing every phrase.”

“To conclude: this was an immensely inspiring and rewarding concert.”

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Surprises Again

Even though Yannick Nézet-Séguin led several concerts before he made his official debut as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra two weeks ago, his repertoire and his conducting style keep surprising.

His last concert was full of 'fireworks' and ended with an already 'historic' rendering of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, which was performed with unbridled energy in the style of Carlos Kleiber. The concert will be released on CD.

Last weekend, the concert in de Doelen had a much more subdued character, with music by Stravinsky (Firebird Second Suite) Prokofiev (Second Violin Concerto) and Ravel (Ma mère l'oye). The program consisted of music composed in a period of 25 years: 1909-1935, one half of the concert Russian music, the other half French.

Nézet-Séguin dedicated the French part to Jean Fournet, who died earlier this month and who was Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 1968-1973. And again the new Canadian Music Director surprised with his almost accentless Dutch.

Subtlety and refined colours characterized this music that often had a chamber music-like character. It was brilliantly performed and with constant tension.
The Russian-American concertmaster Igor Gruppman [...] excelled in Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, which he performed with sensuous lyricism and refined virtuosity. Sometimes his violin sounded like a flight of warbling birds high in a blue sky.

Combined with Stravinsky's Firebird and the chirping sounds in Ravel's wonderfully performed  Ma mère l'oye it was as if birds were the theme of the concert.

But there wore no birds at all in Les offrandes oubliées of bird composer Messiaen. This only 10-minute-long 'symphonic meditation' is typical of the religious composer: two thoughtful slow movements (The Cross and The Eucharist) separated by a vehement, shocking movement: The Sin.

(…) Nézet-Séguin sait exactement l’espace qu’il peut accorder en délectation amoureuse aux instruments à cordes, sans jamais perdre le fil conducteur. Avec de puissants mouvements qui entraînent tout son corps, il maintient une courte bride sur les musiciens, force chaque instrument à atteindre la précision et impose sa conception contemporaine de la musique en 3 dimensions.

(…) le ballet Jeux de Debussy , qui a été composé, comme un match de tennis, avec de nombreux rebondissements, Nézet-Séguin ne s’en tient pas aux gestes de politesse habituels. Il dirige sans qu’il y ait de subtilités érotiques ni d’élégants mouvements des joueurs portant des collants d’époque. Le chef  conçoit plutôt l’oeuvre, terminée en 1912, comme un sport de haute voltige avec des services difficiles exécutés en plein soleil du midi. Les trompettes retentissent comme des rayons de soleil éblouissants. Devant l’extrême luminosité des cordes jouant à l’unisson, on ferme instinctivement les yeux pour éviter d’être aveuglé. Il en est de même pour la célèbre deuxième suite du ballet pastoral Daphnis et Chloé de Ravel qui ne se perd pas dans les dédales des époques antiques ou rococo, mais au contraire, fait ressortir des détails fascinants et devient presque une composition contemporaine. Déjà dans le mouvement intitulé Lever du Jour , il semble que chaque cri de l’oiseau matinal qu’évoque le désordre sonore des bois proclame une force vitale irrésistible. La Danse générale qui conclut le tout, dans lequel les maîtres anciens comme Riccardo Chailly entendaient les premiers échos de l’écroulement de notre monde, est ici transformée chez Nézet-Séguin en extase de sons et de rythmes. La vie étant tellement belle et immodérée lorsque l’on a 30 ans.

Nézet-Séguin is praised in Berlin

Orchestre Métropolitain music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin has created a sensation in Berlin with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester - the ensemble Kent Nagano gave up to accept the MSO's directorship. "The music world has a new hero," lauded Klaus Geitel in the Berliner Morgenpost. He praised the conductor's "temperament, energy and penetration" in Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini as well as his "descriptive" baton technique. Geitel also had positive words for Debussy's ballet Jeux (the orchestra played "most beautifully") and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2. The Danse générale of the latter had "breathtaking force." Lisa Batiashvili was the soloist in this Friday concert, in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine remarked on the huge ovation that followed the Ravel blockbuster and called the conductor "Das Wunder Yannick" - an apparent reference to a nickname of the iconic 20th-century German conductor, Herbert von Karajan. While Nézet-Séguin was not conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, he was leading the DSO in the Berlin Philharmonie, a hall Karajan had a role in designing. The Allgemeine critic also reported on the presence of Nézet-Séguin's parents in the audience. Another widely read newspaper, Die Welt, carried an interview of the "merry, compact" Canadian, whose name apparently suggests Breton origins. The author of this interview, Manuel Brug, discusses his lively podium style and recalls his success at the immensely prestigious Salzburg summer festival. Brug points out that Nézet-Séguin has worked since 2000 with the OM in "in the shadow of its big brother," the MSO. This was an advantageous situation, since he could deepen his knowledge and extend his range without "big-city scrutiny."

Music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, Nézet-Séguin is adding many prestigious orchestras to his guest-conducting schedule. In December, he conducts in Paris (Orchestre National de France), Philadelphia (Philadelphia Orchestra) and Vienna (Vienna Symphony).

Next season, the 33-year-old Montrealer will make his debut with the Munich Philharmonic, an orchestra Nagano led last weekend as a guest conductor. Nagano is music director of the cross-town Bavarian State Opera and Bavarian State Orchestra.

L’homme en mouvement
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, la jeune étoile montante, a dirigé le Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester

Ce vendredi, la tignasse du chef d’orchestre canadien Yannick Nézet-Séguin avait des allures audacieuses à la Tintin. Le jeune chef âgé de 33 ans avait l’air d’un poussin sortant de sa coquille. Comme la règle usuelle veut qu’un chef d’orchestre n’atteigne le sommet de son art qu’à partir de soixante-dix ans, Nézet-Séguin apparaît véritablement comme un néophyte. Mais il a déjà fait la preuve de ses nombreuses habilités et le monde international de la grande musique vient de s’en apercevoir.        

À l’été, Nézet-Séguin a pour ainsi dire sauvé le Festival de Salzbourg qui aurait pu sombrer dans l’insignifiance totale. Et ce grâce à son énergie et à son intelligence musicale dans la direction de l’opéra Roméo et Juliette de Charles Gounod. La rumeur s’est répandue comme une traînée de poudre. Voilà pourquoi la salle de la Philharmonie était pleine à craquer. Voilà aussi pourquoi des critiques musicaux de journaux de toute l’Allemagne étaient présents, ce qui ne survient que très rarement, afin d’assister aux débuts de Yannick Nézet-Séguin avec le Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester.       

Le jeune homme s’est révélé un artiste possédant une grande détermination. Une détermination qui sait aussi manœuvrer adéquatement dans les eaux troubles des processus opposés qui se déroulent en concomitance. On sait tous que le poème symphonique de Peter Tchaïkovski intitulé Francesca da Rimini débute par un conflit entre les forces des bourdons « Liegetöne » et les mouvements linéaires, bien que les bourdons aient tendance à exploser occasionnellement dans un soudain et rude feulement. Sous la direction de Yannick Nézet-Séguin, le Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester a réussi de manière excellente à créer cette tension entre l’immobilité et la subtilité du mouvement.

Même lorsque les sonorités de cette oeuvre, orchestrées de façon dure et brusque, déferlaient en mode Forte ou Fortissimo comme un moteur qui tourne à grande vitesse, la tension n’était pas créée par une pression extérieure. Elle était plutôt constituée par l’élaboration de ce que Tchaïkovski a aménagé en son for intérieur : une superposition raffinée de rythmes et de grandes lignes chantées, qui s’articulent selon les règles du langage poétique. Et cela fut très bien compris par les bois (surtout par les clarinettes!) mais aussi par les cordes du Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester.

Le chef d’orchestre Yannick Nézet-Séguin enflamme le Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester

Berlin. Strictement parlant, ce ne sont pas vraiment des débuts. On a déjà entendu le chef d’orchestre Canadien-Français Yannick Nézet-Séguin, âgé de 33 ans, en mars de cette année, diriger l’Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio de Berlin, un bon concert mais qui n’avait pas créé de grands remous. Tout cela se passait avant que ne survienne le « prodige Yannick » à Salzbourg, l’été dernier, lorsque celui-ci, alors illustre inconnu, a brisé l’ennuyeuse monotonie d’une première d’opéra réunissant le gratin dans l’enceinte du manège des Rochers (Felsenreitschule). Dès le lendemain matin, son nom, assez difficile à l’oreille et à la prononciation d’un germanophone, était sur toutes les lèvres. Et ce soir, la salle de la Philharmonie de Berlin était pleine à craquer, même les places rajoutées étaient vendues. Tous les mélomanes que compte cette ville et qui étaient libres ce soir-là s’étaient déplacés, curieux de savoir si le conte de fée allait continuer et si Yannick serait capable de tenir ses promesses.

(…) Au pupitre, la direction d’orchestre est techniquement impeccable. (…) ce concert est comme une fusée qui s’allume étage après étage. Cela s’améliore d’œuvre en œuvre, atteignant des sommets toujours plus élevés au fur et à mesure que le concert avance et que l’on quitte la stratosphère.

(…) Après la pause, le troisième étage de la fusée s’allume comme un feu d’artifice : voici Jeux de Claude Debussy, labyrinthe polyphonique rempli de timbres fous et multicolores. (…) Il y a longtemps que l’on n’a pas entendu le Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester jouer avec une telle limpidité, avec une telle exubérance riche en détails.

(…) La Deuxième suite tirée de Daphnis et Chloé est pure volupté. (…) Les musiciens excités entourent le podium, toute la salle explose et acclame le chef debout.

Le nouveau héros au pupitre s’appelle Nézet-Séguin

Dès le début du concert, on est submergé par la musique du XIXe siècle. Yannick-Nézet-Séguin (âgé de 33 ans), est le jeune chef d’orchestre qui a été proclamé nouvelle super star du festival de Salzbourg. Il ouvre son concert avec la Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester dans la salle de la Philharmonie avec une oeuvre de Tchaïkovski que l’on entend assez peu de nos jours : la fantaisie symphonique inspirée de Dante qui d’abord célèbre Francesca da Rimini, puis la pleure pour finalement l’assommer avec un marteau musical. Nézet-Séguin saisit l’oeuvre et fait magnifiquement montre de sa dextérité au bâton.

C’est un chef d’orchestre qui déborde de tempérament, d’énergie et de détermination. Il transmet de façon impressionnante à l’orchestre la manière dont il doit jouer. Le résultat est tout simplement excellent. Il prend peut-être sa forme la plus belle et la plus accomplie dans Jeux,  oeuvre de Debussy rarement jouée, ballet amoureux créé sur scène par Nijinsky et dansé comme un match de tennis, où les rebonds ressemblent à ceux qu’un Boris Becker offrait à la fin de sa carrière. Chez Debussy également, la balle d’amour se retrouve souvent inexorablement à l’extérieur du terrain.

Par la suite, la féérique Lisa Batiashvili a merveilleusement joué le Second Concerto pour violon de Prokofiev, faisant s’épanouir avec esprit et empathie, particulièrement dans le deuxième mouvement, la beauté de toute la sonorité du violon. Nous avons entendu une violoniste de grand niveau qui, surtout dans le mouvement final, a joué avec virtuosité, volupté et une technique séduisante. Elle l’a encore démontré dans sa sélection du rappel,  extrait ravissant et mélancolique du répertoire de sa patrie géorgienne.

Après ces douces mélodies, ce fut Daphnis et Chloé de Ravel, où la danse générale du Finale a explosé avec une force à couper le souffle sous la direction de Nézet-Séguin. Le monde musical possède maintenant un nouveau héros.

Cet été, il a été consacré comme la star du Festival de Salzbourg et il vient tout juste de succéder à Valery Gergiev à l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam. Lors de sa première apparition avec la Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, les attentes envers Yannick Nézet-Séguin sont très élevées. Devant une salle à guichet fermé de la Philharmonie de Berlin, le jeune Canadien âgé de 33 ans fait son apparition sur scène avec une démarche assurée. Il s’installe au pupitre et il commence à transmettre son énergie à l’orchestre. Sa gestuelle qui incorpore tout l’espace et tout son corps, trouve une dynamique dans le mouvement : en fait, le déploiement des bras n’est pas que du spectacle; il sert à transmettre le pouls inhérent à la musique. Pour Yannick Nézet-Séguin, il en va de même que pour ce qui fut écrit sur le jeune Simon Rattle en 1976, lorsque ce dernier débuta avec le même ensemble (qui s’appelait alors le Radio-Symphonie-Orchester) : « les chefs d’orchestre arrivent, comme les nageurs olympiques, à un perfectionnement technique à un âge toujours plus jeune. Auparavant, ce perfectionnement s’acquérait après de nombreuses années d’expérience et de mise à l’épreuve. » Que ce soit avec Francesca da Rimini de Tchaïkovski, le Second Concerto pour violon de Prokofiev (avec la grandiose Lisa Batiashvili), Jeux de Debussy ou Daphnis et Chloé de Ravel, Nézet-Séguin coordonne avec assurance la multitude de ces nombreuses sonorités. (…)

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, chef d’orchestre canadien, a fait des débuts ambitieux avec beaucoup d’assurance au Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester de Berlin. De toute évidence, il sait exactement ce qu’il veut. Avec une large gestuelle, il demande à l’orchestre un engagement maximum et exige aussi une perfection technique dans un programme composé d’oeuvres aux effets saisissants bien que délicats. La fantaisie symphonique rarement jouée de Peter Tchaïkovski, Francesca da Rimini, demande à la fois brio et expressivité. Les deux ballets de Debussy et de Ravel contiennent par contre de pures sonorités magiques et constituent un véritable test d’endurance pour tous les participants.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin aime la précision, ce qu’on peut clairement constater dans Jeux de Claude Debussy. Le chef d’orchestre aime les jeux rythmiques et réussit à reproduire scintillements et vibrations. Il façonne de merveilleux et souples va-et-vient; partant d’un sourire à peine audible, il intensifie graduellement la tension jusqu’au Finale tonitruant.

(…) dans l’interprétation de Francesca da Rimini de Peter Tchaïkovski, Yannick Nézet-Séguin réussit à faire ressortir les effets sonores de l’oeuvre avec une précision qui donne l’impression d’être calculée au millimètre près. Il gère bien les moments fulgurants avec légèreté et précision : la musique chatoie et mugit. (…)

During the past decades, traditional symphony orchestras have lost terrain to specialists who explore old music on historic instruments and with performance principles. If there is one orchestra in the Netherlands that can regain its versatility in the short term, it is the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. In Yannick Nézet-Séguin they have found a Music Director who is just as much at home with Handel as he is with Stravinsky. Such conductors are rare.

This weekend, the young Canadian started his first Rotterdam season triumphantly with a bouncy suite from Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.
A series of opera arias by Handel revealed the new chief's sense of style as well. Andreas Scholl sang them, and won the audience over.
The complete orchestra was only on stage for five minutes, for a dazzling performance of Stravinsky's symphonic fantasy Feu d'artifice. The evening ended with Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Before the summer, Nézet-Séguin gave a brilliant rendering of Beethoven's Third, with which he proved that he has listened carefully to pioneers such as Brüggen and Harnoncourt. 

The Seventh Symphony was at least as enervating as the Third.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is an All-Round Musician.

