MONTREAL — Big crowd in the Maison symphonique. More sweaters than jackets, not a tie to be seen. Vigorous applause, silence between movements. This must have been the season opener by Orchestre Métropolitain under its artistic director for life, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
The multitasking maestro is much loved by his fellow Montrealers, and the feeling is mutual. There is a familial quality to his hometown appearances. He always picks up a microphone and speaks to the crowd in an informal style. Not that musical essentials are secondary. The concert of Sept. 20 was admirable from start to finish.
The structure was standard: 10-minute starter, star soloist in a concerto, major showpiece after intermission. The program began with the world premiere of Shpiming Nangokaa, an evocation of the night sky and its mythological inhabitants by Barbara Assiginaak, an Anishinaabe composer of uncommon imagination and accomplishment. “In the sky there are many star beings” was the English translation of the title offered in the program notes.
Many were the extended techniques in this starlit score — lightly stamping feet among them. Percussion was varied and abundant. But the impression was of organic expression rather than self-conscious experiment. The Indigenous content of music written for a Western symphony orchestra might be hard to define. Its presence was felt nonetheless.
Nézet-Séguin had absorbed the work in all its quiet beauty. He beat a few bars of silence after the sounds had faded away. Such conclusions do not always produce a robust response, but this crowd gave Assiginaak (who was present) a standing ovation.
Next up was Antoine Tamestit in William Walton’s Viola Concerto of 1929 — the world’s leading practitioner of the instrument playing the ranking concerto written for it. Or so it seemed on this occasion. This 47-year-old Frenchman produces a sweet rather than throaty tone that fills the hall effortlessly. Chiaroscuro was supple, intonation impeccable. Melancholy and restless energy were two sides of a coin.
Nézet-Séguin and the splendid OM were part of the mix. The conductor was so impressed by the tranquil ending that he sat on the podium with his head in his hands. Tamestit (who also spoke convivially in French to the crowd) offered a gentle encore: John Dowland’s “Flow, My Tears” in an arrangement for viola and harp (the latter delicately played by Robin Best).
There was more English music after intermission: Holst’s The Planets. As ever, the dynamic range was wide. “Mars” lacked nothing in fortissimo fury (the timpani roll very much part of the texture in the four-f final chord), and “Jupiter” vaulted boldly forward (slowing down perhaps a bit too much for the big tune). Yet the most striking elements of the performance were the subtle touches. “Mercury” was quicksilver, and “Venus” (starting with wonderfully secure horn solos) seemed paradoxically chaste in her magnetism. “Saturn” (fortified by 10 double basses and organ) offered a hypnotic reminder of the relentless onset of old age.
The fadeout of “Neptune” was beautifully calibrated. Credit Julie Dufresne and Pierre Tourville for preparing the 21 sopranos and 15 altos of the Choeur Métropolitain. As one of the singers reminded me in a chance meeting in the metro, it was a long day, rehearsal included, for four minutes of music!
Not to worry. The dedication of all concerned produced a terrific start to 2026-27.
Nézet-Séguin wore a sparkling jacket, perhaps to coordinate with the astronomical thematics of the afternoon. One presumes the conductor took the rest of the day off. He was scheduled to open the Metropolitan Opera season on Sept. 22 and the Philadelphia Orchestra season on Sept. 24. His next gig with the OM is on Nov. 1. Montrealers can hardly wait.
