“When Kent Nagano takes the podium to lead the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in a program of Mahler and Debussy at the Festival de Lanaudière in Joliette, Que., it not only marks the resumption of the summertime classical music fixture after last year’s cancellation because of COVID-19, but also the return of the maestro who led the orchestra as its music director from 2006 to 2020,” writes Brad Wheeler in Wednesday’s Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada). Nagano is currently music director of the Hamburg State Opera and Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s conductor emeritus. “The concert takes place at the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay, where 831 people will be allowed to attend in a venue with a capacity of 7,000. According to Nagano … the program came together late because physical-distancing considerations affected the logistics of the presentation…. Nagano: Throughout the world, it’s been very difficult to make any sort of long-term planning…. Two and a half weeks ago the outlook became positive enough that we allowed ourselves to be optimistic and to put together the program…. What’s the right way to celebrate the fact that we can now come together as a community?… It’s been so rich and rewarding to come back.”
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