Largest CD collection influenced Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads three important orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin • 60 Minutes • Metropolitan Opera • Classical music • Orchestra • Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor and director of three major orchestras, credits his early 12,000 CD collection with influencing the musician he is now. 

Every symphony by Brahms, every symphony by Beethoven, every symphony by Bruckner, every symphony by Mahler—I would go to a record store and buy CDs and find repertoire after repertoire, he added. "At that time, I yearned to hear and own every recording of every symphony. And I'm not afraid to admit that it has greatly influenced who I am as a musician.

12,000 CDs is not an exaggeration, his parents said 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim. Nézet-Séguin has also developed his ear in more formal ways, of course. He conducted a church choir while studying conducting and piano at the Montreal Conservatory.

Nézet-Séguin guest conducted 100 orchestras while on the worldwide circuit in his 30s, visiting cities including London, Vienna, and Rotterdam. He conducted "Carmen" for the Met Opera for the first time in 2009, and he now directs the orchestras of Philadelphia and Montreal in addition to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. 

After his predecessor was expelled from the Met in 2018 due to sexual misbehaviour, Nézet-Séguin assumed control of the podium. The Met has had a hard time recovering from COVID and has delved into its endowment to pay about 10% of its $300 million operating budget. The Met is already dealing with dismal ticket sales and is constantly short on cash.

Nézet-Séguin is starting over, relying on new composers and new operas to draw in larger audiences and stabilise the financial situation. He is trying to balance traditional operas with contemporary works while threading the needle.

"To be honest, I'm not very worried about offending traditionalists. Because we'll still perform some Puccini and Verdi, I believe those who like our art form will continue to do so, according to Nézet-Séguin. "To me, it never has to do with not upsetting. And if some individuals are offended, that's too bad. They simply aren't required to attend every event we hold.

A recent performance of Terence Blanchard's opera "Fire Shut Up in My Bones," which was based on the autobiography of journalist Charles Blow, outperformed Verdi's famous Rigoletto in terms of attendance. Additionally, first-time Met attendees occupied half of the seats.

Over the course of the next five seasons, The Met will present 17 new and contemporary works; this is at a venue where it used to be almost a decade between new opera productions. This spring saw the release of "Champion," a jazz-infused piece by Terence Blanchard based on the difficult life of bisexual boxing champion Emile Griffith in the 1960s and 1970s. 

A conductor and a living composer came together to create "Champion" in a very uncommon way. The first Black composer in the history of the Met is Blanchard, a seven-time Grammy winner. 

Nézet-Séguin, according to Blanchard, "gets the story." "He understands the whole concept of mixing these various musical genres together."

During practise sessions, Nézet-Séguin also abandons the "old concept of authority." He claims that vocalists' fear of their directors can be heard in some vintage recordings. Nézet-Séguin said that it is stressful enough for musicians to perform on stage without the conductor holding out for them to mess up. 

When everyone is able to freely express who they are, the music triumphs, he claimed.

Nézet-Séguin appears to look simultaneously at singers on stage and musicians in the pit as he conducts. Every note is consecrated by the bounce of his baton.

But music must be treated seriously, he added, "I try never to take myself too seriously." 

Along the entire Eastern Seaboard, he applies this sensibility. He currently serves as the custodian of the orchestra in Philadelphia, which has a long history of international acclaim.

Nézet-Séguin has a lifetime deal with the Orchestre Métropolitain in his hometown of Montreal, which is hundreds of kilometres to the north. For more than 20 years, he has directed the musicians there, including his violist husband Pierre Toureville.

Nézet-Séguin occasionally conducts concerts in Philadelphia, New York City, and Montreal, but when asked if he has a favourite among the three orchestras, he declines. 

It's a really hard schedule, I can't dispute it, he remarked. "And even the word'schedule' — if, should I ever retire, I want to banish that word from my life."

Nézet-Séguin is constantly erasing the distinctions that have long turned off certain listeners to opera and classical music. 

"I hope that no one ever thinks, 'Oh, classical music is not for me,' once my time on Earth is up. It is for educated people. For the wealthy, only. The conductor declared, "It's for the white." "Whatever it is, I want everyone to think, 'Oh sure, there are parts of it I could appreciate. Blanchard is good, but I don't like Mozart. Okay, but at least you have the impression that you could visit since there would be something there for you.