Is there any modern symphony orchestra that has had the audacity to perform Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks lately ? For many years now, this baroque high point in music history has been the field of ensembles that have specialized in period performance. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the new Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra has an "authentic" background himself and just as easily transplants this "specialist" music into the big body of his orchestra.

In the festive programme themed "Fireworks" - it was the official start of the chief's tenure in Rotterdam - Nézet-Séguin demonstrated that he walked in very nice modern shoes, but that those shoes have wonderfully bouncy soles.

In Yannick's hands Handel sounded as "authentic" as possible, with well-considered accents in the second violins, for instance, and with that lovely "dropping feeling" that is so important for this music. It was pompous, glorious and perfect, and the orchestra followed him with visible and audible joy.

(...) the small conductor proved his greatness with Stravinsky's Feu d'artifice and especially with Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. In his Beethoven, Nézet-Séguin demonstrated again how much he has learned from period performance. It was almost as if he wanted to surpass his colleagues in their own field. With an unleashed and very keen orchestra he looked for the boundaries of what is possible. The risks he and his orchestra took with their entries, all worked out. Surprising accents and an admirable ear for balance and long lines characterized this wonderful performance. 

This much concentrated energy is rare on the concert stage. The last movement was not only con brio, but also con fuoco and con all kinds of things! It is not often that you hear firecrackers go off like this.

Fireworks of a Daredevil

Handel's opera music is in good hands with Nézet-Séguin. With a little accent here and a small ritardando there he knows exactly how to handle Handel's Sprechgezang, and he effortlessly applies festive colours to the arias performed by an orchestra of baroque strength.

After Stravinsky's Feu d'artifice – exuberant, full of details – it was time for a huge firecracker: Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. You must have been there to know how much energy that piece can radiate. The way Nézet-Séguin raced through the last movement was almost like madness.

The Canadian conductor uses the rhythm to propel the music, and the melody for expressions of tenderness. He is a master of smooth changeovers, but he masters the abrupt ones, like sudden tempo changes or subito pianos, just as well.

If the Rotterdam orchestra is hungering for joy in playing, with Yannick they are at the right address.

Rotterdam Chief Starts with "Fireworks"

Stravinsky's early, short and difficult Feu d'artifice was a spectacular upbeat for an explosive performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The orchestra, and especially the timpanist, was put at hard work with bravura, exuberance, extreme contrasts, big fortissimos and sometimes very sharp rhythms. An unrestrainedly flashy finale made it a real event.

Son goût pour la musique chorale a incité Yannick Nézet-Séguin à monter Elijah de Mendelssohn et à le donner non pas à Maisonneuve mais à Wilfrid-Pelletier. Sage décision: l'événement, lundi soir, avait attiré un peu plus de 2000 personnes, soit davantage que la capacité de Maisonneuve. (…)

Avec cet enthousiasme communicatif qui anime tout ce qu'il touche, Nézet-Séguin a signé avec l'Orchestre Métropolitain, le Choeur de l'OM et les quatre solistes requis une réalisation presque idéale de l'oeuvre, choisissant l'habituelle version en langue anglaise utilisée lors de la création de 1846. À cet égard, aucune réserve, ou presque. Dans le grand vaisseau de W.-P. où règne habituellement l'OSM, le second orchestre de cette ville sonnait comme une formation de premier plan et le Choeur de l'OM chantait tour à tour avec force et subtilité. (…)

Bold programming can take many forms, including the dusting off of Mendelssohn's Elijah, a pious Victorian oratorio that was dismissed as outmoded 50 years ago.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin elicited all its melodrama Monday in Salle Wilfrid Pelletier. Fresh from the opera, the Orchestre Métropolitain played vividly (superb brass). While the OM chorus was not large at 100, and women initially sounded stronger than men, the fugues were robust and the assurances of the angels fell softly on the ear.

The stellar solo quartet, standing between the rear of the orchestra and the front of the choir, was led by Jonathan Lemalu, a rich (...) New Zealand bass who captured the fervour and compassion of the Old Testament prophet. Montreal-born Joseph Kaiser was a ringing tenor and the New Brunswick-born soprano Measha Bruegergosman brought a hot temperament as well as brilliant sound to her solos. Hear ye, Israel, indeed. Lauren Segal, a mellow mezzo, complemented her nicely. The sweet boy soprano was a bonus.

Nézet-Séguin balanced forces expertly, but his real mastery was in supporting the expressive curvature of the score. If no masterpiece - Mendelssohn's harmonic imagination was limited - Elijah has enough contrast and colour in the right hands to hold interest.

(...)

Surprising effects left you longing for more

Try to remember the name: Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Specially prior to week 17, when the French-Canadian 33-year-old returns to the Philharmonics for his fifth visit.

The repeated invitations show that he is already an established name in the business. He is well-known by the audiences who kept applauding him onto the podium. And the musicians know. Their enthusiastic hammering with the bows on the music stands showed everyone´s delight in having outdone themselves, something that happens now and again.

(...) The fascinating thing about Nézet-Séguin is that his movements seem to stem from a detailed studying of the score rather than from the established movements in the record industry. Even when his gestures are wild and spontaneous, they give exact information of how to form a phrase - sound, breathing, climaxes and so on. In spite of the fact that the orchestra on occasion is pressed to the limit of its capability, the result is never vulgar or careless.

(...) By way of caressing the symphony from the orchestra, Nézet-Séguin opened up surprises. A new form of phrasing, very defensible indeed, in the adagio, a remarkably more cocky scherzo and an almost Spanish fire in the finale.

Conducting is a mystical business. You generally know within seconds of the start of a performance if he or she has what it takes to take an orchestra and an audience to that other place where senses are heightened and the air seems to move a little differently.
 
The word has been out on Yannick Nezet-Seguin for a while now but it was the performance of Ravel's La Valse at the start of his first concert as Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic that ill have convinced a lot of people, myself included, of great things to come.
 
The erratic heartbeat at the start of the Ravel drew all ears into a strange nocturnal netherworld where murmuring bass voices grumbled and sighed. The emergence of the once-glorious waltz had the sickly-sweet smell of death about it and in exaggerating the rubatos and agogic hesitations of the familiar Viennese style it was as if Nezet-Seguin was holding a distorting mirror up to the music and showing us its imminent collapse. There was a wonderful moment in solo strings where the suggestion of a private soiree was but a fleeting, flickering, memory. The end was terrible in the best sense - grotesque and shocking. This was the moment Nezet-Seguin arrived.
 
Ace trombonist Christian Lindberg arrived in his customary hurry, signature white shirt flapping in the jet stream. A double-whammy was in the offing. In his own edition of Leopold Mozart's Alto Trombone Concerto a ripe vibrato, wickedly crisp articulation, and even a trill displayed all the agility of a piccolo trumpet. But when he returned in full evening dress to despatch something called Cantos de la Mancha by Jan Sandstrom, suspicions were immediately aroused. Within seconds of commencing a chivalrous fanfare he hurled his trombone to (...)the floor, started screaming at the audience, and ripping at his formal attire. Nervous breakdown or performance art? Both. This "mad scene" for the deluded Don Quixote would have been laughable but for the impossibly beautiful lament at its heart. Lindberg ended up in a pair of leopard skin tights brandishing his instrument's slide like a lance. I'm not quite sure who had the last laugh.
 
Nezet-Seguin definitely had the last word, a protracted resonance of bells and tam-tam rounding off his richly characterised performance of the Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition. Its sensibility was French but the boldness of sonority was entirely Russian with Samuel Goldenberg's pompous oration, for instance, rolling out like Chaliapin's basso profundo.

This concert – very much in the old Friday night “Classics for Pleasure” mould (and none the worse for that) – marked Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first concert as the London Philharmonic’s Principal Guest Conductor. He first conducted the orchestra in May last year and his star is rising, as he has also just taken over from Gergiev at the helm of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, in addition to his long-standing duties with Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. Short and energetic, but with an ability to suddenly adopt a very still, flowing conducting style, Nézet-Séguin was certainly a hit at this concert. Extraordinarily, the programme bore an amazing similarity to one of this season’s BBC Proms, again conducted by a young conductor from the New World. Indeed the first piece was exactly the same and the concerts both ended with French orchestral masterpieces, flanking a contemporary Swedish concerto, played in each case by a Swedish soloist who was not only asked to play but also required to dance, mime, pirouette and – in this case – vocalise. Where Gustavo Dudamel and the Gothenburg Symphony were joined at the Royal Albert Hall (13 August) by clarinettist Martin Fröst in Anders Hillborg’s Peacock Tales and ended with what I dubbed in my Proms round-up as ‘Symphonie bombastique’ (which is everything you need to know about what I felt about the performance), Nézet- Séguin had the irrepressible trombonist Christian Lindberg in Jan Sandström’s second (revised) trombone concerto, based on Don Quixote, before returning to Ravel, for his ever-popular orchestration of Mussorgsky’s piano masterwork. There’s no doubt that Nézet-Séguin scored heavily over Dudamel, especially in the orchestral classics. While I wouldn’t necessarily want him as my partner on “Strictly Come Dancing”, he certainly knows a waltz rhythm better than Dudamel, and also has a fantastic ear for balance and sonority, with timbres suddenly coming into focus that don’t seemed to have registered before. There was a sense of an edifice teetering and crumbling, all the more so because the LPO players (as they had for Kurt Masur two nights earlier) were on top form. There was the same keen musicality on display in the Mussorgsky/Ravel, encouraging excellent solo work from saxophonist Martin Robertson in ‘Il Vecchio Castello’ (accompanied relentlessly by John Price’s bassoon tread, another detail that seemed ‘new’) and Paul Beniston’s trumpet, mimicking Schmuyle’s shivering in the portrait of the two Jews later. The chords of ‘Catacombs’ were also wonderfully layered in both brass and strings. Nézet-Séguin had certainly made his mark and he got a tremendous reception from both audience and orchestra. With Dudamel a regular visitor with fellow RFH residents, the Philharmonia, it will be fascinating to watch these two conductors develop over the next few years – perhaps Masur’s choice of symphony two nights earlier was prophetic: ‘From the New World’ indeed! (...)

Yannick Nézet-Seguin: Young Montreal Maestro New International Star !

For the past few years I’ve been hearing more and more about the extraordinary talent of Montreal-born conductor Yannick Nézet-Seguin: he’s been given appointments by the London Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic; this past summer he debuted at the Salzburg Festival leading Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Netrebko and Villazon in the title roles; he’s made a series of fine recordings - and he’s only thirty-two!

I finally caught up with Nézet-Seguin this week in Montreal to watch him conduct his Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal (OM). I came away convinced that Nézet-Seguin has the potential to become one of the most important conductors of his generation.

Nézet-Seguin has been artistic director of the OM since 2000. This is Montreal’s second orchestra, behind the more famous Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM); it has its own following, and a large one at that.

Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal Totally in Tune
Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal was formed in 1981 by graduates of Quebec conservatories and music faculties. It gives about seven concerts a year at Place des Arts - also the home of the OSM - but it also plays in churches in the greater Montreal area and serves as the orchestra for the Opéra de Montréal in several productions a year. On this occasion, I heard the OM in the Salle Wilfred-Pelletier, the large hall at Place des Arts in a program of music by Ravel, Berlioz, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky.

Watching Nézet-Seguin open the programme with Ravel’s La Valse, I was struck by his energy and enthusiasm. There are a lot of moving parts when he conducts, but there is little wasted movement. He has the ability to keep his players on the edge of their seats and make them respond to his every wish. To put it another way - as the musicians used to say about Toscanini – “when he looked at you, there was no way you couldn’t do exactly what he wanted”.

Nézet-Seguin has that special leadership quality that allows him to take charge and carry his players along with him. By the end of the concert it was obvious that not only was he able to lead them with authority but that they loved the leadership he was providing. No doubt about
it - this man is a born conductor.

Maestro Nézet-Seguin received most of his musical education at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, but he also studied conducting with Carlo Maria Giulini. Physically they are very different types, but one can see the Giulini influence in the discipline of Nézet-Seguin’s gestures and in the intensity he projects to the orchestra.

Programming with a Purpose: Bold & Imaginative
In programming Ravel’s La Valse at Place des Arts, Nézet-Seguin was taking a chance. After all, his orchestra is really too small – not enough strings – and the walls are still resounding with Charles Dutoit’s near-definitive performances with the OSM. Dutoit has been gone for several seasons, however, and Nézet-Seguin and his players showed that if they could not be lush, they could be accurate and exciting. There was purpose to this programme. To open the concert, we had La Valse; then, to end the concert, we had the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Nézet-Seguin wanted to show his audience what Ravel the composer could do, before they heard Ravel the orchestrator. Not bad at all!

Two Voice Version Perhaps not the Best for Berlioz Song Cycle
After La Valse came Berlioz’ song cycle Les Nuits d’été in a somewhat unusual version - for two singers instead of one. As it happened, soprano Marianne Fiset took ill and could not perform on the previous night and so at that concert, Les Nuits d’été was presented with only one singer, mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne.
(…)

Soprano Marianne Fiset Charms Audience with Rachmaninov
The second half of the concert began with Rachmaninov’s Do not sing, my beauty, to me Op. 4 No. 4 in an orchestration by Leonidas Leonardi and in this lovely, melancholy song soprano Marianne Fiset was in her element. She sounded Russian – excuse me, Georgian, in this case – to the core.

I liked this bit of programming. Before Mussorgsky’s familiar Pictures,Néget-Seguin gave us another taste of Russian “soul”. It was a way of enriching a meal that was otherwise just a little predictable.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures Come to Life with Superb Playing & Thrilling Brass!
Nézet-Seguin didn’t do anything radical with Pictures, an orchestral showpiece, the primary requirement of which is superb playing. We got that in this performance! Interestingly, my most recent hearing of the piece was at Tanglewood this summer by the Boston Symphony under Peter Oundjian and the minor technical blemishes in the OM performance were almost exactly the same as those in the BSO rendering – and the conducting was equally stunning. In Pictures as in La Valse, Nézet-Seguin was somewhat handicapped by the small string section - but his musicians played their hearts out! The sound from the well-balanced brass section was thrilling, especially in the “catacombs” section.

More of Yannick Nézet-Seguin & OM in Montreal this Season
Nézet-Seguin and the OM return later in the season with performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, the latter part of a Bruckner Cycle. Nezet-Seguin/OM recordings of the Bruckner Seventh and Ninth Symphonies are available on the ATMA label.

Nézet-Seguin is already the most successful Canadian conductor ever in terms of the international appointments he holds and the number and stature of the orchestras he has already conducted, or soon will conduct. Later this season, for example, he will appear with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Vienna Symphony, among others. He will make his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010. To keep up with his globe-trotting, check his website.

