ConcertPulse
Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal / Alexandre Kantorow / Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
There is only one direction known to Alexandre Kantorow’s career, and that is up! Since winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019, the young French pianist has ascended to the highest echelons of the global classical music scene like few before him. This evening is the crowning glory of Kantorow’s residence concerts during this Elbphilharmonie season and sees him come together on stage with some illustrious colleagues: the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal under the direction of Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Nezet-Seguin has been principal conductor of the most important orchestra in his Canadian hometown for 23 years now. During his tenure he has managed to shape the Orchestre Métropolitain into a truly world-class ensemble. After opening the evening with Maurice Ravel’s savage parody of the sound world of the Viennese waltz, they delve, together with Kantorow, into a no less dizzying ride on the razor’s edge: Camille Saint-Saëns’ highly virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2. The dark, veiled world of a freely fantasizing introduction is followed by a malleable scherzo that comes across as the incarnation of French elegance. Anyone astounded by the frenzied runs of this movement should brace themselves for the breakneck finale! After the interval, Piotr Tchaikovsky’s harrowing Symphony No. 6 brings the evening to a serious close.