MBC at La Maison Symphonique

     The Montreal Bicycle Club moved to a higher plain on Friday in the midst of the first snowstorm of 2020.   The occasion was an open rehearsal of the Conservatoire de Musique orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.   He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  The line waiting to enter la Maison Symphonique extended all the way through the underground Place des Arts, under Ste Catherine by way of the pedestrian tunnel, ending at the great space in Complexe Desjardins.

View from the seats of Queen Victoria, A.T., and Tibbs

Queen Victoria and Tibbs at the back of the Parterre

     Yannick was his usual amiable self but one could sense how his sense of interpretation has progressed in the last 10 years.    He knew what nuances he wanted to evoke, he had a total image of the piece in his mind, and he seemed to hear everything and to remember what he wanted to alter.  He gave the impression of someone totally immersed in a sea of music.  The peice that was rehearsed was Don Juan by Strauss.   It is a relatively short piece, but of great complexity and rather sudden changes in atmosphere.  The piece was played in its entirety, then worked on in segments.   Finally Yannick had it played again in its entirety.   Then the effect of this tone poem was impressive.   It places demands on each instrument of the orchestra.   The young violin solo and oboe solo of the Coonservatoire orchestra were particularly noteworthy.   They seemed to pass the bar set high by Yannick to have a singing tone that reflected the character of Don Juan.