(…) Ravel dominait le programme avec La Valse et l'orchestration des Tableaux d'une exposition de Moussorgsky. Deux pages célèbres, autant de prodigieuses réussites. Étrangement, la réverbération qui nuisait à la voix seule conférait au second orchestre de cette ville une puissance, un éclat et une couleur qui le rapprochaient de son fameux concurrent. La pulsation que Nézet-Séguin imprimait à La Valse évoquait les grands soirs de Dutoit et les solos des Tableaux furent tous parfaitement rendus: la trompette, le tuba, le saxophone, qui nous donna jusqu'au petit glissando final si souvent ignoré. (…)

La Staatskapelle célèbre un jubilé enivrant au Semper Oper de Dresde

(…) Choix d’œuvres historiques, interprétation rafraîchissante bien d’aujourd’hui, ainsi pouvait-on qualifier le cadeau sonore que s’est offert le Semper Oper de Dresde. (…) Tout simplement voluptueux et surtout pas banal, il (YNS) a caressé l’allegro et insufflé à ce Brahms une dose audacieuse de gaieté.  Comme il fallait s’y attendre, le double concerto a mis les solistes en valeur: ici, Julian Rachlin, violoniste communicatif, spontané, et là, la violoncelliste Mischa Maisky, sage, presque introvertie, riche contraste intégré dans un portrait esquissé de Brahms.   Pour Bruckner, Nézet-Séguin a soulevé une tempête de vagues symphoniques de proportions gigantesques dans la salle. Pendant 70 minutes a résonné une musique façonnée avec raffinement et d’une intensité fascinante par la Staatskapelle qui a ouvert son royaume de sonorités étonnantes. Le public ne pouvait répondre que par une tempête d’applaudissements.

Une explosion d’énergie vient clore le Festival des Arts
Finale grandiose avec le concert d’hier à Weimar

Lorsque l’on se demandera ce qui est resté cette année de particulièrement exceptionnel au niveau musical de ce Festival des Arts de Weimar, à part la présence de l’alto Tabea Zimmermann qui était altiste en résidence ici, on se remémorera spontanément et sans contredit ce concert de clôture ainsi que la fascinante dynamo au pupitre qui transmettait toute son énergie à l’orchestre. 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin dirigeait hier dans la salle de la ville de Weimar un concert de la Série Gala Europa pour lequel il fut acclamé. Ce concert était aussi l’occasion pour Madame Zimmermann de prendre congé de nous avec un concerto de Bartók grandiose et extraordinairement réussi au plan technique.

Il est certain que Nézet-Séguin fait partie de ces réelles étoiles montantes ( Shooting-Stars) de la direction d’orchestre. Et il ne serait en rien exagéré d’ajouter le nom du Canadien parmi les très grands noms qui composent la relève de ce club sélect.

Au début du concert, il nous a servi une direction d’orchestre qui semblait quelque peu difficile à apprécier, mais combien imagée et d’une efficacité extrême, stimulant ainsi l’orchestre du Mozarteum de Salzbourg qui était dans la meilleure des dispositions. Et il est arrivé à tirer quelque chose d’extraordinaire : un Berlioz extraverti mais sans tous les flonflons, une œuvre de Haydn presque outrageusement sensuelle. Après le Bartók ci-haut mentionné, il nous a servi un Oiseau de Feu de Stravinski d’une beauté plastique qu’on rencontre rarement.

C’était vraisemblablement l’un de ces concerts qui servira de référence et placera la barre encore plus haute au prochain Festival.

[...] Nézet-Séguin used his broad gestures to apply clarity by means of intelligent phrases and powerful details. [...]

Spontaneous Beethoven by a Young Enthusiast

[…] his Beethoven was as sophisticated as exciting. Exuberant but melodious. […] Yannick not only conducted one of the most appealing Beethovens since years, but also one of the most brazen ones. That's promising for the future with the RPhO!

Nézet-Séguin Blends Orchestra and Choir in Vistas into Heaven

[...] Nézet-Séguin offered vistas into heaven at the quiet spots Beethoven created in between the more massive passages. The opposite happened towards the end, where the words Dona nobis pacem were combined with far-away marching music as an earthly and ironic comment. [...]

Concentré sur les choristes

Reprenons nos chères habitudes : ce qui a retenu notre intérêt aujourd’hui, c’est la Grande Messe de Mozart en ut mineur dirigée ce jeudi 21 août par le jeune Canadien Yannick Nézet-Séguin, dont on a tant fait l’éloge lors du Roméo et Juliette de Gounod.

Si la présentation d’une œuvre est devenue avec le temps une institution, il faut chercher ce qui fait sa spécificité et sa particularité. Si on est chanceux, le chef d’orchestre va nous livrer l’heureuse marchandise. Le public de l’église Saint-Pierre peut se considérer chanceux d’avoir eu au pupitre Yannick Nézet-Séguin, né en 1975, qui a dirigé sans baguette et avec une gestuelle souple et légère et dont la perspective se concentrait surtout sur les choristes. L’orchestre jouait son rôle d’agitateur dynamique mais sans jamais essayer de dominer le chœur et les solistes, tout en étant toujours à leur service.

L’Orchestre du Mozarteum a démontré une extraordinaire délicatesse comme accompagnateur du choeur Bach de Salzbourg, qui, par ailleurs, a pu pleinement déployer la dynamique et le phrasé de ses qualités vocales. (…) Les deux voix féminines dégageaient ensemble une harmonie exquise et équilibrée tout comme l’ensemble des solos : Jeremy Ovenden et Markus Werba ont rempli leur tâche avec aplomb et assurance, et les voix des quatre solistes s’harmonisaient parfaitement.

L’une des composantes essentielles d’un concert religieux est évidemment les lieux dans lesquels il est présenté. Pour s’assurer d’une performance bien rodée, il faut respecter certaines règles. De ce point de vue, Nézet-Séguin a obtenu d’excellents résultats. L’équilibre et l’épanouissement des voix furent extraordinaires dans le Kyrie, clairement chanté pour que l’on puisse en différencier toutes les subtilités. Les profondes tonalités des sopranos n’ont à aucun moment été couvertes par l’orchestre. Dans le  déchaînement du Gloria, l’acoustique des lieux fut plutôt ingrate malgré la justesse du tempo. La performance des cuivres rappelait le Messie de Haendel. Le jeu du hautbois accompagnant le soprano était très élégant. Les sons de la voix et de la musique étaient en parfaite harmonie avec l’acoustique de l’endroit. L’orchestre était d’une justesse et d’une clarté absolues dans le Qui tollis où le chœur a atteint une tonalité somptueuse presque démoniaque. Nézet-Séguin a dirigé la fugue du  Cum Sancto Spiritu avec des grands gestes respiratoires, tout en accentuant le phrasé intéressant de la dynamique interne de l’oeuvre.

Il était étonnant d’observer la communication qui s’était engagée dans le  Et incarnatus est,  malgré la distance entre les instrumentistes et le soprano. Peut-être aurait-il fallu un peu plus de temps pour laisser les sons s’amortir dans cette église. On a pu entendre une belle tonalité opératique dans le Sanctus ainsi qu’un Hosanna parfaitement exécuté. Après les dernières mesures de l’Hosanna, Nézet-Séguin reste les bras en l’air pendant un certain moment tout en gardant le contrôle de l’espace intérieur de l’église. Ce n’est qu’après qu’il permet, en abaissant lentement les bras, de longs applaudissements et cela n’est certes pas du maniérisme. Ce n’est que la conséquence d’un dévouement inconditionnel à la musique.

Nézet-Séguin leads Lanaudière premiere

(...) To report on the success of this avant-premiere is almost superfluous. Carmina Burana never fails, except perhaps with critics who find its musical style too primitive. But Nézet-Séguin softened the thrusting rhythms with lightness and humanity. The opening and closing Fortuna choruses were firm, no doubt, but much of the in-between had the character of operetta.

Which is to say it was nicely serviced vocally, especially by soprano Erin Wall, whose high-flying duets with the OM wind squad were enchanting. Tenor Frédéric Antoun did well with his cooked-goose routine and James Westman was a noble high baritone. The massed voices of five choirs, adult and youth, performed lucidly. (...)

At any rate, the most satisfying interludes of the night were the outer sections of Messiaen's Les Offrandes oubliées. Nézet-Séguin lifted the OM strings heavenward, very much in keeping with the spirit of the music. There was also a smooth performance by the brass of Jacques Hétu's Fanfare pour Lanaudière. (...)

Festival de Lanaudière : Lisitsa et Prokofiev, Orff ensuite

Un autre Festival de Lanaudière qui commence bien. Cette fois, le 31e, avec l'irrésistible Carmina Burana de Carl Orff forçant la direction à donner le programme initial deux soirs au lieu d'un seul.

J'y étais le premier soir, vendredi. Il faisait très beau et il y avait là 4000 personnes (2000 sous la partie couverte et autant sur la pelouse) vibrant, dans un parfait silence, à l'électrisante virtuosité pianistique de l'Ukrainienne Valentina Lisitsa et à l'extraordinaire vitalité rythmique communiquée par Yannick Nézet-Séguin à la masse de plus de 300 participants englobant l'Orchestre Métropolitan et cinq choeurs locaux.

La populaire cantate profane de Carl Orff et le rare deuxième Concerto pour piano de Prokofiev étaient les deux grosses pièces du programme. Le Orff explique certainement ce succès de box-office et sa réalisation fut tout à fait satisfaisante,  mais la grande réussite de la soirée reste, à mon sens, le Prokofiev.

Valentina Lisitsa, dans ses débuts ici, apporta le maximum de technique et d'engagement à ce concerto qu'elle avait pourtant déclaré ne pas aimer et qui, effectivement, peut être qualifié d'"injouable". À certains moments, ses longs bras nus balayaient le clavier avec une telle rage qu'elle semblait en colère contre l'instrument. L'effet absolument foudroyant entraîna Nézet-Séguin et l'orchestre dans la même frénésie.

C'était la quatrième fois qu'on donnait Carmina Burana à Lanaudière, les précédentes exécutions ayant été celles du Métropolitain même dès 1989, de l'OSM en 1991 et de l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec en 2000. Nézet-Séguin en a bien rendu la rythmique primitive et la truculence, en même temps que la poésie et la naïveté. Les différents choeurs en présence possédaient une belle unité (…) et l'orchestre sonnait avec le brio et le relief souhaités. (…)

Nézet-Séguin excelle

Rentré d'une tournée en Asie avec l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam dont il est le nouveau titulaire, Yannick Nézet-Séguin dirigeait mercredi soir son seul concert de l'été au centre Pierre-Charbonneau; de même, il dirige ce soir et demain soir son unique programme de la 31e saison de Lanaudière.

Même orchestre aux deux endroits: le Métropolitain, bien sûr, auquel l'infatigable jeune globe-trotter reste fidèle. Il avait centré le programme de mercredi sur un seul compositeur, Beethoven, représenté par deux oeuvres à caractère politique requérant toutes les forces du grand orchestre: la tapageuse Victoire de Wellington (traduction abrégée du long titre original allemand) et la grandiose et profonde troisième Symphonie, dite Eroica. Les deux fresques encadraient les deux petites Romances pour violon jouées par le jeune Jean-Sébastien Roy.

Manifestement imperméable à tout ce qui est décalage horaire, Nézet-Séguin impressionna la nombreuse assistance par son inépuisable énergie, en plus de faire précéder chaque oeuvre d'une explication claire. On souhaiterait simplement que notre Nagano en fasse la moitié autant.

Alexander Brott avait monté la Victoire de Wellington en plein air en 1973, au Stade Molson, avec un véritable régiment d'artillerie s'ajoutant à l'orchestre. À l'intérieur de Pierre-Charbonneau, les instruments d'orchestre suggéraient à s'y méprendre canons et mousquets, et jusqu'à la diminution de l'armée française vaincue par les Anglais.

Forte de récentes exécutions en Asie, l'Eroica trouva Nézet-Séguin dans sa plus grande forme, commandant, sans partition et partout à la fois, une interprétation de haut niveau, toujours passionnante à suivre, avec une Marche funèbre extrêmement sentie, de fracassants roulements de timbales et une sonorité d'orchestre étonnamment bonne pour un centre sportif. Le contexte justifiait d'omettre la reprise au premier mouvement, ce qui fut fait.

Jean-Sébastien Roy joua les deux Romances avec une élégance un peu fade, une justesse presque parfaite et des trilles et doubles cordes impeccables. Ce concert était aussi le premier de Marcelle Mallette comme violon-solo remplaçant Denise Lupien jusqu'à nouvel ordre.

Daredevil Yannick Makes Blazing Start in Rotterdam

What bravery! Only three weeks after his predecessor Valery Gergiev has left the orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin started as the new Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with a sizzling and blazing performance of Shostakovich' Fifth Symphony. Shostakovich! The field in which Gergiev has had supreme rule for years. Time and again the unruly Russian proved this in a grandiose way in Rotterdam, for instance during his Gergiev Festivals.

But the small Canadian held his own and unleashed an enormous amount of energy and noise! At first it made the audience in the full hall of de Doelen quiet as a mouse, later they practically tore the hall down. Where Gergiev often achieved miracles with a mere shake of the left hand, Nézet-Séguin worked himself into a sweat for every bar, every note. He conducted by heart and indicated almost every entry for every single instrument. His style was a bit like Riccardo Chailly's, who also wants to make every turn in the score visible.

His approach yielded a grandiose performance, of a level that is even rare with maestro Gergiev. The Canadian conductor knows how eexert maximum tension and hold it endlessly. The way he and the violins moulded the second theme of the First movement, was a miracle of cooperation between musicians and conductor. The second movement, with its beautiful horns, was over before you knew it.

[...] Yannick started the evening with De aankomst by Otto Ketting; a suitable choice and a promising one for Dutch composers. Nézet-Séguin clearly felt connected with the work and also with Ravel's Piano Concerto in G in which he lucidly accompanied the Chinese wonder pianist Yundi Li, who surely will attract a large audience in Asia. Rightly so, for his Ravel was wonderful. A top evening!

Yannick now Rotterdam Music Director For Real

During the past weekend, Yannick Nézet-Séguin was officially presented by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra as Valery Gergiev's successor. [...]

Yannick started the concert with Ketting's De aankomst which he performed full of vitality and precision. It was a symbolic statement, for the versatile and broadly oriented Yannick also wants to conduct Dutch repertoire in Rotterdam. During his debut in 2005, he conducted Hendrik Andriessen's Variations and Fuge on a Theme by  Johann Kuhnau.

This time he arrived in Rotterdam on the rhythmic pulse of Ketting's kaleidoscopic musical  travel account, and he did it with class. In his joyous and congenial accompaniment of Ravel's Concerto For Piano and Orchestra in G, Yannick gave the Chinese pianist Yundi Li plenty of room to exhibit his refined style of playing.

The big question was: would Yannick be capable of making Shostakovich' Fifth Symphony sound at least as probing and overwhelming as his illustrious predecessor?

Outwardly, there is no greater contrast possible than between the tall Gergiev and the small, enthusiastic and intelligent Yannick. Their musical approach is also as different as night and day, but they have one very important thing in common: they both generate large quantities of musical energy, each in their own unique way.

Yannick's Shostakovich was less sultry and hallucinating than Gergiev's. But the music was at least as powerful because of its clear and flexible structure, the concise rendering of the  moods navigating between melancholy and fury, the energetic alignment of the various sections of the orchestra, the animated timing and the magnificent display of colour  Yannick drew from 'his' orchestra.

The musicians of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra prosper under the high demands their new Music Director makes. Intonation, balance, nuance and razor-sharp phrasings are the result of thorough rehearsing. With the driven musician and reliable 'craftsman' Yannick the Rotterdam Philharmonic embarks on a new course.

With this maestro, we own the podium

Canada produces its share of high-profile singers and pianists, but not conductors; almost no podium masters working here are Canadian. None of them have been trained here. But Yannick Nézet-Séguin, just 33, is an exception. His performance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra last week made plain that he's already among the best in the world.

