Tag: Classical

Review: Mastro Tausk and the VSO open the season with a wonderful Firebird

An Assured performance of Stravinsky’s ballet was the highlight of a mixed bag season opener.

Otto Tausk conducts the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s the Firebird

Symphony season is back! The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra opened their 2024/25 season with a program of big Russian warhorses with a bit of a twist. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t but the continued confidence of the VSO’s playing made it an exciting sign of things to come.

Tausk’s Firebird hasn’t really changed much since 2018. There is still a fantastic sense of pacing, a good ear for textures, and a strangely slow infernal dance. The thing that has changed since 2018 is the relationship between conductor and orchestra, which has only deepened over the last six seasons. In 2018 the ballet sounded like it was finding its footing as it was going along, taking about a half an hour or so to settle in. In 2024 Tausk and the VSO were in the zone right from the top, nailing the atmosphere right away. The orchestra plays with a warmth and clarity that has only continued to improve as the Tausk years go by.

As for the pacing, Tausk wisely keeps the ballet moving at a fluid pace. This is the key to performing the full ballet as the incidental music can really die if left to wallow. The biggest compliment I can give Maestro Tausk is that by the time the performance got to lead up to the infernal dance I was almost surprised that we were there so quickly. Tausk and the orchestra never let the music lose my interest at any point. No self indulgence to be had here.

As for the big set pieces for the most part they were very well serviced. I had forgotten until back in the moment just how slowly Tausk takes the infernal dance it’s almost jarring after the pace of everything else. For me it worked tough, the orchestra managed to convey a grounded nature to it that built to a manic accelerando at the end. The highlight of the performance overall though was the section bridging the infernal dance and the finale. Principal Bassoonist Julia Lockhart delivered a fantastic solo and the VSO strings were as gorgeous as I have ever heard them in the tremolo build up to the finale. The finale brought the piece to a beautiful close. Tausk and the VSO nailed it in 2018 and they did here as well. Maybe the brass could have let loose a little more near the end, but with playing at this level it was hard to complain.

The twist to Friday night’s performance of the Firebird was that it was accompanied by”symphonic cinema” which was a “live directed” silent film by director Lucas van Woerkum. I am not going to lie to you I was too locked into the Orchestra’s performance itself (credit to the VSO and Tausk for that) to have really paid attention to the film itself. From what I got though it very much came off as an art instillation film, nothing super spectacular, but nothing offensively bad either. The best I can say for the film is that it didn’t add or detract from the performance itself. Given what I feared this could have been, I consider that a victory.

I wish I had more positive things to write about Stewart Goodyear’s rendition of Rachmaninoff’s third piano ticket that occupied the bulk of the first half of the program. Rach 3 is a tough customer, it contains gobs and gobs of notes, but really can’t sound like the soloist is just playing gobs and gobs of notes. There needs to be great clarity in the voices, and a real emotional weight to make the concerto work to its fullest potential. Goodyear seemed like he barely had the gobs and gobs of notes under his fingers, let alone getting close to achieving anything else. It just kind of felt like the concerto swallowed him whole. The thundering climactic cadenza of the first movement felt meek and unbalanced, the second movement failed any sort of lyricism, and all of the finale’s energy came from the VSO powering the movement forward. Unfortunately the less said about this one the better.

The concert opened in full with Jocelyn Morlock’s Night, Herself  which is a beautiful 10 or so minute piece that is very emblematic of its composer. Rhythmically inspired and very texturally colorful,  Night, Herself is one of the nicer “contemporary composers rework a familiar theme” pieces. One wishes the VSO could have done a more wide ranging tribute to Morlock throughout the season, but the bit we got here was nice.

At the OSM: Rafael Payare is the real deal

A brilliant season closing Mahler 3 cements The OSM and Payare as one of the most exciting conductor orchestra pairings in the world.

Rafael Payare conducting the OSM in Mahler’s 3rd Symphony.

2023 is turning into the year of Rafael Payare. His first year as music director of the Orchesre Symphonique de Montreal seemed from the outside to be a sterling success. Rave reviews both at home and abroad, very successful guest conducting stints (including a performance of Brahms 1 in LA that blew me away), and an exciting new recording of Mahler 5 have kept his name in the back of my brain throughout the first half of the year.

Ultimately though hype can sometimes just be hype, especially in the world of classical music, (cough Klaus Makela cough) it takes strong performances to really back it up. Wednesday night’s performance of Mahler’s gargantuan third symphony with the OSM was the kind of performance that backs up a reputation. This was as striking a Mahler symphonic performance as I have heard, live or otherwise. The hype is real. Payare is indeed the real deal.

A lot had been made of the fire and intensity that Payare gets from an orchestra. His performances are dynamic and exciting for sure. What strikes me more in the performances I have seen though is the keen intelligence of his interpretations. His April Brahms 1 with the LA Philharmonic felt pitch perfect as if he had found the platonic ideal of that particular work. Thursday night’s Mahler 3 was similar in the sense that most of the choices Payare made just felt right. The contrast in the first movement’s two “marches” was made very clear through bold tempo and stylistic choices. With an especially singing opening horn call and slower tempo Payare and the OSM created an opening theme of deep mystery on the verge of sadness. This contrasted a secondary march theme that felt earthy and pinned to the ground while never loosing its jubulance or becoming led footed.

The biggest, and perhaps smartest, choice though was the prominence of the brass. This was some of the most motivated and incredible brass playing I have heard from an orchestra and every chance that he got Payare really brought it forward. Whether it was the beautiful unison playing of the horns, the incredible solom trombone solo, or the driving trumpets everything that was on display in the first movement seemed to come from the brass outwards. It was a decision that, in a way that seems true to Payare, just felt right and made the long first movement, and really the entire symphony, feel powerful and connected.

The second movement showed off Payare’s noticeable skill of creating music that really floats. Like the third movement of his La Phil Brahms 1, this second movement glided through the air almost without a pulse, creating a real surene, sureal atmosphere throughout. It felt unique in the Brahms, and it did here as well. The other thing that struck me through the middle movements Wednesday night was the OSM found the perfect Mahlarian character of sound. This was especially prominent in the calls from the excellent woodwind forces in the second movement and the wonderful backstage trumpet solo in the third. For an orchestra not primarily known for this music this was impressive.

Michelle DeYoung sang the 4th movement with beautiful clarity backed by an orchestra that delivered a perfectly creepy atmosphere. The fifth movement  too was wonderfully sung between DeYong, the women of the OSM chorus, and Les Petits Chanteurs de Mont Royale and had the appropriate spring in its step.

The cherry on top of this great performance though was the incredible finale, which was perfectly executed by all parties. From the opening chord of the movement you could tell that the OSM strings were on pure form shaping each line to perfection. Payare’s tempos were perfect as well, slow enough to savor the melodic lines but never slow enough to veer into self-indulgence. Perhaps the biggest compliment I could give Payare in the final movement is that it felt, down to the timings and all, very early Haitink-esque. It all built to the perfect final chord which felt like it could have resonated forever if it was not for the excited crowd ready to give the symphony its due. Truly special music from what seems to be a very special conductor and orchestra partnership.

Some other brief thoughts:

  • As a first time visitor I have to say I was very impressed with the overall sound of the Maison Symphonique. The sound is clear and detailed but never cold. I would not call it a blow away acoustic (places like Walt Disney Hall or Severance Hall to name examples) but I would call it a higher level space than the new Gefin Hall in New York and if it was the concert hall I regularly visited I would never complain.
  • Payare is a fun conductor to watch move on the podium. He moves and sways up and down with the music but at the same time seems to have quite subtle hand gestures. It’s all very transfixing.