Alain Trudel
Conductor & trombonist
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Alain Trudel at the NACO
October 15, 2007, 9:00 pm
Audience misses out on masterful show
Richard Todd
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, October 05, 2007
The National Arts Centre's Southam Hall was barely half full last night for one of the most interesting concerts given there in recent memory.
The program was given half to Bach and half to Stravinsky, the latter represented by one of his subtlest and most intriguing masterpieces, The Soldier's Tale.
Things got under way with Bach's Concerto in C for two harpsichords. The soloists were two of Canada's finest practitioners of the instrument, Thomas Annand and Luc Beauséjour. Pinchas Zukerman led the orchestra from the first violin chair.
Harpsichords were not created for spaces as big as Southam Hall. From any distance away they tinkle rather than sing. By listening carefully, though, you could hear the many beauties that the soloists brought to the concerto, particularly in the slow movement in which the orchestra was silent.
Zukerman also led the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G as a member of the ensemble. This is one of Bach's jolliest works and last night's rendition was robust and animated. It was excellent.
The real plum in last night's musical pudding was the Stravinsky. It's a Faustian tale for a small ensemble of actors and a septet of various instruments. And in this presentation, the principals were also represented by some two-dimensional, cartoon-like puppets in a realization by Douglas Fitch, and there were a few interesting video and visual effects here and there.
All in all, the puppetry's contribution to the success of the enterprise was significant, if far from dazzling.
The story concerns a soldier on his way home on leave. He is accosted by the devil, who buys his violin with a promise of wonders to come. Things do not turn out well.
Zukerman played the violin, but did not lead the performance. That task fell to Montreal conductor Alain Trudel. A conductor at the head of a seven-piece ensemble is an odd sight, but never mind. There was little left to be desired in the interpretation or the playing. The tiny ensemble of NAC Orchestra principals was simply outstanding.
The violin represents the soldier's soul and the devil's eventual triumph. Thus Zukerman's superb fiddling was perhaps the most important factor in the success of the presentation
The three actors were also outstanding: Frank Moore narrated with authority and imagination; Bruce Dinsmore was the soldier; and, in an unusual bit of casting, the devil was a woman, Moira Wiley.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2007
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