Starting in September, this Montrealer becomes both the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra's music director and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's principal guest conductor concurrently. He's the complete musician, part artist and part boffin, part seducer and part athlete. His emphasis on physicality generates unvarnished, sizzling poetics, in the way that makes young Yundi Li such a great pianist. We may be entering a new classical ethos wherein the performer's body has as much to say as the tradition he enacts. For most of us, that's what life is really like. And it makes Nézet-Séguin a cutting-edge artist.

His crouching and arm waving evoke a combination of charisma and clarity that's simply uncontainable, stripping all the dreaminess from Brahms' fourth symphony, making it fast and lean. Nézet-Séguin's charm is infectious to the point of being overpowering. So is his on-site musical curiosity, which seems to feed on discovering new ways to present Brahms' inexhaustible but constantly performed orchestral material.

Nézet-Séguin takes volcanic pleasure in his musicians and their playing. The TSO was magnificent but there was an extra level of energy in Roy Thomson Hall. Each passage of the score was like an experiment that the orchestra somehow knew how to follow. Nézet-Séguin seethed with delight and a Gallic sincerity that would make any mammal melt. His rendition was always exploding with spontaneity, with textures rewoven in an eyeblink, more enthused than reverent, clean but never antiseptic.

As Nézet-Séguin led the orchestra, he'd flash the last person or section who'd performed a conspiring smile as a way of congratulations, the way jocks do. He's incredibly magnetic but not bossy -- his fluid gestures make him seem possessed by the concert event, as inspired by the players as he is by the material. That's not the same thing as genuflecting to a masterpiece the way most conductors have done for the last century. Rather the score is explored, with arresting new schemes that add playfulness, not in a saucy way but mischievously, alive with what Dmitri Metropolis called the "sportive element" in music that compels interpreters to take chances.

In his duet with American pianist Nicholas Angelich, Nézet-Séguin was receptive throughout their dialogue in Brahms' second piano concerto. Initially this seemed unlikely because the opening bars were louder than usual-- that's what Nézet-Séguin likes. Angelich's chords had to be almost bangy just to be heard. No one got away unsullied here; the orchestra was rawer than the usual majestic Brahmsian languor, so the initial effect was coarse but intriguing.

Again, that's what life's actually like; nothing of actual interest is seamlessly beautiful.

Angelich is a big undemonstrative man who nonetheless kept coming up with sparkling colours, at higher volumes owing to Nézet-Séguin's ability to transform the orchestra into a 400-member chamber ensemble.  Conductor and soloist seemed to represent different expressive poles, with Angelich as rationalist to Nézet-Séguin's ecstatic tribalism. The pianist's imperturbable contribution helped earn the show a rare standing ovation before intermission.

Seeing them walk off the stage together, brooding giant and animated sylph, they didn't quite resemble the same species. With Nézet-Séguin's approach being so New School, and Angelich more traditional yet indomitable, their pairing better illustrated how vital personality is to performance. And though the show was a total success it was also bittersweet with Nézet-Séguin leaving soon to work those choice gigs overseas.

Homegrown talent provides its own kind of satisfaction. When our hockey players tour internationally, we mark them carefully with maple leafs because we're proud of them. But Nézet-Séguin is leaving before the nation can get worked into an appropriate lather over his skills. His Toronto performances show why that's a real shame.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin proves worthy of all the hype

He's hot stuff. Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been the conductor of Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain for some years, has been building a reputation as an opera conductor in Montreal and Toronto and has engagements for Salzburg and the Met. On top of that, he is Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic.

Oh yes, he was recently named Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, succeeding no less a luminary than Valery Gergiev.

Last evening he led the National Arts Centre Orchestra in a concert of Bouchard, Gershwin and Brahms, an eclectic mix if ever there was one.

Southam Hall was, if not sold out, certainly packed.

Things got underway with Linda Bouchard's Exquisite Fires, a work originally commissioned by the NAC and premiered here in 1992 when Bouchard was the orchestra's first and last composer-in-residence.

Rehearing this jewel of many colours after all these years was a treat, particularly since Nézet-Séguin and the musicians under him rendered a refined and persuasive account of it.

Marc-André Hamelin is one of Canada's most recorded pianists. He has made his reputation largely through playing music that has been, in his view, unjustly neglected.

It is often also extremely difficult, and he is invariably up to it.

Last night he appeared with the NACO playing Gershwin's Concerto in F, hardly an unknown work, but one we don't hear often. His nimble fingers made short work of its technical difficulties.

He and his colleagues on stage made what was probably as good a case for the score as can be made. It's a decent piece, though not comprised of the character as the composer's Rhapsody in Blue.

The most important of the evening's offerings was the Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, and it was the best-rendered as well. You will probably never hear a more vital performance than last evening's or a warmer one.

At the same time, Nézet-Séguin gave the stormier episodes their full due, resulting in a rich array of contrasts and masterfully managed moods.

The orchestra played at its highest level, and that's saying a great deal.

It isn't possible to single out a movement or a musician for special praise, so fine was every aspect of the performance. This was music-making of the highest order.

Canada has produced several singers and instrumentalists who have become major international stars, but never a conductor. So far. Keep your eyes and ears on Nézet-Séguin.

Renée Fleming leads stellar cast for OM/Concordia benefit

Concordia University's Faculty of Fine Arts and the Orchestre Métropolitain have been in the high-stakes benefit business for a few years. On Sunday they presented a stellar and successful operatic concert in Théâtre Maisonneuve.

Led by Renée Fleming, the lineup included three future headliners of similar calibre under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, himself now an international commodity. This was the kind of event you travel across time zones to hear, or expect to find excerpted on YouTube.

Not that highlights were easy to choose. The German coloratura Diana Damrau, for whom high C seems to be a midrange pitch, turned Gounod's Je veux vivre and Bernstein's Glitter and Be Gay into one-woman shows with her vivacious acting.

Joyce DiDonato wondered aloud how she could follow the Bernstein, but she managed nicely in Rossini's La Cenerentola. A creative and secure singer where ornaments are concerned, this American mezzo-soprano also made a fresh case for one of the most belaboured of all Rossini vehicles, Una voce poco fa from Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

Tenor Matthew Polenzani, also American, was more inclined to stand and deliver the lyrical goods in Gounod's Ah! Lève-toi, soleil and Donizetti's Una furtiva lagrima. The crowd seemed transfixed by the melancholy beauty (and perfectly weighted tone) of the latter.

After warming up with Dvorak's Rusalka, Fleming made a scena of Je marche sur tous les chemins from Massenet's Manon, using much of the apron of the stage.

Fleming also gave us a lovely Willow Song from Verdi's Otello. In the final trio from Der Rosenkavalier she captured just the tone of autumnal radiance the role of the Marschallin requires.

Damrau and DiDonato concluded this sequence (and the program) with a physical show of affection that might have puzzled those who were not aware that Octavian, though written for mezzo-soprano, is a male character.

The OM, under Nézet-Séguin's flexible direction, was in top form. Seated close to the stage, I expected to hear some ringside roughness in items like Verdi's La Forza del Destino Overture, but string intonation was impeccable and brass entries were spot-on. Métropolitain? This orchestra sounded distinctly mondial.

(…) La chanteuse américaine (Renée Fleming) nous a aussi donné une très longue scène finale d'Otello à la fois soutenue vocalement et assez convaincante dramatiquement. Ce qui justifie de parler immédiatement de l'extraordinaire participation de l'Orchestre Métropolitain et de son chef Yannick Nézet-Séguin. La moitié au moins de l'impression produite par ce Verdi venait d'eux. Ils furent d'ailleurs de parfaits partenaires pour chaque chanteur. (…)

Nézet-Séguin et le Métropolitain : des Franck et Fauré convaincants

(…) En grande forme, comme on l'a constaté dès ses brèves présentations, le jeune chef a dirigé les deux oeuvres de mémoire. À la Symphonie de Franck, il a redonné sa sombre couleur germanique plutôt que française, sa paisible respiration, en somme sa noblesse. En contraste et, là encore, conformément à l'esprit de l'oeuvre, la sonorité orchestrale et chorale du Fauré (Requiem) était tendre et intime. (…)

Rating: **** (out of four)

The National Symphony Orchestra uncorked one of its liveliest programs of the season Thursday night at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall: an evening of largely 20th-century Russian music led by guest conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and featuring guest violinist Julian Rachlin. (…)

Excerpting four movements from this suite, Mr. Nézet-Séguin and the NSO offered a raucous yet controlled curtain-raiser that gave the orchestra's brass section a chance to shine.

(…) With intense focus and drive, he (Julian Rachlin) dramatically revealed all the passion, despair and outrage the composer had locked inside. He was ably assisted by Mr. Nézet-Séguin, whose powerful rhythmic sense — and accompanying body language — helped weld the NSO into a seamless instrument, at times backing Mr. Rachlin's virtuosity and at other times arguing right back. (…)

Wisely, Mr. Nézet-Séguin next gave the audience a breather with a hauntingly beautiful performance of the prelude to Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina, sometimes known as Dawn on the Moskva River, as reorchestrated by Mr. Shostakovich.

The program concluded with yet another high-velocity Russian work, Sergei Rachmaninoff's deeply intellectual yet sonically spectacular Symphonic Dances, Op. 45.
Moving from the vigorous first dance, oddly marked "Non allegro," the set weaves almost drunkenly into the second dance, a grotesque, gnomic waltz resembling at times Ravel's La Valse and at others the decadent ballroom music of Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier.

The final dance, a march-turned-whirling-dervish marked "Allegro vivace," brings the full orchestra powerfully into play, with a variety of motifs careening almost recklessly among the orchestral sections. (…) Maybe the NSO's search committee should talk to this guy.

Orchestre Métropolitain : grande réussite

(…)
Les cordes sonnaient avec générosité et leur virtuosité dans les vifs dialogues avec bois et cuivres était impressionnante. En un mot: une vraie sonorité de grand orchestre, sur laquelle Nézet-Séguin put créer une interprétation toujours convaincante. Sa Schéhérazade était on ne peut plus séduisante, avec un impeccable solo de violon de Denise Lupien et un Naufrage final d'une ampleur cinématographique. (…)

Nézet-Séguin with Expressive St Matthew's Passion

(…)
His broad orientation gives Nézet-Séguin an ideal background. He was a choir singer and studied choral conducting, and has a keen interest in period performance: "I belong to a generation of conductors who look at the work of specialists." He did not just "look" at the authentic performance movement but absorbed its views completely.

In a sold out Doelen, Nézet-Séguin's faithfulness to style went further than performing with a small orchestra and with little vibrato. Nézet-Séguin has a finely developed feeling for the sense of tension and relaxation, which changes so much quicker in baroque music than in the long lines of romantic music. In addition, Nézet-Séguin allows the notes room to gain meaning, right from the start. In the renderings of many colleague-conductors, the history of Jesus' suffering does not gain momentum until the second part. This young Canadian attracts the attention of the listener right away.

Every motive, every phrase has clear outlines. Nézet-Séguin's indications have an upward, inviting direction. It is as if the conductor worships the singers and the instrumentalists. The singers of the Nederlands Kamerkoor achieve miracles of expressiveness (…)

Subdued Expressiveness in Nézet's St Matthew Passion

(…) Yannick's approach of Bach's masterpiece is not based on academic ideas or a deire for authenticity. His principle is: "I show you what I want, you make it sound." And it sounded wonderful. The chorales had a silvery sheen, and the performance as a whole breathed an atmosphere of subdued expressiveness, with sharply highlighted dramatic accents. (…)

Nézet Brings St Matthew's with Breathless Pianissimos

The Netherlands has a new baroque conductor. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will be the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director as from next season, proved that with a fair-sized choir, (two times 16 singers) and a standard-sized orchestra (two times 18 strings) it is possible to give a strictly personal rendering of Bach's St Matthew Passion.

The most striking aspect of Nézet-Séguin's interpretation is the sound ideal: a breathless pianissimo in which even the smallest differentiations create a turbulence. It creates an atmosphere in which the musicians are invited to give their soul, and in which the solo singers do not need to compete with a massive orchestral sound. This way, the Passion has a warm, intimate quality, with the emphasis on personal drama. The concrete Doelen was transformed into a sacred hall right from the start. (…)

L'Orchestre du Capitole et Yannick Nézet-Seguin cultivent l'excellence

(…) Ouvrant la soirée par les sublimes et crépusculaires « Quatre derniers lieder », il (YNS) veille à envelopper la voix ample et dramatique de la soprano américaine Christine Brewer d'une parure orchestrale riche de couleurs et d'émotion. En seconde partie, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, très à l'aise dans ce répertoire (R. Strauss, Symphonie alpestre), obtiendra le meilleur de tous les pupitres de l'orchestre lors d'une interprétation somptueuse de la Symphonie Alpestre de Strauss. Tout en rendant justice à l'opulence sonore de cette partition destinée à une formation de plus de cent musiciens, le chef canadien sait aussi maintenir une tension qui ne faiblit pas. Fasciné par la puissante beauté de l'œuvre comme par la virtuosité de l'orchestre, le public acclamera longuement chef et musiciens. (…)

Tempête force douze

Yannick Nézet-Séguin insuffle à l’orchestre une respiration qui évoque une sorte d’hymne à la vie renouvelée. (…) Yannick Nézet-Séguin s’investit totalement dans la vaste fresque, écologique avant l’heure, de la « Alpensinfonie », vibrant hommage à la nature éternelle. Entre la naissance du jour et la tombée de la nuit, deux plages d’un calme indicible, le chef québécois, dirigeant de tout son corps, mu par une énergie sans limite, déchaîne les plus incroyables explosions orchestrales qui n’en restent pas moins toujours impeccablement maîtrisées. Les grands moments se succèdent : du rutilant lever de soleil à la tempête dévastatrice, en passant par la magique contemplation d’un horizon sans fin à l’arrivée au sommet (quel somptueux solo de hautbois de Jean-Michel Picard !). (…) Extases et élans dynamiques sont admirablement dosés par le chef qui semble obtenir tout ce qu’il désire de l’orchestre. (…)

Un grand moment de pur plaisir orchestral!

Les réflexes d’un écureuil. Le jeune et phénoménal chef d’orchestre Yannick Nézet-Séguin fait ses débuts à Berlin

La posture de travail typique du jeune chef d’orchestre canadien-français Yannick Nézet-Séguin pourrait se décrire ainsi : un peu recourbé sur lui-même, les genoux légèrement inclinés, le centre de gravité quelque peu déplacé vers l’avant, il regarde  partout. Nézet-Séguin est donc toujours prêt à bondir, à se déchaîner dans toute direction, donnant aux uns le signal du départ tout en animant les autres, modérant les ardeurs de la gauche, ravivant le rythme de la droite. Cette posture permet au petit et habile musicien la plus grande des mobilités. Ce dimanche soir, on avait l’impression qu’il y avait plusieurs Yannick Nézet-Séguin sur la tribune de la salle du « Konzerthaus »où il dirigeait, agile comme un écureuil, sans trop poser de questions.

