In an opinion piece in Sunday’s (11/4) Montreal Gazette, Montreal Symphony Orchestra trumpeter Russell DeVuyst writes, “In his Gazette review of two recent Orchestre symphonique de Montréal performances (‘Perahia finesses, Vengerov is feisty,’ Oct. 27), Lev Bratishenko writes: ‘The concerto was played with, or perhaps around, Nathan Brock on the podium. I have rarely heard him, but the [OSM]’s Conductor in Residence does not seem to have [Kent] Nagano’s seniority and he does not have [the soloist, violinist Maxim] Vengerov’s physical intensity’ … Rarely heard him? A conductor is seen, not heard. A conductor does not make any sound. As Zubin Mehta once said during an interview on the Charlie Rose show: ‘You have to realize that it is the musicians that are making the music.’ Unfortunately, the current image of a symphony-orchestra conductor is all about glamour and charisma, and that is what the audience now expects. … The conductor’s role has taken such a place of importance that it dwarfs even that of the composer whose work is being performed. … But which of the two is more important? … Bratishenko continues: ‘it was an uneven match, though I suspect there are few conductors with the determination … to bring this soloist to heel.’ Is the suggestion that the conductor should try to control the soloist? I hope not.”
Posted November 8, 2012
