A New Day Dawns In Montreal

Kent Nagano has taken his first bows as music director of the long-beleagured Montreal Symphony, and Arthur Kaptainis says that there’s no question that the new boss has brought some big new ideas with him. “Textures were clear and rhythms distinct. It was as if we were reading the score with our ears.” But the most striking aspect of Nagano’s musical style may just be how seldom you notice him. “His podium style is so fluid and so naturally integrated with the sounds he creates that he seems less a conductor than a vessel for the music.”