(…)

Ce dimanche, le jeune et phénoménal musicien faisait ses débuts avec l’Orchestre symphonique de la radiotélévision berlinoise (Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Berlin, ou RSOB), dans un programme francophone approprié: Ma mère l’Oye de Maurice Ravel, Les nuits d’été d’Hector Berlioz ainsi que la troisième symphonie de Scriabine, intitulée Le divin poème.  Le RSOB a, pour sa part, déjà fait ses classes en musique française, son chef, Marek Janowski, possédant une sensibilité certaine à cette musique, ayant fait ses études à Paris. L’orchestre a joué avec doigté chacune des touches de couleurs, comme il est approprié de le faire pour la musique de Ravel et de Berlioz. Nézet-Séguin a interprété (littéralement laissé jouer) avec une extraordinaire diligence et une circonspection de l’articulation, ce qui chez Ravel a comme conséquence que la musique semble parfois immobile; on peut justement aller très loin dans la délicatesse.

(…)

Yannick  Nézet-Séguin s’est révélé plus clairement dans la troisième symphonie pompeuse de Scriabine. Même si celle-ci est dépassée avec sa lourde théosophie, le chef  arrive à mettre de l’avant toutes ces harmonies qui doivent être relevées constamment par des mouvements orchestraux lourds. Que le chef d’orchestre arrive à une telle maîtrise ne rend certes pas l’œuvre plus digeste, mais nous la rend un peu plus intelligible.

(…) la troisième symphonie de Scriabine, intitulée Le Divin Poème a déclenché une incroyable frayeur dans l’univers sonore et a permis l’éclosion et le scintillement d’étranges lumières cosmiques. Cette symphonie est le chef-d’œuvre de Scriabine, et on lui préfère volontiers le nom populaire du Poème de l’extase. En fait, nous avons rarement l’occasion d’entendre la troisième, et encore moins d’en entendre une si violemment sonore et si transparente à la fois, comme le fut l’interprétation de Nézet-Séguin. (…)

Dédicaces amoureuses et bacchanales

La 6e série symphonique de la Staatskapelle de Dresde, en Saxe, déploie de brillantes couleurs orchestrales ayant pour thème l’amour. L’entracte nous transporte de la période du grand romantisme à celle de l’impressionnisme. On peut presque entendre les sensations musicales des premiers rapprochements amoureux, ressentir les joies et les déchirements de la passion, car l’orchestre joue clairement et les tonalités musicales sont vraiment distinctes. Francesca da Rimini, de Tchaïkovski, inspirée de la Divine Comédie de Dante, recèle un lyrisme plein et entier avec seulement un court passage plus calme au milieu de l’œuvre. Le jeune chef d’orchestre canadien Yannick Nézet-Séguin s’attaque à la partition ce dimanche avant-midi comme à un exercice de réchauffement sportif : une multitude de sonorités proviennent des instruments à cordes avec de nombreuses tonalités de cuivres et à la fin, une éblouissante apothéose qu’il réussit à générer grâce à un extraordinaire effort physique. En tout temps, il peut compter sur un orchestre très attentif.

(…) Si, en première partie, l’orchestre avait déjà su produire des nuances musicales lumineuses, c’est au retour de l’entracte que Nézet-Séguin s’en donne à cœur joie pour puiser une variété de couleurs musicales et nous délecter des œuvres de Debussy et de Ravel. Il entraîne ainsi l’orchestre dans une haute performance de danse. (…) Yannick Nézet-Séguin possède un accès privilégié à toutes ces œuvres, exploitant en alternance un jeu déchaîné et un encadrement contrôlé. À la fin, il est gratifié par des applaudissements enthousiastes.

Musique aux accents de l’amour interdit

(…) Yannick Nézet-Séguin, au pupitre, fut inspiré et rempli d’enthousiasme envers les illustres sonorités de cet orchestre de Dresde que Richard Wagner décrivait jadis comme une « prodigieuse harpe (…).

(…)
His (Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s) manner was that of someone mainly eager to share things he had discovered in the music at hand. I wasn't expecting to learn anything new about Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, the pops-concert staple that opened the program, but Nézet-Séguin and the players worked patiently at displaying its virtues until the music's giddy enthusiasm seemed fresh all over again.

This young Montreal conductor has a very natural way of engaging with a score. His fluid movements seemed like a direct expression of his feelings about what was going on, and what lay ahead. No doubt that presentation concealed a lot of forethought, but while he was conducting I was aware mostly of how he responded to the mood and intensity of the moment. Everything he did was emotionally coherent.

There was a lot of control and gradation in his reading of Dvorak's Symphony No. 6, but I often felt that he was ready to leap over all constraints and take the orchestra with him. You could feel the players running with him toward the brink and yet never going over it, nor even over-playing. I found that much more thrilling than anything I heard during the concerto.

No wonder Nézet-Séguin's career is taking off internationally, with recent appointments at the Rotterdam Philharmonic (as incoming principal conductor) and London Philharmonic (as principal guest conductor). I hope he keeps room in his calendar for more concerts in Canada.

Yundi Li, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the TSO perform at Roy Thomson Hall through Saturday. Yundi Li performs a solo recital at Roy Thomson on March 18.

Riding the crest of a new wave of celebrity, Yannick Nézet-Séguin drew a big crowd to the Théâtre Maisonneuve on Monday night with his Orchestre Métropolitain. My perception was the audience was less purely francophone than in seasons past.

Whatever their mother tongue, however, the listeners emerged from the concert as confirmed Tchaikovskians. This was a passionate, organic performance of the valedictory Sixth Symphony, nicknamed Pathétique. A comparison with the recent MSO account under Zubin Mehta is interesting. Both conductors evoked blazes of anguish from the brass in the development of the first movement. Nézet-Séguin also managed to make the outpouring seem convincing as symphonic discourse. The movement was a great parabola, emerging from, and returning to, the silence of despair.

The five-four waltz was charming, and the march, so easily played flat-out, was animated with interesting detail. The conductor jumped into the Adagio lamentoso finale without a break, in part to suppress post-march applause.

Tchaikovsky's farewell to the world in the opinion of some, this movement was deeply moving. Radiant strings and solemn brass were warmly mixed, in a hall that makes mixing difficult. The performance had a profound affect on the audience, which remained transfixed in silence for almost a full minute after the end.

Before intermission, we heard Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony, based on Ukrainian tunes, as the conductor explained in a brief address. (…) Still, strings were vivid in the Scherzo, and there was much characteristic woodwind colour in the Andantino movement. The timpanist deservedly took a bow after the upbeat finale.

Through all this Nézet-Séguin moved with a natural balleticism of a man with his own orchestra, in his hometown. Dutch critics last November were struck by his kinetic podium style, but on Monday his gestures were often lyrical and restrained. These players, of course, need no convincing or coaxing.

They do need a better place to play. Given the increased crowds Nézet-Séguin is attracting, the OM really should move more PdA concerts to Salle Wilfrid Pelletier. That hall is no great shakes, but it is the Musikverein compared to Maisonneuve, which makes all orchestras sound scrawny.

At any rate, you still have a chance to hear this program in other settings, namely Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs Church in Verdun (tonight at 7:30), the Théâtre Outremont (tomorrow at 7:30) and Saint-Joachim Church in Pointe Claire (Friday at 8). You must go to the venues themselves for tickets.

Ravel, De Falla, Debussy

(...)

Already in Alborada del gracioso I was impressed by the beautiful balance in the orchestra, clearly the result of careful work on the sound during rehearsals. Everything was audible, which is an achievement in this complex score. (...)

After this, we went into "the gardens of Spain" with De Falla and Yannick. His "accompaniments" in these "Symphonic Impressions for piano and orchestra" were exceptionally good in colour, rhythm and balance. (...)

Nézet-Séguin conducted Debussy's Ibéria and Ravel's Rhapsodie espagnole with such natural feeling for tempi, dynamics and colour that both pieces sounded much easier than they actually are. Among some gorgeous woodwind playing there was the big oboe/viola solo in "Par les rues et par les chemins" played as if  by a single Spanish singer by first oboist Remco de Vries and principal violist Anne Huser with such passion that the atmosphere was really hot .

(...)  Yannick Nézet-Séguin unleashed his orchestra ("a wild beast" according to Sir Simon Rattle) and now we could hear what was really possible from this potentially golden combination: passion, fire and energy. We smelled sweat and perfume in the sensuous night, were seduced by the Habanera and celebrated the Feria, full of bright light, raw energy and with a whirlwind of sound leading to an inescapable ending after which the audience rose to applaude this amazing young conductor and his equally amazing orchestra. What a joy to see such eager music making from both sides, and what a promise for the future this combination is. (...)

Nézet-Séguin as choregrapher of the orchestral sound

When asked how his Dutch is coming along, Yannick Nézet-Séguin replied: “I'm working on it.” “And your Spanish?” “You’ll hear it in the music.”

(…) But the audience had already heard that Nézet's Spanish is “muy bien”. For Ravel's morning serenade contained the whole programme of this 'Spanish' Prom concert in a nutshell: filigree guitar rhythms in the strings, castanets, a stylish bassoon solo, flashy, razor sharp orchestral passages.

De Falla’s nightly gardens were fascinating. (…) After the intermission, Ravel's Rhapsodie espagnole displayed beautiful miniatures in the Malagueña and the Habanera. The start of the finale was very delicate but the end was spectacular and festive. The performance of Debussy’s Ibéria was marvellous. The elegant, light and gay street scene in 'Par les rues', was followed by a wonderful weaving of the voices in 'Les parfums de la nuit'.

And just like in November's Strauss-Beethoven-Mahler concert, Nézet continuously shaped and coloured the orchestral sound, drawing it out, expressing it with his whole body. The conductor as the ballet master, or the choreographer of the sound.

Sublime Nézet-Séguin conducts with authority

Yannick Nézet-Séguin will not succeed Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra until next season, but the honeymoon has already started. This weekend the RPhO and the 32-year-old Canadian celebrated 'Spanish Nights'.

That was the theme of an evening with 'Spanishy music' by Ravel, De Falla and Debussy, presented by General Manager Jan Raes. His slogan, 'The best Spanish music comes from France', was executed convincingly.

(…)

The true proof of Nézet-Séguin's talent for intermediate colours, perfect transitions and stirring pianissimos came from the sublime interpretations of the festivities and the 'parfums de la nuit' of Debussy's Iberia and Ravel's Rhapsodie. The future chef comes from the French speaking part of Canada. In musical circles, this often leads to the assumption of a special affinity with French repertoire. The RPhO has already recorded music for a Yannick-CD with French music, and it is not for nothing that the Canadian will make his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele this summer with Gounod's opera Roméo et Juliette.

Earlier this season, however, Nézet-Séguin's wonderful Beethoven and Strauss interpretations proved that his repertoire is not limited to French music. The panorama will be broadened in March with Bach's St Matthews Passion and in June with Otto Ketting's Aankomst, and an attempt to nick Shostakovich's Fifth from Gergiev's heritage.

(…)

Yannick brings Doelen down again

(…)

The promenade concerts feature light, popular music, and attract a highly varied audience with a notably large number of young people of all kinds, from neatly dressed to punk.

The youthful Yannick (32) who already knew he wanted to become a conductor 22 years ago, appeals to them with his flair, his informal style and his direct approach. (…)

More important are the orchestra's accomplishments under his direction in this repertoire, which calls for the utmost concentration and perfection. Well then, everything sounded excellent, with spicy exoticism, effective rhythms and magical colours, but even more important, with intense long phrases in still, slow movements, sensuous and sophisticated.

****

The emergence of so much exciting conducting talent of late could hardly be better for orchestral music, and the Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin is one of those new names, his recent appointments to the Rotterdam and London Philharmonic Orchestras marking him as a rising star.

This appearance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra confirmed his credentials. His style has both a dynamic physicality and restless energy and, though not tall, he seems to have the upper-body strength of a weightlifter. He needed that stamina to deliver a vision of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony that was decidedly expansive: he shaped its vast contours with conviction and delivered its high points with unstinting force. Most strikingly, he underlined the degree of chromatic dissonance in this symphony, so unthinkable in earlier Bruckner. It implied a struggle if not of faith then of conscience, and, while the adagio is usually seen as the composer's farewell to life, the effect was to challenge any overly simplistic perception of Bruckner's spiritual certainty. Nézet-Séguin's ability to inspire his players was evident enough - conducting without a score ensured unbroken eye-contact - and he rightly acknowledged the contribution of the CBSO's blazing brass section. (…)

*****

(…)

Canadian by birth, Nézet-Séguin gives the lie to the assertion that Gallic conductors do not possess the key to Bruckner. In his reading of the composer's searing Ninth Symphony, patiently assembled like a medieval cathedral-builder, he dispelled all whiffs of the organ-loft with its creaky changes of registration, allowing instead all Bruckner's orchestral colourings to make their point and in this fabulous acoustic the pizzicati of the pounding scherzo had an amazing presence.

And after the heart-catching slow movement (the appropriate finale of this unfinished symphony), where Bruckner fulfils Schiller's Ode to Joy vision of finding God "beyond the stars", this reading went beyond applause, which thankfully took a long time to intrude. (…)

THE music of Bruckner is to understatement what Dawn French is to anorexia. He is a composer not given to restraint.

Sometimes this leads to music that is flabby and aimless. But sometimes there is unbridled emotion and searing passion.

Bruckner's ninth symphony, his last and unfinished despite its near hour-long duration, has plenty of examples of both the composer's vices and his virtues.

It is a tribute to the vision of the conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the musicianship of the orchestra that it is the peaks which will remain in the memory.

Dramatic splashes of dark tones, tension, passages of grandeur and the work's dying, resigned breaths marked this out as an intelligent and powerful account. Earlier the hues were much lighter as the young American soloist Jonathan Biss gave us a gripping performance of Beethoven's third piano concerto. This was a performance of the highest order that charmed, moved and enlightened.

VERDICT: *****

La magie sonore de l'Orchestre de chambre d'Europe

(...)Le concert du 13 janvier a fourni encore une autre révélation : celle du jeune chef d'orchestre Yannick Nézet-Séguin, âgé de seulement 32 ans, qui a démontré une technique exemplaire et un charisme contagieux. Son interprétation a privilégié la dimension intense et pleine d'esthétique du style Sturm und Drang (Tempête et élan), contenu dans la Symphonie n° 44 ("Funèbre"), de Haydn, et dans la Symphonie n° 40, de Mozart, sans délaisser  l'élégance de l'architecture, en ce qui concerne les phrasés ou la transparence des plans sonores, ce qui est essentiel au style classique. Nous avons ainsi entendu des versions presque d'anthologie de ces oeuvres, avec plusieurs moments poignants, par exemple dans les mouvements finaux. 

Bien que l'utilisation d'instruments modernes donne une couleur différente de celle que Bach a idéalisé,  Nézet-Séguin a adopté rigoureusement une approche "historiquement informée" ; la  Suíte nº2, BWV 1067, a atteint un compromis très convaincant qui respecte l'essentiel de la nature du discours baroque. Le chef d'orchestre a été remarquable dans la forme comme dans sa gestion de la pulsation, de l'impulsion rythmique et du caractère dansant de mouvements comme les deux Bourrées, la Polonaise et le Menuet. Quelques excès dynamiques dans la Badinerie ont accentué le côté extrême de cette page célèbre. Le flûtiste Jaime Martin, avec une technique et une énergie brillantes, est entré dans le jeu, et après les enthousiastes applaudissements a fait répéter le mouvement d'une façon encore plus vertigineuse(...)

