In Thursday’s (6/1) Montreal Gazette, Arthur Kaptainis reviews the world premiere of “Samy Moussa’s First [Symphony], subtitled ‘Concordia’ and intended both as the principal Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal’s celebration of Montreal’s 375th anniversary and—as [Music Director] Kent Nagano put it in a spoken address to the audience—an attempt to ‘imagine what a symphony in the 21st century might be.’ There can be no doubt that Montreal-born Moussa and the big-time Montreal multimedia studio Moment Factory (Marie Belzil, director) have produced a viable alternative. This was a stimulating and ultimately stirring conception that managed to propel its musical and visual components with a commitment that could justly be called symphonic. Projections were on translucent drapes hung above the orchestra … Now a dual resident of Paris and Berlin, Moussa is quickly becoming a go-to guy on both sides of the Atlantic. It is not hard to hear why. His music is rich, communicative and, despite its interludes of dissonant heavy weather, redoubtably tonal. … Given its accessibility, flair and manageable length, Moussa’s Symphony might well stand alone as a concert piece without the Moment Factory accoutrements.” The program opened with Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9.

In photo: Kent Nagano leads the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Samy Moussa’s First Symphony on May 31, with visuals by the Moment Factory. Photo: Allen McInnis/Montreal Gazette

Posted June 1, 2017