For the first time in its history, the finale of the OSM Competition featured not one, but two saxophonists, in addition to a trumpeter and a bass trombonist. And for the first time in its history, the top prize went to a saxophonist, Chinese-Canadian Jason Xu.

It was with him that the final of the competition opened, with a performance of André Waignien’s Rhapsodie for alto saxophone. This piece gave him no respite. There aren’t many lyrical passages, but he’s able to make the lines sing in a virtuosic way. Xu has a beautiful, expressive and silky sound. However, we lose him a little on the soft nuances, but the orchestra, conducted by Jacques Lacombe, could have played less loudly. Otherwise, one of his qualities is to make a whole with the latter. You can quickly sense the chemistry between soloist and orchestra.

The second candidate was Ottawan trumpeter Charles Watson in Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. Stoic, he took up the challenge of playing with a rounded sound, without force or flamboyance, using finesse and clean articulations. However, there was a slight lack of nuance and phrasing. No one knows if concentration earns points, but he was occasionally disturbed, notably by applause in the wrong places, despite the warnings, and by the cries of a toddler. Also, a concerto cadenza is not a jazz solo: you don’t applaud at the end of it and when the orchestra resumes! Despite this, Watson remained unperturbed.

After the intermission, it was Malena Lorenson’s turn to perform John Williams’ Concerto for Tuba (yes, him), but adapted for bass trombone. Despite a few cracks at the start, her performance was breathtaking. The sound is even throughout the instrument’s vast register, and Lorenson easily rises above the orchestral ensemble. It should not be forgotten that the concerto is designed to be played by a valve instrument, whereas on the trombone, it is the arm alone that moves a slider to make the note changes. Lorenson renders these complex gymnastics with impressive ease, and also outdoes herself in the articulations of the lower register. A native of Alberta but currently studying in Montreal, she was roundly applauded by the audience.

The afternoon line-up concluded with Bingchen He. The second saxophonist of the evening chose to perform Henri Tomasi’s Concerto for alto saxophone. There are plenty of notes, but little added value in virtuosity. As in Williams’ Concerto, the orchestration is very dense and, unfortunately, the saxophone is eaten alive on several occasions. He takes up more space on stage than the others, and there’s a sense of less symbiosis with the orchestra. After lengthy deliberation, the results were as follows:

1st prize: Jason Xu

2nd prize: Malena Lorenson

3rd prize: Bingchen He

4th prize: Charles Watson

The international jury, chaired by Aline Sam-Giao, General Director of the Orchestre philarmonique royal de Liège, was comprised of : Leone Buyse, Ida and Joseph Kirkland Muller Professor Emeritus of Music at Rice University, Manon Lafrance, trumpeter and teacher, Louise Pellerin, oboist and professor at Zurich University of the Arts, Rafael Payare, Music Director of the OSM, Jacques Lacombe, conductor and Peter Sullivan, principal trombone with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

photo : Antoine Saito

Second stop on Friday October 18 for the Orchestre Métropolitain on its Beethoven marathon at the Maison symphonique with Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

After a heroic introduction the day before, the next kilometer to be covered by the metropolis’ orchestra was devoted to symphonies n^o 6, known as “Pastorale”, and n^o 7, preceded by a premiere by young composer Francis Battah, already the recipient of several distinctions in Europe and Canada. His Prelude to Urban Landscapes, which opened the evening, was specifically conceived to precede the first movement of Symphony n^o 6. In this short piece, Battah reuses several thematic materials from the “Pastorale”, deconstructing and modifying them through complex language and writing. The use of several playing modes (arco for strings, flatterzunge for winds) lends the work a dynamic character and a strong timbral dimension. The piece ends with a ghostly string glissando, before moving straight into the first movement of the Sixth Symphony. The transition is naturally astonishing and fluid, so much so that the musical quotations, which we do not necessarily recognize immediately, but which we distinguish by the evocation of timbre, have prepared our ears for “l’Éveil d’impressions agréables en arrivant à la campagne”.

One of the most descriptive pieces in Beethoven’s symphonic catalog, Symphony no 6 is also one of the composer’s best-known works, in which it can be easy to fall into easy listening and autopilot, so familiar are its themes that they have been played and heard over and over again. Yannick doesn’t take the easy way out. Conducting the entire symphonies by heart, the conductor calls on every musician in his orchestra to sculpt meaningful phrasing and lines. After the luminous energy of the first movement, the second (“Scènes au bord du ruisseau”) plunged the audience into a soothing, restful state with ethereal sonorities. The third movement exuded a genuine village festive spirit, with the winds standing out overall, despite a few minor inaccuracies. After the festivities, thunder is heard in the fourth movement, heralding the storm. A storm that YNZ gently initiates, as if in the distance, before building in intensity to the point of eruption. With careful control of dynamics, the pastoral song that follows concluded the symphony with serenity.

The second part of the concert, dedicated to the Seventh Symphony, offered a contrast in its bright, rhythmic and vital character. The first movement was regal in character, with a tempo that Nézet-Séguin deployed with elegance. Magisterial was the transition from attacca to the famous second movement, a dramatic funeral march, in which everything, from dynamics to nuances, was just right and balanced. The exposition of the movement architecture was finely constructed by the conductor, in particular by highlighting the interaction between the violin and viola lines. The third and fourth movements, marked Presto and Allegro con brio, were a fantastic, breathless ride in which the rider Nézet-Séguin had great fun, almost dancing on the podium, infusing the various sections of the orchestra with a festive, captivating vitality. This performance was the highlight of the evening. At the end of the run, the orchestra received long applause from a relatively large, jubilant audience.

Addressing the crowd, Yannick Nézet-Séguin issued this invitation: “Sunday, 11am. Tell your friends!” The invitation is made. And we’ll be there for the rest of the tour.