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, handsome as a young Vladimir Ashkenazy, has quickly built a rapport with the Northern Sinfonia.

Principal conductor in Montreal since March 2000, he will be the principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra next year, and will then succeed Valery Gergiev as the next music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. His enthusiasm made this a hugely enjoyable evening.

This was a concert of warmth and lively intelligence, taken at a cracking pace, starting with Stravinsky's Preludes and Fugues from 1969, his expression of respect for Bach, taken from The Well-Tempered Clavier and beautifully tailored for strings and woodwinds.

After the Stravinsky, we had Bach's 2nd Suite, the 2nd Violin Concerto and finished with Rameau's Suite from Les Indes Galantes.

The stately Ouverture to the 2nd Suite had a beautiful mock-pomposity, but then flautist Juliette Bausor became the star of the show. I have rarely heard such a cheerfully fluent and eloquent flute.

The magnificent Bradley Creswick, leader of the orchestra since 1984, was the soloist in Bach's 2nd violin concerto. He gave a beautifully controlled and understated performance but with a vigour apparent throughout, even the quieter passages, in what we might have expected to be the highlight of the concert.

But Rameau's Suite from Les Indes Galantes was even more lively and exciting, decorated again by Bausor's flute and piccolo, making this a climax rather than a dessert to a marvellous pre-Christmas dinner.

The Northern Sinfonia has an impressive track record for talent- spotting. It appointed Thomas Zehetmair as music director before a Gramophone award confirmed his international standing; now it introduces 32-year-old French-Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin as its next important find.

A dynamic young conductor with an irrepressible platform manner and a Jamie Oliver haircut, Nézet-Séguin was mentored by Carlo Maria Giulini and became principal conductor of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in his home town of Montreal at the age of 21. Though he is still relatively unknown in Europe, that is likely to change when he succeeds Valery Gergiev at the Rotterdam Philharmonic next year.

A dedicated explorer of the lesser-beaten tracks of the French repertoire, Nézet-Séguin's unusual choice of calling card is Bizet's callow Symphony in C. Bizet wrote the symphony in 1855 at the age of 17, then shelved the piece, which didn't receive a public performance for over 80 years.

Nézet-Séguin conducts without a score - not that there can be many people prepared to commit Bizet's precocious juvenilia to memory - but he makes a convincing case for the work as a significant overture to the composer's operatic career. The slow movement is a langurous aria for oboe that seems to prefigure The Pearl Fishers, while the seductive Iberian dance patterns of the finale carry distinct echoes of Gypsy girls with roses between their teeth.

A vigorous parade of Rameau dance suites and a limpid account of Debussy's Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un Faune seem strangely diverse items to perform alongside the Bizet. Yet the lucent colours Nézet-Séguin extracts from the Sinfonia's wind section make a convincing case that if the Austro-German composers added woodwind as an additional flavour, French taste always made it as an essential ingredient.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin est un guide fiable. L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam accueille son prochain Directeur musical.

Selon une loi non-écrite, un orchestre qui recherche un nouveau Directeur musical en choisit un qui est à l’opposé de celui auquel il est habitué. Gergiev, le surhomme, arrivait généralement à la dernière minute (ou en retard), n’avait pas le temps de répéter, battait des mains et allait de l’avant. Les bons jours, il faisait des miracles; les mauvais jours, ça pouvait être un désastre. Mais d’une manière ou d’une autre, les musiciens étaient toujours sur le qui-vive.

Gergiev laisse derrière lui un merveilleux orchestre qui a besoin cependant d’entretien. Nézet-Séguin (32) y procède tout de suite. Devant un De Doelen rempli à capacité ou presque, il amène le Rotterdam à des subtilités inhabituelles. Il dirige presque tout de mémoire, sans échapper un seul détail. Avec ce guide sûr, les musiciens savent exactement ce qu’on attend d’eux. Ses battements sont clairs et son sens du rythme est agréable à suivre.

Mort et Transfiguration de Richard Strauss commençe par une merveilleuse hésitation mais sans perdre le sens du mouvement. Nézet-Séguin a été chantre et chef de choeur et ceci devient évident par la respiration toute naturelle de sa musique.  On ne peut dire qu’il peint avec des couleurs mais plutôt qu’il dessine et au besoin grave son propos en contours clairs. Les fenêtres de sons ouvertes empêchent le poème symphonique de devenir un chou à la crème. Le résultat est musique à cent pour cent.

La Troisième Symphonie de Beethoven, Eroica, me prend par surprise. Il est audible que Nézet-Séguin n’a pas oublié ses accomplissements en musique ancienne. Les timbales se travaillent avec des maillets de bois, les trompettes sonnent les appels et les cordes utilisent le vibrato avec discrétion. Et que personne ne prétende que l’instrumentation a peu d’importance dans la musique de Beethoven. Nézet-Séguin expose en grands détails les divers niveaux de la partition  et en tire de l’énergie. Il s’agit là d’une grande démonstration des possibilités symphoniques, sans devenir parade pour autant. Lorsque jouée par un orchestre symphonique moderne, il est rare que la musique de Beethoven sonne aussi près de sa source.

Dans le premier mouvement, le désir de chanter d’une part et le besoin pressant d’aller de l’avant d’autre part produisent une sorte de friction pleine de santé. L’effervescence du scherzo et du finale épanouit l’esprit. Mais le summum de beauté et de sonorité se produit dans la marche funèbre. Par Jupiter! Le Philharmonique de Rotterdam sonne presque comme un orchestre du dix-huitième siècle. Le fait que Frans Brüggen ait dirigé l’orchestre à plusieurs reprises et ait familiarisé les musiciens du Rotterdam avec du Beethoven authentique a sans doute aidé.

La conclusion est manifeste. Yannick Nézet-Séguin et l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam ont beaucoup à s’échanger mutuellement. Il est admirable qu’après le grand Gergiev, l’orchestre ait choisi un jeune chef encore relativement peu connu. La musique souffre souvent des grandes réputations. Rotterdam a choisi l’engagement passionné.  Et vendredi soir, la passion de l’engagement pouvait être ressentie à chaque seconde.

Le futur Directeur musical Yannick emballe Rotterdam.

Bien que ses débuts officiels comme Directeur musical n’aient lieu qu’en septembre 2008, le jeune Canadien Yannick Nézet-Séguin tient déjà une place importante dans la programmation de la saison courante de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam dont Valery Gergiev est encore le Directeur pour la moitié de l’année. C’est une décision intelligente qui permet à Nézet-Séguin de diriger ainsi quatre programmes majeurs. Jeudi soir dernier, il a dirigé le Philharmonique de Rotterdam pour la première fois depuis l’annonce de sa nomination au poste en décembre 2006.

L’ambiance au De Doelen était électrisante. Après le concert, il y eut un grand nombre de bravos émergeant de la salle remplie à capacité et les membres de l’orchestre tambourinèrent des pieds avec enthousiasme. On avait l’impression que Nézet-Séguin faisait ses débuts jeudi soir plutôt qu’en septembre prochain. La troisième symphonie de Beethoven (Éroica)  fut un magnifique happening musical. Ce n’était pas seulement le début de la  période excitante d’un nouveau Directeur musical, mais aussi le coup d’envoi de l’intégrale du cycle des Beethoven que Nézet-Séguin dirigera à Rotterdam. Pour l’interprétation de cette Éroica, il importait peu que le chef  n’ait pas encore le titre de Directeur musical. Nézet-Séguin (probablement aussi court que Napoléon à qui Beethoven dédia d’abord son Éroica) commandait ses troupes. 

Malgré les dissimilitudes évidentes entre Nézet-Séguin et Gergiev, quelque chose de très inusité s’est passé au début du concert. Si on écoutait les yeux fermés le Tod und Verklärung de Richard Strauss, on pouvait presque imaginer que le début incroyablement menaçant et angoissant était dirigé par le grand insondable Gergiev. Mais non, c’était vraiment Yannick qui conjurait un son super virtuose de l’orchestre dans une interprétation exceptionnelle avec son merveilleux échafaudage et ses grandes apogées. Expressif, communicatif, précis et ardent, tous ces qualificatifs s’appliquent à Yannick. Il n’est pas encore Directeur musical mais ce n’est qu’une formalité. Avis à Rotterdam!

Le nouveau Chef de l’OPhR danse et bondit.

Court, un peu rondelet, les cheveux en pointes stylisées: Yannick Nézet-Séguin ne ressemble pas du tout à Valery Gergiev, ce grand sauvage hirsute qui est encore le Directeur musical de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam. Mais dès qu’il lève le bâton, les ressemblances résonnent : Nézet-Séguin, ce Canadien de 32 ans qui prendra la direction de l’Orchestre de Rotterdam en septembre prochain, dégage autant d’intensité et d’énergie que son prédécesseur.

Quant au reste, le style est tout à fait différent: il bondit, il danse, il joue, il est partout à la fois, il s’étire aussi haut qu’il peut, il plie les genoux tellement qu’il serait disparu derrière le lutrin s’il n’avait pas dirigé presque tout de mémoire.  

Ce n’est pas la première fois qu’il dirige l’Orchestre et ce ne sont pas non plus ses débuts officiels, mais c’est tout comme, considérant que Nézet-Séguin est si souvent à Rotterdam cette saison et offre un répertoire si varié.  Il dirige un astucieux programme proposant des compositeurs qui avaient à peu près son âge lorsqu’ils ont composé ces oeuvres: Richard Strauss (25 ans), Gustav Mahler (25 ans) and Ludwig van Beethoven (33 ans).

Le Tod und Verklärung de Strauss s’ouvre sur des battements de cœur timides. Mais dès que la musique se déploie,  Nézet-Séguin s’avère non seulement un chef mais un « galvanisateur », avec une oreille pour les extrêmes mais aussi pour les gradations intermédiaires.

L’alto Birgit Remmert cause une légère déception dans les Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen de Mahler. Nézet-Séguin, cette fois avec la partition devant lui, dépeint la langueur d’un vague désir et les douleurs de l’amour avec des sons orchestraux tantôt oppressants tantôt tranchants comme un rasoir.

Mais dès le début de l’Eroica, Nézet-Séguin manifeste tant d’inspiration qu’il est clair que Beethoven est son domaine Il porte une attention aiguë  aux marées mélodiques et aux rythmiques brise-lames, il explore les espaces plus profonds aux couleurs entre-deux de la grande Marche funèbre, et il  surprend en ajoutant une étincelle additionnelle à cette œuvre monumentale. Les musiciens de l’OPhR vont devoir s’habituer à cette direction de balle bondissante, mais à en juger par les sons qui en résultent, les fondations semblent assez solides pour les années à venir.

Avec, cette année, une série de quatre concerts comprenant –et ça mérite d’être souligné- trois représentations de La Passion selon St-Mathieu de J.S. Bach, Yannick Nézet-Séguin et l’OPhR se préparent au futur Directorat Musical du jeune Canadien. La première série a commencé jeudi soir avec la musique de Richard Strauss, Mahler et Beethoven.

Cette Éroica fut intéressante du début à la fin. Nézet et l’OPhR offrirent une exécution brillante, claire et chaleureuse. Entre les passages héroïques et robustes sans être trop lourdement accentués, les passages plus méditatifs et mélodiques furent magnifiquement mis en valeur. Le scherzo au pied léger fut un chef-d’oeuvre et le son superbe des trois cors, un régal additionnel.

Auparavant, Nézet avait déjà captivé l’assistance avec le Tod und Verklärung de Strauss. Après un début d’une tranquillité à couper le souffle, il dirigea l’orchestre dans l’intense Allegro Molto Agitato. Le tutti diminuendo précédant le début de la Marche funèbre fut fascinant et la fin magnifique, presque festoyante.

L’intimité de l’orchestration  des Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen révéla partiellement ce que sera le son Mahlérien avec Nézet-Séguin. La première impression fut favorable, particulièrement en ce qui concerne l’atmosphère.

En coopération avec l’alto Birgit Remmer, qui ne produisit pas un son ample dans le bas registre du premier Lied mais chanta magnifiquement, Nézet-Séguin offrit une superbe démonstration de ce qu’est la langueur d’un désir insaisissable.

De Doelen ouvre les bras au futur Directeur musical

Hier soir, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (32 ans) a donné son premier concert comme futur Directeur musical de l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam et successeur de Valery Gergiev. Il a été immédiatement accueilli à bras ouverts par l'assistance. Ce chef étonnamment court et d'un enthousiasme désarmant, en redingote froissée sortie d'une boîte de costumes, a reçu un tonnerre d'applaudissements après sa prestation inspirée et remarquable.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin se révèle différent, attachant et désarmant. Mais il est aussi pertinent de dire qu'il est sans cérémonie, modeste et avant tout un musicien parmi ses musiciens. Pendant les applaudissements, il quitte souvent son podium pour se tenir debout parmi eux. Il encourage l'orchestre à oublier le Nézet-Séguin et à l'appeler simplement Yannick. Sa direction prend un aspect de conspiration: faisons cela ensemble. Et c'est justement ce que l'on entendait.

C'est Yannick lui-même qui a programmé cet ambitieux concert qui comprend le Tod und Verklärung de Strauss , les Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen de Mahler et la Troisième symphonie Éroica de Beethoven. De la grande musique concernant la mort et un autre genre de vie.

Yannick dégage aussi autorité et possession de soi. Pendant un long moment, le début lent et noir du Tod und Verklärun est presque immobile, amenant graduellement l'orchestre dans les convulsions extraverties de la mort. Yannick utilise des contrastes dramatiques et des changements de couleurs et place parfaitement le moment des apogées et leurs proportions.

(...) L' Éroica de Beethoven fut un événement excitant, plein de caractère et d'énergie charismatique, éblouissant, avec syncopes et autres particularités rythmiques, vivant mais aussi d'un lyrisme souple et agile.

(...) Pour son hommage au 25e anniversaire de la mort de Glenn Gould, l'Orchestre Métropolitain est passé de Maisonneuve à Wilfrid-Pelletier attirant ainsi 2100 personnes. (…) le son qu'en tire Nézet-Séguin remplit la salle sans problèmes et il n'y a rien à redire sur la prestation orchestrale, continuellement animée par le jeune chef dont l'énergie semble inépuisable. (…) le Coriolan a beaucoup de nerf, un vent d'air frais traverse les Hébrides et la tendresse de Siegfried Idyll est parfaitement rendue. Nézet-Séguin dirige tout par coeur, sauf les concertos, et c'est finalement la magnifique réponse de l'orchestre qui marquera la soirée. (…)

(…) Hats off to Yannick Nézet-Séguin and his Orchestre Métropolitain for paying tribute to Glenn Gould Monday (…) Nicholas Angelich (produced) a spirited account of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2. (…)YNS invested the piece (Wagner's Siegfried Idyll) with exactly the romance and rubato missing from the version Gould conducted before his death.

(...) Nézet-Séguin reprenait la cinquième Symphonie après avoir dirigé l'intégrale des neuf en novembre 2005 et Lortie jouait une fois de plus le quatrième Concerto qu'il avait donné comme chef et soliste dans cette même salle en septembre 2001, avec l'OSM. Chef et soliste lui aussi, Nézet-Séguin l'avait été dès 1998 dans la Fantaisie avec piano et choeur.

