An eagerly-awaited evening on Saturday July 20 at the Amphithéâtre de Lanaudière: the young Isareli pianist Yoav Levanon made his debut with the Montreal orchestra in an eminently spectacular concerto, the Tchaikovsky. We’ve heard the praises of this young man, who made his stage debut at the age of 7, no less. The imperial entrance of the horns, absolutely perfect, gives a glimpse of something calm, in terms of tempo, but masterfully designed. Then comes Levanon. A certain strength of gesture, to be sure, but without any particular sparkle. Then there are a few technical errors here and there. You can forgive them, of course, if only they are offset by a total and communicative commitment. But not here. In the end, you stay firmly in your seat, never lifted by an emotional surge that you’re waiting for in vain. The performance is adequate, at best. Lebanon finds some life in an encore : very beautiful and excitingly expressed Campanella by Liszt. The OSM, on the other hand, is superb in its variety of colours. Payare does his best to dress things up. It’s almost faultless, a very short but noticeable rhythmic shift in the woodwinds in the 3rd movement denying a note that could have been perfect. In the second half, we waited impatiently for the orchestra in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, hoping to find a dose of adrenaline that Levanon’s piano had previously failed to provide. The colours are beautiful, very beautiful indeed. Payare weaves an appropriately shimmering canvas, with beautiful, expressive nuances. The orchestra’s ensemble playing is top-notch, particularly the brass, vibrant and stentorian. The woodwinds chirp and twirl spectacularly, and the strings are soft and warm on this slightly chilly evening. That said, some rather ostentatious technical errors were made by a few soloists in open passages (trumpet, horn). We’re not used to that. Fortunately, others were sublime: Andrew Wan, solo violin, divine, bewitching in his beauty of sound. Long ovations from the audience confirmed this. Mathieu Harel too, absolutely perfect in his bassoon solos. All in all, perhaps not the OSM’s best evening, but the match was saved at the very end of the half.
période romantique
