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Schumann, Mendelssohn: Nicholas Angelich (piano), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 24.1.2009 (SRT) 

Schumann: Overture, Manfred

Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 “Reformation” 


Few young conductors on the international circuit are arousing as much interest as Yannick Nézet-Séguin just now. Recent feathers in his cap include replacing Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and becoming Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic, as well as many commitments in his native Montreal. The SCO have done us all a service by bringing him to Scotland to cast his energetic vision on these Romantic staples. He is scheduled to conduct Elijah at the end of this week: if this concert is anything to go by then it will be a surprising and exciting reading indeed.

Nézet-Séguin’s style is characterised above all by a compelling sense of energy and thrust. His gymnastics on the podium are exhausting to look at (no wonder that he was drenched in perspiration by the end of the evening!) but he is one of the few conductors I have seen where watching him genuinely enriches the experience of listening. With most conductors the nuts and bolts are taken care of in rehearsal; this young man makes you think that he continues to create new things in the crucible of the performance.

Manfred started as he meant to go on: with a compulsive drive that feels unstoppable.  The opening three chords exploded off the page as if we had joined in mid-way through a conversation, and the main allegro surged forward with the passionate intensity befitting Byron’s hero. It suited this music brilliantly, especially the poignant drama of the tempestuous strings. Similarly, the Piano Concerto was stamped with an unmistakably extrovert feel. Angelich’s opening tumble down the keyboard felt almost out of control and the first movement seemed to career towards the cadenza. It was certainly exhilarating, though I couldn’t help but feel that some of the sentiment and subtlety of the work got lost en route. This was certainly true in the Intermezzo, which here felt almost brash, except for the marvelously distinguished contribution of the cellos. It wasn’t helped that the dynamic level had very little variation at all throughout the concerto: both orchestra and soloist played at a steady forte or mezzo forte from beginning to end. This wasn’t a problem for the finale, which really danced, particularly in the coda which had an irresistible skip to it. I got to the end feeling excited and exhilarated, but also a little drained. As a coda Angelich played Träumerei, which was everything the concerto was not: soft, nuanced and subtle.

However, the conductor’s gifts for drama found a natural home in the Mendelssohn. This work, written originally to mark the tercentenary of the Augsburg Protestant Confession of 1530, is all about struggle, particularly in its first movement where Nézet-Séguin’s natural energy drove the piece like a dynamo. Here there was subtlety, of a kind: the gentle strains of the “Dresden Amen” alternated with the declamatory brass of the introduction creating a sense of tension from which the rest of the movement drew its energy. The most interesting moment was the reappearance of the Dresden Amen at the end of the development when it seemed, albeit temporarily, to pacify the recapitulation. The Scherzo bounced along in an almost bucolic way, while the aching slow movement felt almost like a lost aria, the strings again shining magnificently. Nézet-Séguin showed a convincingly architectural grasp of the work, building towards the emergence of the chorale (Ein Feste Burg) at the start of the finale, stealing in gently on the winds before building, inexorably, to dominate the movement, and its symphonic treatment was most convincing. Finally it blazed golden in the closing pages. Nézet-Séguin’s youthful exuberance suits this music perfectly, and both he and the orchestra were given an especially enthusiastic ovation at the end. I can’t wait to hear what he does with Elijah!

Simon Thompson


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