Cette fois, c'est Lortie qui joue la Fantaisie - en fait, qui ouvre seul le concert puisque l'oeuvre débute par une longue introduction de quatre pages confiée au piano. Lortie remplit immédiatement l'espace par son jeu imaginatif.

Nézet-Séguin, son orchestre et son choeur apportent ensuite le maximum à cette oeuvre naïve qui, chantant la nature et la vie, préfigure la Neuvième. Seules faiblesses: certaines voix solistes du choeur.

Malgré un piano légèrement faux, Lortie maintient du commencement à la fin du quatrième Concerto contrôle technique et concentration tout en glissant ici et là d'expressifs rubatos. Très vivante direction, accents des cordes particulièrement marqués au mouvement lent.

Une énergie bouillonnante traverse la célébrissime Cinquième, et ce dès le premier mouvement, vraiment pris «con brio». À signaler encore, la précision des deux groupes de violons à l'unisson et des tutti marqués «fortissimo».

Le maire Gérald Tremblay assistait au concert.

(…) Semi-public concerts for charities are usually more about the cause than the music. Not so Monday night in Place des Arts, where the Orchestre Métropolitain both raised funds for the Montreal Cancer Institute and produced some Beethoven to remember.

The evening brought together conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and pianist Louis Lortie. It was hard to believe these local icons were meeting for the first time, but Lortie has long styled himself as an MSO collaborator and probably for this reason exempts himself from regular subscription OM events.

Too bad. There was great chemistry in the Fourth Piano Concerto, by which I mean an almost literally perfect balance of solo and tutti elements. Lortie's Steinway was sweet and bell-like and his phrasing spoke to the joy of philosophy. Nézet-Séguin was exuberant on the podium, flashing his new pal enthusiastic glances.

Our second orchestra sounded first-rate. Woodwinds were poetic in the first movement and the strings created just the right stern, grainy sound in the Andante con moto. Lortie's mastery of piano colour - which is to say his impeccable sense of when to use the sustaining pedal - was especially apparent in the cadenza of the finale.

Before this we heard the Choral Fantasy, Beethoven's exuberant precursor to the Ode to Joy. The conversation here included the red-blooded OM Chorus. (…)

Unfinished works made complete OM's grandeur fills St. Jean Baptiste Church

St. Jean Baptiste Church has been the scene for many impressive concerts, enough to make a top-10 list a very selective affair. Now we must make room for the Orchestre Métropolitain season opener on Monday night, a coupling of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and Bruckner's Ninth, which famously lacks a finale.

Debate rages about whether these scores are in fact artistic wholes. They certainly seem complete when performed with the authority and grandeur that Yannick Nézet-Séguin brought to them on this occasion.

The orchestra seemed double its numbers in Schubert, producing a frightening climax in the development of the first movement. But for all the heaven-storming strength of the music, there were exquisite woodwind solos - quiet, lonely and clear.

Thus the personal and the monumental were joined, as they should be in a sacred setting. The two movements also seemed perfectly reconciled - the first stately, the second moved up a notch in tempo in the interests of lending it a "finale" feeling.

In Bruckner, the ensemble seemed doubled again. Fortissimos of the first movement were among the grandest sounds ever made in this church. Indeed, the conductor coaxed so much force from the horns and timpani in the savage main theme of the Scherzo that the staccato comments of the strings and woodwinds needed to be edited in mentally.

Still, this was not an evening of mindless heavy metal. The sonic peaks were part of a continuous and majestic range. (…) the rich tone of the violins, fed directly, it seemed, from the Austrian Alps.

This church always comes with a sonic nimbus, for which it exacts a price in internal clarity. It will be fascinating to hear how this program sounds Friday in that great palazzo of the east, St. Nom de Jésus Church. This concert will be given under the aegis of the Orgue et Couleurs festival. For details, go to www.orgueetcouleurs.com.

Thrilling moments for a dazzling star

THE young French Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has, over the past fortnight, burst on the music scene here like a shooting star, dazzling musicians and audiences alike.

First we had a large, demanding programme, played by the National Youth Orchestra with finesse and fire, directed by Séguin with insight, superb technique and boundless energy.

And now we had the hardened professionals of the NZSO providing this young firebrand with some Wagner playing that ran the gamut from near-inaudible delicacy (in the Lohengrin Prelude) to blazing climaxes that possessed a quality that transcended mere loudness, offering any doubting Thomases in the audience a real insight into the sound world that the composer intended.

Séguin is, by his own admission, new to Wagner, and it was his incandescent freshness, allied to a potent natural musicality, that made this concert so special. Not for one moment did he falter in his vision, making this concert of what critics always call bleeding chunks much more cogent than usual.

Perhaps it was the inclusion of the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and the final immolation scene from Gotterdammerung, and the soaring voice of Margaret Medlyn, that tied the concert together, that gave it unity.

Medlyn, who has the right voice, and fully understands Wagner’s world, sang superbly. In both extracts she matched Wagner’s demanding orchestral resources, and realised the differences between Isolde and Brunnhilde in quite subtle ways.

Some might have been concerned by the voice being swept away by the orchestra at key moments, but this is what was needed, and sometimes is not in the opera house, and the reemergence of the voice from within the maelstrom provided some of the evening’s most thrilling moments.

The orchestra played brilliantly, with the huge phalanx of brass marvellously sonorous, and the audience left, no doubt wondering when they will experience the conducting of Yannick Nézet-Séguin again.

To Experience symphonic music played by young musicians who have come together from throughout the nation is a joy like no other.

In times when our young people are easily distracted by all the trivialities that society hurls in their way, the sight of 100 players devoting their all to Ravel, Bartok, Debussy, and the music of one of their peers is inspirational.

The NZSO National Youth Orchestra's Monday concert revealed, as always, the special relationship that develops with a guest conductor - and the dynamic Yannick Nézet-Séguin came up trumps.

Ravel's La Valse is not the easiest curtain-raiser and, although there were some shaky first steps, once it swept firmly on to the dance floor there was no stopping it. Nézet-Séguin and the players ably captured the sweep, the passion and the utter delirium of it all.

The spotlight was turned on the orchestra itself in Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. The strings were particularly secure, from those opening cello fourths to the full-voiced song of the violas in the Intermezzo. Woodwind sauntered past in cheery pairs for the Giuoco delle coppie and the brass ensured a lusty close.

Karlo Magetic's Belt Sander was a celebratory dash, oozing energy. The demands were of the split-second variety with splashy percussion and, for well-tuned ears, a suspicion of something Spanish caught in the mix.

Magetic made his mark, as a schoolboy, by carrying off Chamber Music New Zealand's Sounz Prize two years ago. Now, two years on, the orchestral canvas seems made for him.

The jewel of the evening was La Mer, in which the French-Canadian conductor ensured his charges evoked every billow and ripple of Debussy's sea. Woodwind and brass were elegantly moulded and a strong cello section showed no fears with that treacherous five-part chorus in the first movement.

Concertmaster Amalia Hall's idiomatic solos were the soul of subtlety.

The musicians bade us a Gallic farewell - a poised walk through a Ravelian fairy garden from the composer's Mother.

Youth orchestra delights

(…) Yannick Nézet-Séguin established himself from the start of Ravel's La Valse as exacting and energetic. He captured the nebulous opening as convincingly as the wonderful frenzied excesses that followed. His limitless energy and precision characterised the whole concert.

The NYO chose two major works – quite an achievement for a mere six days' rehearsal. Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra was always secure, and Nézet-Séguin led his young players firmly through the subtleties and complexities of the score without needing to refer to it himself.

It was the same with the even more demanding La Mer by Debussy. Expressively the most subtle item in the programme, Nézet-Séguin took the orchestra well on the way to capturing the evocative power of the work. Not surprisingly, the combination of youth and energy was to the fore in the third movement, while the more complex second benefited from the generally brisk tempi that characterised Nézet-Séguin's approach all through.

The NYO had an encore ready, Ravel's Magic Garden, which brought some beautiful solo playing by the violin and viola leaders.

For sheer musical enjoyment the NYO's concert outdid many that I have heard from some of the world's greats.

Young musos deliver in style

WE ALL know that our young musicians have been achieving extraordinarily high standards in recent years, but this year’s National Youth Orchestra would still have astonished even the most informed and hardened observer.

It was not just the quality of the playing across all sections, but the amazing capacity for work in just a few days, and the sheer stamina to bring off the programme.

And what a programme. Surely, few professional orchestras would play a concert that included Ravel’s La Valse, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Debussy’s La Mer, and then find time to premiere a busy piece by a young local composer, and an encore that was demanding in itself; the final Le jardin féérique from Ravel’s Mother Goose ballet.

This was all made possible by the orchestra’s relationship with the young French Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, an up-andcomer who has conducted Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since he was 24, and now, at 31, has been appointed music director of the imposing Rotterdam Philharmonic, succeeding Valery Gergiev.

He is, clearly, a superb musician, and a busy, technically adept, conductor. His clear grasp and precisely delineated approach to all the works on show would have gone for nought if the players had not been capable of delivering what he asked, but they rose to the occasion with playing of real precision and a near professional cohesion and style.

The opening La Valse (and what a nerve-racking work with which to open a concert) was a little queasy for few minutes, but soon settled and ended in a wonderful, uninhibited, riot of sound. The Bartok Concerto for Orchestra was amazingly assured, with splendid playing from all sections.

There was some memorable playing from the woodwind in the tricky second movement, sonorous brass in all five movements (what a wonderfully secure horn section) and, apart from some blurring in the scurrying passages in the last movements, terrific string playing.

After an entertaining, energetic piece from local Karlo Margetic, a wonderfully luminous La Mer, a performance of real colour and shading, a quality that was most affecting in the substantial encore, with Ravel’s final scene from Mother Goose possessed of real magic.

What a concert.

Hammering it home

WHEN Yannick Nézet-Séguin filled in at short notice for Lorin Maazel in the SSO's 2005 season he conducted Bruckner's monumental 8th symphony from memory.

The 31-year-old Canadian took Australia by storm and went on that same year to make an enormous impression in Europe with his debut there, culminating in the recent announcement that he is taking over from Russian superstar Valery Gergiev as chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

So his return to Sydney has been eagerly awaited and his performances of Debussy's Images and Mahler's 6th have been all - if not more - than we could have hoped for.

The Mahler, at little under 90 minutes long and mobilising enormous forces, including a hammer to beat out the blows of fate, is a great challenge to conductor and orchestra alike.

The architecture of this work is so intricate and the shifts of mood, dynamic and tempo so essential to its the overall power and logic that any false move on the conductor's part and the whole structure collapses.

Nézet-Séguin avoided this, stamping his mark on the work from the stabbing and relentless opening by the cellos and basses.

This was a muscular but sensitive reading with the tragedy and at times shrill irony of the outer movements and scherzo beautifully counterbalanced by the pastoral yearning mood of the andante, with its horn calls and use of cowbells.

The orchestra was in magnificent form with the musicians obviously enjoying their collaboration with this dynamic young talent.

Robert Johnson led the eight-strong horn section faultlessly and the percussion department was barely rested with Mahler's rich soundscope using various bells (on stage and off), celeste,
glockenspiels and drums.

Hearing a Mahler symphony live is always special but an exceptional performance like this is an experience that lives with the listener for a long time.

Ah, Yannick, he does it well

THERE can’t have been all that many performances as energised as this one.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin injected vivid immediacy into Mahler’s Sixth Symphony from opening winding-up bars of the march, to the moment where the final pizzicato falls lifeless to the floor. He is a terrific young conductor. But let’s give further credit where it is due. For that dear old thing. our 75-year old Sydney Symphony, was radiant all evening, playing with rounded fine balance in soft or loud passages.

Mahler’s first movement is monumental but conventional, juxtaposing a vigorous march with a second theme. It even reverts to the classical habit of repeating the exposition.

In the development the colours become individualised and glowing - a solo violin against horn, distant bells - before building to a wildly exultant close. Nézet-Séguin reverses the original published order of the inner movements in line with what most now believe was Mahler’s intention. This draws attention to a link between the first movements obsessive major chord that keeps darkening to minor, and a more subtle version of the same shift in the theme of the Andante. This was a movement of magically serene tones with horn, harp, and cor anglais sounds wafting on the winds of eternity.

After a highly contrasted Scherzo, by turns terrifying and childlike, it was the fascination of the sprawling complex finale, punctuated by two blows from a magnificent Thor-like hammer, wich was most mesmeric.

Nigth to mark our heritage

ON the day vhen the Sydney Opera House joined the Acropolis and Taj Mahal on Unesco's World Heritage List, it was apt that this concert should be directed primarily at the next
generation.

The music could not have been better for such a historic occasion with a rarelyheard complete performance of Debussy's Images capping off a program which featured a truly awe-inspiring
performance of Richard Meale's Very High Kings, complete with blazing organ, six trumpets placed in the gallery and a doofa level to delight the youngest ears.

Young Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin last seen in Sydney filling in for Lorin Maazel with a majestic perfomance of Bruckner's 8th symphony, injected just the right amount of energy to keep things swinging along.

Haydn's London symphony - his last at No 104 - was an ambitious work for its time, calling for 60 players and prompting a contemporary critic to label it “grand but very noisy”.

It's difficult to imagine what he would have made of Meale's piece, written in 1968 and inspired by a letter Christopher Columbus wrote to his sponsors, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

A huge heroic chord from the organ sets the scene for this 15-minute voyage which features a big orchestra, including no less than two tubas, three trombones, two pianos and a sizeable range of percussion.

Perhaps this explains why the piece had not been performed in Sydney for almost 40 years, but as composer-broadcaster Andrew Ford said in his introduction to the work, Australia is not good when it comes to revisiting new pieces - they get premiered and then disappear into the ether.

The same cannot be said of composers like Debussy whose works regularly find their way on to concert programs. But neither 75-year-old Meale nor Ford could recall ever having seen a complete performance of Images and Nézet-Séguin had never conducted it before.

This seems extraordinary. Perhaps it's time to restore it to its rightful place up there with La Mer and L'après-midi d'un faune.

Meet the music

(…) Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the focused and energised young conductor who gave such a memorable performance at short notice in 2005 when he stood in for Lorin Maazel, brought a lovingly concentrated sense of balance to these superbly orchestrated textures. Debussy’s imagination for sound is astonishing - rich, divided string chords, gently lapping horn chords, or a solo viola pushed up against trumpet solos to provide woody depth to a golden une - and under Nézet-Séguin the Sydney Symphony allowed its natural timbral refinement to rise to the surface.

But wait, there’s more. Nézet-Séguin had opened with a performance of Haydn’s last symphony, No. 104, driven by the care, shaping and colour that any pianist playing Haydn would bring as a matter of course, but of which conductors are so often negligent. This concert displayed the best playing from the Sydney Symphony this year. (…)

Ever since it was founded 27 years ago, the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal (OMGM) unofficially has been known as the city's "second" orchestra, next to the Montreal Symphony. No longer. Montreal now has two first class orchestras. The OMGM's performance on June 11 of Mahler's Symphony No. 6 thrust it decisively into the major leagues. The 65-member orchestra was expanded to about 100, resulting not only in spectacular wails of sound but also in many passages with lovely chamber-music delicacy.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin exploited the dynamic spectrum to the fullest, from barely audible to terrifyingly loud. He wrung every drop of emotion from the music, with every musician behind him 110%. Tempos were perfectly judged, meter changes adroitly handled, every performance detail in the score meticulously observed. Phrases were lovingly sculpted, and every note had meaning. Mahler's huge structures were given shape and direction, and Nézet-Séguin knew exactly where in each movement to evoke the biggest climax. In addition, he maintained an iron grip on the rhythm while allowing for maximum elasticity of rubato. It was a performance made in heaven.

