OSM | A Morning of Lightness

Less than twelve hours after performing a concert version of Mozart’s opera Cosi fan tutte as part of the festival of the same name, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and Rafael Payare presented two of the composer’s last works: Piano Concerto No. 27, with Kevin Chen as soloist, and Symphony No. 41, known as the “Jupiter” Symphony.

From the very first movement of the Concerto, we sense that everything will be in finesse, even before the soloist enters. At this point, our impression is confirmed; the fingers almost float over the keyboard. A real dialogue is established between Chen and the orchestra, with whom he constantly makes eye contact. The second movement is a gentle delight that takes us elsewhere, into a plaintive, restful, almost meditative world. This excerpt, full of emotion where the notes held never die, would certainly have been the subject of a replay on a digital application.

The “Jupiter” symphony that follows follows in the same vein as the Concerto, i.e., everything is lively, lilting, rhythmic, but light-hearted. All the more so since “one of the themes of the first movement is a bass aria written for an opera by Anfossi”. There’s something lyrical about this first movement.

The third movement could have been more dance-like, in keeping with the minuet tradition. Marked Menuetto : Allegretto, it tended more towards the second part of its surtitle, with a little more gallantry than usual.

The exclamation point of this symphony is undoubtedly the final movement. Indeed, Mozart’s final symphonic page is a jewel of contrapuntal writing, with no fewer than 5 (!) themes continuing uninterruptedly. It’s a compositional tour de force, but also a challenge for the conductor, who has to balance the sound so that the whole doesn’t become a jumble, which Payare succeeds in doing brilliantly. Constantly on his toes, he keeps everything under control. He even does the long reprise, like Labadie and Nagano’s previous versions, but which is not fashionable on disc. The timpani, hidden on the right, punctuates the phrases and ends of the sections, and provides the energy for the various climaxes. A quick note to say that the concert opened with pianist Chen’s solo performance of the Fantasy in C minor K. 475. This sombre but beautiful piece had more the air of a salon piece. Not because of the interpretation, quite the contrary, but because of the slight uproar caused by the admission to the hall of the dozens of latecomers who had arrived by bus for this school morning. No doubt listening to the same concert in the evening would have been different. But there was something beautiful about seeing and hearing the OSM’s “regulars” repeatedly questioning and taking an interest in these young people from all over, some wearing a piece of clothing bearing the effigy of their music program.

Photo Credit: Antoine Saito