A Review of the McGill Symphony Orchestra concert in Koerner Hall

Arthur Kaptainis, music critic at the National Post, attended the McGill Symphony Orchestra's concert on November 17th in Toronto's Koerner Hall. Here is the text in his article that refers to the McGIll Symphony Orchestra.  The full review can be found in the sidebar link. 

Arthur Kaptainis: A nonstop flight the following morning got me to Toronto and Koerner Hall in time to hear Alexis Hauser (a Viennese conductor who is, in my quaint opinion, no less capable than Barenboim) lead the McGill Symphony Orchestra, which is generally deemed the best student band in the land.

Now, it is not as though we often have a chance to judge the other candidates. All the same, this fiery account of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony had the stamp of championship work. Strings were searing or spectral as required. Accents were exacting in the Allegretto and the celesta and harp effects of the Largo could hardly have been more magical. Brass in finale were bold, never coarse. The balance of bombast and bitterness was caught to perfection.

OK, maybe the Vienna Philharmonic strings would have sounded plusher in the slow movement, with its many sectional divisions. But in other respects the search for ways in which this “student” performance sounded less than fully professional was futile. Solos everywhere were superb (three cheers for that glowing principal flute). And all the technical particulars came packaged with the enthusiasm of youth and the insight of a conductor who was aware of the tragic dimension of the music.

Before intermission we heard Over Time, John Rea’s crafty 1987 study in becoming without being, and Brahms’s Double Concerto, which brought together the embracing cello of Matt Haimovitz and the clarion violin of Axel Strauss. Their slightly different perspectives enlivened the work. And fear not. They got it very much together in the heartwarming Andante. This concert on tour was aimed at McGill alumni, who applauded early and often.