Three Farewell Concerts | Kent Nagano is back in Montreal

A year after Orchester canceled all his concerts with the Symphony de Montreal, Kent Nagano is back in Montreal to say his “goodbye”. However, he maintains a valuable relationship with the ensemble, which gives him the honorary title of Emeritus Conductor.

Alexander Vignelt
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In the last 16 years, Kent Nagano has not spent so much time stepping foot in Montreal. It was not until mid-February, almost a year after the epidemic began, that he finally came to town, with enough time to honor the period of mandatory loneliness before going to work. At 9 Maison Symphony for the three farewell concerts he will hold from March.

This reunion, often postponed, makes him happy. “OSM and I are so close, I was disappointed that I couldn’t give a point to this musical phrase,” Maestro said, adding that people here also have good words, without whom he and The Orchestra would not have been able to build, he believes.

This link is indelibly etched in the history of OSM: Kent Nagano has been awarded the title of Conductor Emeritus by the Board of Directors for its “artistic and humane contribution” to the whole and to the Quebec community. Only two of his ancestors deserve the same honor: Wilfried Pelletier and Zubin Mehta.

“It’s very rare, it’s a great honor,” said Kent Nagano, “deeply moved” by this honor.

Revised programs

Kent Nagano said he was briefly overwhelmed by what he called the “new normal” imposed by the pandemic after being filled with the feeling of a stranger. He traveled less (he admits, “it’s better to live without jet-lag”), spent hours at the piano and fed the silence. “Silence is not a moment when nothing happens,” he observes. As a musician, we rely on moments of pause to generate comments, and breaks are very active. ”

During the imposition of time, he revised the concerts he directed in Montreal. He is not a musician of Mahler, Bach, Ravel or Strauss, but Hayden, Mozart, Schubert and others. Chamber music n^The 1 – He has never performed with OSM.

He said these changes were inevitable. “It requires a huge compromise in terms of music to perform the same works while respecting sanitary conditions,” he argues. It makes a difference if you try to do really great work Symphony n^The 2 Members will not be accompanied by a small group of voices and the Chamber Orchestra to honor the safe distance by Mahler… ”

Concert events have changed, but the inspiration for animating them remains: to provide an overview of the concerts that OSM and Kent Nagano have explored and illuminated together over the past 16 years. He explained that he had relied on classic works or works from the beginning of the Romantic era because there was no need to compromise on an aesthetic level.

He further stated that he had chosen Concerto for organ in G Minor, FP 93, to present the Grand Org Pierre-Beek by Poulenk, which is “still considered the best in the world”. The majestic device is touched by its holder Jean-Willy Kunz.

The concerts on March 9, 16 and 23 will have their live broadcast live at 7pm and will be offered over the next three weeks. On the OSM website. Tickets are on sale on the same platform this Thursday.