Montréal's Orchestre symphonique conquers London

Habibi, Beethoven, Berlioz Javier Perianes (piano); Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal /  Rafael Payare. Barbican Hall, 19.11.2024

Iman Habibi Jeder Baum spricht (2020) 

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15 (1795, revised 1800) 

Berlioz Symphonie fantastique (1830) 

Launching their 2024 European tour at London’s Barbican Centre, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal under their dynamic principal conductor Rafael Payare offered rich fare. It was intriguing to hear them in the Barbican Hall, though, as opposed to in Montréal's Maison Symphonique: while their home base suits them perfectly, heir brightness of sound seemed emphasised by the Barbican acoustic, and at times it felt as if the hall was struggling to contain their sound. 

That said, there was plenty to enjoy, not least in Jeder Baum spricht (Every tree can speak) by Iman Habibi. I first came across Habibi’s music via the Azrieli Prizes and his piece Shāhīn-nāmeh (see my review of the London concert in 2022; the piece is also available commercially as part of the 3-CD set on the Canadian Analekta label in a set entitled New Jewish Music, issued to celebrate a decade of the Azrieli Prizes: Montréal's Orchestre Métropolitaine is conducted by Nicolas Ellis).  

The phrase ‘Jeder Baum spricht’ is found in Beethoven’s sketchbooks, and is itself a measure of that composer’s alignment with Nature (as expressed most overtly in his Sixth Symphony, the so-called ‘Pastoral’). This talk on the WRTI Radio station and available for free via streaming suggests that the song of the Yellow Hammerbird might have been the inspiration for the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Habibi suggests Beethoven would have heard this song (short notes followed by long) in the parks in Vienna. Habibi asked himself what would Beethoven’s response have been in a time of climate catastrophe?; Habini’s piece looks at the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies ‘through that lens’. 

The idea of music and Nature together inevitably brings in thoughts of growth and, naturally, organicism. Here, the music ‘grows’ from the bass up, and repeatedly tries to achieve a goal but is continually interrupted, as if attempts to help climate change are thwarted. Musically, the piece also reflects Habibi’s life and heritage: he studied Western classical music in secret before his family moved to the West when he was 17. So there is a motif (most prominently on clarinet) that is a Rückblick to Habibi's Iranian heritage. Some moments are lush and almost filmic, others more Modernistic, and Habini balances it all skilfully. 

Here's an alternative performance for you hear the score:

Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto is familiar territory, The soloist here, Javier Perianes, has just the right qualities: the nimblest of fingers, plus a keen and quixotic musical temperament. Payare only took away the back desk of the strings, leaving quite a large orchestra onstage, but textural delineation was such that there was little feeling of the overblown: strings were indeed rich, but nt over-burdened. Clean and crisp summed up the approach of both pianist and orchestra, and the performance was flexible and fluid enough to maintain expressivity without undue rubato. The slow movement was a dream, the perfect tempo, the music given space to breathe while still maintaining mobility. Little details counted so much, not last Perianes’ preternaturally even trills. Again, the finale felt at the perfect tempo, lithe, off-beats sprung, acciaccaturas on the piano fabulously snappy. 

One encore, and what a belter: Grieg’s ‘Notturno’ from the fifth book of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces (Op. 54/4), one of that composer’s finest offerings, and beautifully done by Perianes. 

Here is a performance of the Grieg by Perianes, caught this time in Tampere, Finland:

Berlioz’ Symphonie fantasique is another repertoire favourite. It emerged as newly-minted here. Everything was carefully placed by Payare: including in physical terms, with the important cornet à pistons player spatially removed from his trumpeter colleagues (closer to the two harps) for the obbligato in the second movement. 

Conducting flawlessly from memory, Payare clearly not only knows this score from within, but also cherishes it. Woodwind were superbly together and in tune at the opening; strings scampered infectiously later, low string accents keen. Rubato was perfect: the orchestra and conductor have such a remarkable level o mutual trust. Berlioz' modernist scoring came to the foreground; although on contemporary instruments, there were moment, almost shocking, that on would have expected to have such an impact only from a period instrument ensemble (try Marc Minkowski’s DG recording of this piece with les Musiciens du Louvre, for instance). Tiny details again impressed: the hon’s flawless oscillation between two notes a tone apart against gossamer strings in the first movement is but one example amongst many. 

This was a five-movement tableaux, each segment a tapestry in vivid colour. The ball was in bright light, but above all else was suave, the cornet pefectly balanced. Teasing rubato captivated, and again there was a distinct avoidance of over-egging the rubato pudding. Atmospherics were all in the ’Scène  aux champs’ (and how poignant the close when the oboe’s echo of the cor anglais’ plainttive song was replaced by rumbling percussion). Another example of that phenomenal accuracy: the flute and violin doubling, so perfect the composite sound was as one, a new and individual orchestral colour, an adorning of the line with sonic silver. There was drama, too, a French ‘Sturm und Drang’/ 

No surprise, perhaps, that the ’Marche au supplice’ was a masterclass in orchestral virtuosity. This was the rawest energy of the night, far more Moden in feel than any point in the Habibi; and a special shout-out to the OSM bassoon section, so importan (and flawless) in this movement.  

And so to the remarkable Witches’ Sabbath, where Berlioz’s imagination finds whole new universes. The woodwind ‘glissandos’ were remarkable; as were the Devil’s trills of the E flat clarinet solo (phenomenally do by Ryan Toher). This was a wild interpretation in all the right ways, underpinned by the clar vision and rhythmic sense of the conductor.  

The OSM really demonstrates what can be achieved musically when discipline and technical excellence become the handmaids of the music. As they did in the encore: the ‘Hungarian March’ from Berlioz’ Damnation de Faust (the ‘Rákòcky March’).  

A wonderful evening – and what a way for the OSM to launch their tour. The standing ovation was richly deserved.

Photos of the Barbican concert © Antoine Saito