“Moreover, it wasn’t all Argerich. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a 34-year-old Montreal native, is making his L.A. Phil debut this week and he conducted the concerto as if the occasion were as important as it turned out to be. He was also extraordinarily attuned to Argerich, facing her during her cadenza passages and really listening. The Philharmonic also rose to the occasion with absolutely top-flight ensemble work. I’ve never heard this concerto played better.”

“Following the well-deserved thunderous ovation, Argerich playfully joined Nézet-Séguin in a four-hand arrangement of an excerpt from Ravel’s “Mother Goose” Suite, which proved that, in addition to his other talents, Nézet-Séguin knows his way around the keyboard” 

“Add Los Angeles to the list. Nézet-Séguin is cut from the same bolt of cloth as Gustavo Dudamel: tres-exuberant on the podium, rapier-like baton thrusts, beaming with wide smiles, etc. Despite seating the cellos in the middle of the ensemble, which would normally produce a deep, luxuriant tone, Nézet-Séguin coaxed the orchestra to deliver the lean sort of sound that we used to hear from the Montreal Symphony (that city’s “other” orchestra) when Charles Dutoit was at its helm.”

“However, this most familiar of Shostakovich's 15 symphonies was laid out expertly, to my taste. Conducting without a score (as was the case in La Valse), Nézet-Séguin’s tempos tended to be on the deliberate side for the most part but the tension never flagged, even for an instant, and everything made sense. The third movement, in particular, unfolded as one gigantic arch, and the final movement built inexorably to a majestic, shattering conclusion.“

“Nézet-Séguin is clearly a conductor to watch carefully in the future. Let’s hope there are plenty more opportunities in Los Angeles.“

“Thursday’s program began with Ravel’s “La Valse” and ended with Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.  In everything, Nézet-Séguin -- who is flashy and hyper-expressive in his gestures -- got a sound I had never quite heard before from the Angelenos.  It was lean, sleek, tart in the French manner, yet also very bold and forward.  It reminded me of the sound of the Montreal Symphony during the Charles Dutoit era, but with more punch.”

“In complete command of everything, Nézet-Séguin brought out interesting details in every phrase.  He quickly figured out what the orchestra could do and what Disney could do, and he went for an extreme dynamic range.  Climaxes did, however, turn a bit brittle.” 

“His interaction with Argerich was especially intriguing.  Ravel began his concerto with a snap of percussion, and conductor and pianist were off like racehorse and rider.  Argerich was the rider, but she challenged the conductor to be wild, seeming to take delight in being able to maintain her balance no matter what.  Through it all, she was ever cool, tossing off ethereal trills, when required, with a flick of the wrist.  The slow movement alone was worth the price of admission.  She has not lost her art of seduction.”

“For an encore, the conductor joined Argerich at the keyboard in a brief excerpt from Ravel’s “Mother Goose” Suite in its four-hand arrangement.  For all his cockiness at the podium, Nézet-Séguin, sitting next to Argerich and playing the second piano part, was like a proud but nervous schoolboy.  The performance had considerable charm. “

“La Valse” had a kind of charm as well in its suave parts and in that astonishing French sound Nézet-Séguin was able to achieve.“

“It had moments of great beauty.  The young conductor wrung from the (Shostakovitch) Fifth every ounce of emotion, and the composer gave him a lot to work with.  Inner lines were illuminated.  Orchestral colors were vivid.“

“Nézet-Séguin is a considerable virtuoso, able to slow down to a near stop and rush to finish with dazzling speed.  The last movement was not Soviet triumphalism but mad fury.“

Montreal-born conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin teamed up with French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet to make an impressive Boston Symphony debut. A relative newcomer to American audiences, Nézet-Séguin guest-conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra last December in performances of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto (with André Watts) and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ Symphony and is scheduled to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic (with Martha Argerich) in a program of Ravel and Shostakovich this March.

Although Americans are just getting to know Nézet-Séguin, he has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since March 2000 and has been making his mark in concert halls on the other side of the Atlantic since his 2004 European debut with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. At 34 years old, he has been appointed to succeed Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic this season, and since last September has been principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic.

The concert opened with a captivating account of Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales, music firmly established within the BSO repertoire. Nézet-Séguin elicited all the sumptuous textures and rich colors in the alluring score, the woodwinds sounding especially on their game, along with the orchestra’s eloquent strings, bright-sounding brass and gleaming celesta. The orchestra, so long accustomed to the expressive mannerisms of Seiji Ozawa and the swooping gestures of James Levine, responded with assurance to Nézet-Séguin’s vividly demonstrative conducting style.

The first half of the program concluded with a superb performance of Liszt’s compact Second Piano Concerto. Thibaudet’s sparkling articulation was matched by great tenderness and poetic feeling in the dreamy, more amorous sections, but there was plenty of bravura and panache in the more energetic passages. Thibaudet’s playing was splendid throughout, as was his rapport with Nézet-Séguin and the BSO players, who provided him with excellent support. Martha Babcock’s cello sounded especially gorgeous in her solo.

“ Thirty-four-year-old Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin reminds me a little of stage director Peter Sellars — he's small, with spiky short hair, and a dynamo. He conducts the Orchestre Métropolitan du Grand Montréal, and he's just taken over the directorship of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from Valery Gergiev. He's hot. In his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut, he led tight, eloquent performances of Ravel's elegant Valses nobles et sentimentales, Liszt's bravura but offbeat Piano Concerto No. 2, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Dvorák's earthy, nationalistic Symphony No. 6. He always seemed a step ahead of the orchestra, and the orchestra seemed to be hanging on every beat, ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go.

FBSO debut for a rising Canadian

The career of the French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been moving at light speed, though American symphony audiences are just now starting to get to know him. At just 34, he is in his first season as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, attempting to fill the shoes of Valery Gergiev, and this season he also began as principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2000, he has been leading Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain. Last night, he made an auspicious debut leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in works by Ravel, Liszt, and Dvorak.

Walking out onto stage Nézet-Séguin cuts a diminutive figure but once the music begins he is a whirl of irrepressible energy. His podium approach is vividly demonstrative and almost dance-like yet his gestures seldom seem designed for the audience's benefit rather than the musicians'. At least last night his technique served him very well as he drew vibrant performances from the orchestra, at once structurally coherent and viscerally exciting.

The program opened with Ravel's "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales" in a reading that seemed to relish this music's luxurious textures and rich palette of color. But the center of gravity on the first half was Liszt's brief but capacious Piano Concerto No. 2, with the French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Given this soloist's reputation for keyboard elegance, one would hardly expect a brash firebreathing account of this virtuoso work, and true to form, Thibaudet delivered a graceful and nuanced reading that strived for much more than pyrotechnic display. The work's passages of soft-toned reverie came across as cherished moments of repose, though Thibaudet did not shy away from the flashy and thunderous runs, dispatching them with a clear and forceful technique. Cellist Martha Babcock made the most of her solo turn.

“In orchestra years, a conductor in his 30s is a mere toddler, still framing out basic concepts of cause and effect as he moves through the world. Yannick Nézet-Séguin is no toddler. He's 33, but already he has a sophisticated set of skills. The Montrealer, who made a Philadelphia Orchestra debut of considerable impact Thursday night, has the full concept of ensemble control under his belt.“

“With some gorgeous phrase-shaping and meticulously detailed dynamics, he put a personal imprint on Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Add to all this an unpretentious, smiling, journeyman stage persona, and what comes across the footlights in Nézet-Séguin is an extremely promising talent.”