Watch OSM musicians perform together for the 1st time since the COVID-19 pandemic began
For their happy reunion, they played Ravel's 'Le jardin féerique' under the direction of Thomas Le Duc-Moreau
La Maison symphonique de Montréal has been dark since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to concerts and silenced the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal for the remainder of its season.
On June 8, when certain restrictions on public gatherings were relaxed, the members of the OSM returned to the stage of la Maison symphonique for the first time since the lockdown began.
Some wearing face masks, and all of them spaced out onstage, they performed the second movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, and selections from Ravel's Ma mère L'Oye. There was no audience present.
Below, watch the fifth movement, 'Le jardin féerique," from the latter work.
The performance is conducted by the OSM's assistant conductor, Thomas Le Duc-Moreau. Music director Kent Nagano's tenure with the OSM ended during the COVID-19 lockdown, and plans to celebrate his time with the orchestra were cancelled.
"I had been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to make music in person again, and was glad to do it with Beethoven and Ravel," double bassist Scott Feltham told CBC Music. "But it wasn't without its difficulties caused by the unusual spacing, nor was it without anxiety about our health."
Feltham described the experience as "surreal," and added, "We all look forward to playing for a live audience again. There will be tears."