Once again, the OSQ played in front of a completely packed Raoul-Jobin hall. With an increasingly diverse audience. A very good thing.
The concert was above all a celebration of the talent of Airat Ichmouratov, since the musician was as much in value as a conductor as as a composer, his Piano concerto, op. 40, being created on this occasion.
Written around ten years ago, the score was finally recorded two years ago (with its Viola Concerto No. 1) with the prestigious Chandos label in the company of no less than the London Symphony Orchestra. The performer of the work on disc, Montreal pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, put his shoulder to the wheel again for this world premiere in front of an audience.
For those who do not know Ichmouratov, his music, entirely tonal, is anchored in a very Russian land, the composer, a Quebecer by adoption, having been born in Tatarstan, a region east of Moscow.
The first movement inevitably evokes Rachmaninov (his Concerto No. 3 in particular) and Tchaikovsky, the second Arvo Pärt (Estonian but born Soviet) and the last Prokofiev and Khachaturian.
The inspiration is generous, a little easy at times, with certain lengths (at the end of the first movement particularly), but we listen with pleasure throughout.
Soloist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre (Olivier Croteau/Archives Le Nouvelliste)
The piano part is particularly advantageous for the performer, with its double octaves and large chords provided. A fine orchestrator, Ichmouratov places the orchestra as a full partner who has its say (we are far from Chopin’s concertos!). The wind parts (the composer is a clarinetist) are particularly virtuoso.
Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, who is often heard in the post-romantic repertoire, is very comfortable in this language, hence a side that is sometimes a little demonstrative (hand effects included).
As an encore, he played the last part of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 by Liszt, not without some technical problems (very steep octaves, which we can understand after the final fireworks of the concerto). Then – a rare occurrence at the OSQ – a second reminder, which we were unable to identify before deadline.
There Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36, by Tchaikovsky, was an ideal complement after the break, also Russian in purpose, but eminently darker.
Airat Ichmuratov is not just a composer who conducts. He was even an assistant to Yoav Talmi almost 15 years ago.
Her Fourth of Tchaikovsky is a model of balance. Some might wish for the third and final movements to be a bit faster, but the conductor frames things well, giving the orchestra time to sound, without ever rushing it. And the intensity never weakens, despite the relatively moderate tempos.