Special mention must go to Principal Horn Pierre Savoie for his liquid-smooth lyricism and golden tone, to Principal Trumpet Stéphane Beaulac for his sensational high-wire acts, and to Concertmaster Denise Lupien for her solos of aching beauty.

For once a standing ovation was truly deserved, and that's exactly what Nézet­Séguin and his orchestra got. But more tellingly, they also got, through the entire performance, total silence from the audience-87 minutes with nary a cough or sneeze. 2007 is barely half over, but this is almost sure to go down in my book as the "concert of the year".

The OMGM has enjoyed some fine conductors in its short history, notably Agnes Grossmann and Joseph Rescigno, but Quebec­born 32-year-old Nézet-Séguin (who also becomes music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic in August 2005, succeeding Valery Gergiev) has taken this orchestra to new heights and led it in some truly memorable performances and recordings since becoming music director in 2000. He combines the discipline of Szell, the lyricism of Toscanini, the charisma of Bernstein, and the visceral effect of Solti. "He has it all", remarked Gregory Law, a percussionist with 40 years' experience in the orchestral world. "I've played under Karajan, Lemsdorf, Ozawa, Dutoit, Hollreiser, Inbal, and dozens of other conductors great and small, but Nézet-Séguin is to my mind as good as any of them."

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a name to be conjured with. The young Québécois Canadian, who takes over from Valery Gergiev at the Rotterdam Philharmonic next year, has been gathering plaudits in Europe over the past three years, and in this concert was conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for the first time. One imagines that it will not be the last, either.

This was a striking debut, exhilarating, polished and illuminated by a technique that threw even the most familiar music into sharp new relief. The orchestra applauded vigorously at the end, in a way that seemed to go beyond the normal bounds of politesse.

Nézet-Séguin is a physical conductor, not flamboyant but tautly energetic and dynamic in his pointing up of detail, accents and the shaping of musical ideas. He gives a firm impression of knowing what he wants and how to get it, and in Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin and Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony achieved finely finished results of uncommonly arresting quality. (...)

The Ravel fused Baroque sensibility with 20th-century French finesse, fluid in melodic line, animated in its exploration of texture and instrumental timbre. There was no artifice in the way rhythms fluctuated, but rather a natural give and take.

Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony further exemplified Nézet-Séguin's ear for style in a blend of sun-drenched exuberance and reflective solemnity, with a coaxing out of expressive nuances that indicated depth of study, acuteness of imagination and a clear identification with the music's spirit. There is an impressive, mature and fertile talent here.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is going to be huge . The dazzling young Canadian conductor, in his debut concert with the SCO on friday night, confirmed impressions from his recent live recording of Bruckner Seven, with his Montreal orchestra, of his ability and stature.

It's not just that he is a fine conductor, with his onstage dynamism, technical control, evident rapport with orchestral musicians and wonderful sense of style. He is an absolute musical life force, in whose hands music galvanises itself and bounds from the page with zest, exuberance, and sheer joy.

The SCO, which clearly loved him, played out of their skins in a version of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin that displayed every nuance of the composer's pristine orchestration, coupled with a glorious sense of line and expressive detail. the man's shaping of the music (a striking feature of his big Bruckner recording) is masterly, a characteristic that marked also his beautifully gauged account of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony.

He is also - and this racks up his calibre yet a few more notches - a fantastic accompanist. His response to Han-Na Chang's powerhouse, volcanic account of Saint-Saens's First Cello Concerto, which was so spontaneous it would have floored some conductors and left others trailing in the Korean cellist's wake, was electrifyingly immediate and superbly coordinated.

At another emotional extreme, the melting loveliness of the playing he secured from the SCO strings in Chang's heartstopping version of Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile was of rare beauty.

It's logical to assume the SCO will pursue Nezet-Seguin for a return visit, but he's increasingly in demand and has just taken on the Rotterdam Phil job in succession to Gergiev. Here's hoping, anyway. The man's a knockout.

Classical

The name of Yannick Nézet-Séguin has yet to become a familiar one in this country. The 32-year-old French-Canadian conductor is already an established figure in his homeland. In recent seasons, he has also made a big impression on the continent, where in 2008 he will succeed Valery Gergiev as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Britain, however, has been slower to catch on; it was only last season that Nézet-Séguin made his UK debut with the Northern Sinfonia, followed up last month by performances with the LPO.

We will be hearing a good deal more from Nézet-Séguin in coming seasons, if his most recent performances in this country are anything to go by. In his debut with the SCO, Nézet-Séguin proved himself to be the genuine article; a conductor with not only the self-confidence and virtuosity that speaks of a maestro in the making, but also with a highly individual approach to the music.

Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin suite as concert opener transcended its status as attractive entree with a performance in which quite extraordinary detail was combined with unwavering attention to the clarity of the musical line. The same was true of the multi-faceted account of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony which closed the concert.

Elsewhere, Nézet-Séguin was an equally astute accompanist, partnering a fiery account of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto and a gently mellifluous Tchaikovsky Andante Cantabile from soloist Han-Na Chang.

The audience loved it; so too, judging by the superlative playing, did the orchestra. The SCO management should be angling to have Nézet-Séguin back as soon as possible - while he still has space in his schedule.

Classique
Bruckner puissant et raffiné

En s'attaquant à la monumentale Huitième symphonie d'Anton Bruckner, le jeune chef québécois Yannick Nézet-Séguin a lancé un beau défi. Diriger ce répertoire exige en effet autant de technique que de maturité et peu de baguettes, y compris parmi les géants du passé, ont su restituer la profondeur du discours du compositeur autrichien, la spiritualité qui traverse ses grandioses architectures symphoniques. Jeudi soir à la Halle aux Grains, Yannick Nézet-Séguin ne s'est pas contenté de livrer une interprétation techniquement aboutie de la partition (ce qui serait déjà beaucoup), il a manifesté un engagement de tous les instants à la tête d'un Orchestre National du Capitole précis et souple. Dirigeant par cœur (un vrai exploit dans une telle œuvre), il choisit des tempos plutôt sages mais sans lourdeur, anime chaque moment sans laisser retomber la tension, rend justice aux raffinements sonores de la symphonie (dans le sublime adagio notamment) comme à sa puissance. Les solistes du Capitole le suivent sans faiblesse, les dix cors et tubens affirment leur solidité. À 31 ans, le jeune chef mérite bien de succéder à Valery Gergiev, à la tête de l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam.

De chair et de sang

Une seule oeuvre était inscrite au programme du concert du 5 avril dernier, mais quelle oeuvre ! La plus vaste des partitions de Bruckner, sa 8ème symphonie, élève son architecture monumentale à la manière d'une célébration sacrée. Rarement l'orchestre romantique aura sonné avec autant de plénitude et de solennité. Animé d'une foi sans limite et néanmoins torturé par le doute sur ses propres capacités créatrices, Bruckner remania cette symphonie ainsi qu'il le fit pour la plupart de ses autres partitions. Il en existe donc plusieurs versions qui furent éditées au 20ème siècle, l'une par le musicologue Robert Haas, l'autre par Leopold Nowak.

C'est la version Haas, la plus complète et donc la plus longue, que choisit Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Dirigeant sans partition cette oeuvre immense, le jeune chef québécois réalise là une véritable performance. Précis et enthousiaste, il stimule chaque pupitre de l'Orchestre du Capitole avec un étonnant pouvoir de conviction.

Dès les premières mesures de l'allegro moderato initial, l'auditeur s'embarque pour un long voyage qui abolit le temps. Ce premier volet, complexe, torturé, contrasté, est parcouru de violentes convulsions qui culminent en de gigantesques paroxysmes, toujours bien maîtrisés par le chef. Jamais les fortissimi, nombreux et apocalyptiques, n'écrasent le son. Les cuivres, pourtant nombreux et sonores (pas moins de dix cors, dont quatre « tuben » wagnériens), ne dominent jamais le puissant quintette de cordes. Le scherzo alterne martèlement énergique et rêverie poétique dans une rythmique parfaitement équilibrée. La grande méditation de l'adagio constitue probablement le sommet expressif de toute l'ouvre. Hantée de silences angoissants, elle coule comme un fleuve inexorable, ponctuée d'élans inassouvis.

Dans le final, Yannick Nézet-Séguin déploie toute la magie orchestrale possible, dans un dédale de pistes divergentes qui au terme du voyage convergent vers une coda triomphale, éclatante comme un lever de soleil.

Contrairement à bon nombre d'exécutions plus enveloppées de brumes et de perspectives lointaines, l'interprétation proposée et admirablement défendue par Yannick Nézet-Séguin et les musiciens de la phalange toulousaine est pétrie de chair et de sang, soutenue par une tension et une énergie constantes. De la bien belle ouvrage.

(…) quel génie chez Britten et ses quatre Interludes de l'opéra Peter Grimes. Avec maintes couleurs et subtilités dans le discours, Nézet-Séguin recrée le cadre exact de chaque tableau, depuis les profondeurs de la mer jusqu'à la tempête qui secoue le ciel. (...) Le jeune chef termine avec La Mer, de Debussy. Préparation à un enregistrement ces jours-ci, mais, déjà, réalisation très impressionnante, tour à tour lyrique et rageuse, et toujours détaillée.

(…) Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes is a fantastically vivid soundscape that the OM captured tenderly. Debussy's La Mer was a classic, if a little obvious, selection. Nezet-Séguin proved himself a capable purveyor of the French tradition. Pierre Mercure's . linked the program together with its scene of Montreal's industrious optimism of the 1940s, and it was a treat to hear playing of such affectionate vibrancy as the OM devoted to Mercure's score.

Kate Mollison  

A la fin, les applaudissement fusaient de toutes parts : une ovation du public envers l’orchestre et le chef qui, en retour, applaudissait l’orchestre et vice-versa. (...) ils ont joué de manière si éblouissante, avec des sonorités si brillantes, leur jeu fut si discipliné, de façon si consciemment consistante dans leur dynamique et si vitale dans leur articulation. Bref, comme nous les avions rarement entendus.

Le jeune homme au pupitre qui a réussi une telle performance (...) s’appelle Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Son métier principal est d’être le chef de l’orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal (au Canada) et il est considéré comme une des étoiles montantes parmi les jeunes chefs d’orchestre. (...) Avec cette interprétation propre et nette de l'oeuvre (Dvorak: Symphonie No 6 en ré) dont il a gommé toute la sensiblerie slave, il a démontré que l’on peut métamorphoser un bon orchestre en un ensemble de premier ordre. (…)

(…) This LPO concert may well have been Nézet-Séguin’s London debut. He left his mark! (…)Debussy’s ‘Faune’ (…) received a compelling performance, which was launched by Celia Chambers’s flute solo. (...) his gestures are demonstrative, he lives every note, yet the ears heard a refined if sensuous account, very suggestive in its light-breeze rustling, fluid phrasing, a suggestion of drama under the surface, and eroticism at the generously moulded but not indulged climax. This strongly atmospheric performance – with rich-sounding harp flourishes
and very sensitive solo strings, vividly detailed yet appropriately ‘hazy’, and with enough emotional ‘distance’ to retain the music’s intangibility – could not have been a more impressive ‘introduction’ to this conductor.

Nézet-Séguin is also an alert accompanist, very much ‘with’ Herbert Schuch’s (…) Beethoven’s poetic Fourth Piano Concerto. (…) Nézet-Séguin elicited woodwind details usually submerged by either the soloist or the strings. (…) This was, (…) especially in the first movement, a reading that made one listen and think. Nézet-Séguin has keen ears (he seems to like highlighting the violas’ lines); if he hears something not quite as it should be (or as he wishes) he pounces
on it with a technical acumen that puts things right – cliché: ‘he knows what he wants and how to get it’. One also senses that Nézet-Séguin likes to leave something in reserve for the concert itself; he has the ability to make things happen on the night, and the members of the LPO certainly seemed to be hanging on his every gesture. (…)

Dvořák’s Sixth Symphony was vibrant and alive in the most positive way. (…) With the finale, (…) came (…) something of the Bohemian outdoors (…) an infectious swing informed the music, pointed rhythms sparkled and there was a drive that was inexorable rather than hard-driven.

With one star snowed in, another steps in (...) Nézet-Séguin brought out the full sensuousness of Debussy's music in L'Après-midi d'un faune and La Mer, earning a well-deserved roar of approval from the audience. (...)

(...) Dobson's interpretation is powerful in a youthful, extroverted, heart-on-sleeve, dramatic, even operatic sort of way, appropriate for a singer still in his early 30's. (...) He was helped in no small way by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the keyboard. (...) his playing was fresh, crisp, assured, well paced, and above all very much alive, (...) Nézet-Séguin was ever the supportive colleague, breathing the music with the soloist. Kudos to him for not doing anything flashy to take the spotlight away, yet he was always there to offer sympathetic support. The eighty minutes went by in such a flash that I almost didn't want it to end. Let's hope there will be many more opportunities to hear these two young artists collaborate in the future.

Le désormais traditionnel concert du Nouvel An de l'Orchestre du Capitole était dirigé, pour la seconde fois consécutive, par le jeune maestro québécois Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Et l'on reste confondu, non seulement par le talent de cet artiste, tout fraîchement nommé à la tête de l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Rotterdam où il remplacera rien moins que Valery Gergiev en 2008, mais aussi par la formidable sympathie qui émane de ce personnage. Présentant avec un naturel fait de décontraction, d'humour et d'assurance, l'ensemble du programme, il met le public de la Halle dans sa poche en l'espace d'une seconde.(…) Richard Strauss et les suites pour orchestre de son Chevalier à la Rose donnent à l'orchestre l'occasion de montrer la rutilance de ses timbres et la puissance de ses cordes. (…) Mais l'enthousiasme d'un public comblé ne pouvait s'apaiser que par des bis que ces artistes (YNS et Emma Bell, soprano) ont volontiers donnés. (…) Encore deux moments inoubliables. Et parce qu'il fallait bien conclure, Yannick Nézet-Séguin attaqua la célèbre Marche de Radetzki, dirigeant autant l'orchestre qu'un public alors aux anges.

(…) Aussi à l'aise au micro qu'au pupitre, le jeune maestro québécois, qui dirigeait le concert du nouvel an toulousain pour la deuxième fois, sait communiquer son enthousiasme, son plaisir à diriger les œuvres de ses compositeurs favoris. Extraits d'opéras de Mozart et Richard Strauss, trois lieder de ce dernier, œuvres plus légères de Johann Strauss fils et Franz Lehar : le programme de ce concert festif était pourtant copieux et très délicat à mettre en place. Jouer la grande suite de l'opéra « Le Chevalier à la Rose » exige en effet d'un orchestre autant de virtuosité que d'élégance du style. Sous la baguette de Yannick Nézet-Séguin, les musiciens du Capitole ont dominé ces pages avec brio, restituant à la fameuse valse une séduction rythmique irrésistible. (…).