Folk / Folk Rock / latino / Rock / Trip Hop

Coup de coeur francophone – Gabriella Olivo + Daria Colonna

by Michel Labrecque

Bain Mathieu, a former public bath converted into a multi-purpose venue, is hosting Coup de Coeur Francophone shows for the first time this year. On November 13, a double album launch for women took place.

First, Gabriella Olivo, for her six-song EP, A Todos Mis Amores, released on October 25. Gabriella grew up in Stoneham, near Quebec City, with a Mexican mother and a father “blond and blue-eyed from St-Bruno”, she says on stage. Her mother always spoke to her in Spanish. She therefore grew up with two cultures, despite the ambient homogeneity of this Quebec City suburb.

Her young musical career is steeped in this bi-culturalism: she sings in French and Spanish, often in the same room. The result is ambient folk tinged with rock and seasoned with a little Mexican and Latin sound.

In this sense, it’s reminiscent of Kevin Johansen, whose mother is Argentinean and father American, and whose career in Spanish and English has been very successful in Latin America.

Gabriella Olivo lives in Quebec. But A Todos Mis Amores is her most Mexican opus, having been made in Mexico City with producer Santiago Miralles. Although still with a meditative folk-rock sound, this mini album is more sprinkled with Latin influences than her previous album, Sola. After all, Mexico City knows how to blend rock and Latin influences.

All of which is to say that this EP is a great listen, and so is the live version, enhanced by some of the earlier tracks. All the more so as Gabriella shares personal anecdotes and stories on stage that give context to the songs. “Right now, the world is really fucked-up,” she quipped, alluding to recent political news. By way of consolation, she offered us the magnificent song No te Olvides De La Luz. How to find the light in the darkness.

The young Mexican from Stoneham is one to watch. And, as she said: “Vive le Coup de Coeur Hispanophone”, although she also sings in French. And it’s going to stay that way,” she told me after her performance.

With Daria Colonna, we enter a completely different universe. Le requiem des sirènes saoules is the title of her debut album, released in May. Quite a program.

“It’s my first show,” she confesses on stage at Bain Mathieu. Daria Colonna, 35, is well known as a poet. Her latest collection, La Voleuse, earned her nominations for several poetry prizes.

So we went along to this stage premiere, six months after the release of the album. Musically, we’re in a mix of trip-hop and synthetic rock, with more acoustic episodes.

Daria Colonna opens her book on her multiple states of mind, with a focus on the “intense” woman, to whom she dedicates an ode. It’s about desires, anxieties, a dangerous life, thirsts, in every sense of the word. Clearly, Daria Colonna is not lacking in intensity. She knows how to write lyrics. On stage, I found the results less convincing than on record.

But she is a musician and singer in apprenticeship and gestation. We can perceive an original, independent trajectory, where words will always be privileged. Which is not always in the zeitgeist. And that’s good.

Classical / Modern Classical / période romantique

OSM | Alpine Symphony: When Woods Become Sherpas

by Alexis Desrosiers-Michaud

These are the last concerts this week for the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) before its forthcoming tour, which will take it to the finest concert halls in Europe over the next few weeks. For the occasion, it was the turn of Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony to be broken in, conducted by Rafael Payare.

As a curtain-raiser, the OSM also presented Jeden Baum spricht “Chaque arbre parle” by Iranian-Canadian Iman Habibi. According to the program note, this work would have had everything to gain from being included in last month’s OSM Beethoven Marathon. It ticks all the boxes of how the composition competition was presented at the concerts, or, roughly speaking, how the composer can express today the influence that Beethoven has had on his life. To take things a step further, it is written that the very title comes from one of Beethoven’s diaries. And that’s what we hear! Habibi skilfully uses the dramatic, country aesthetics of the Fifth and Sixth symphonies, without quoting them, in a tripartite structure, with agitated brass and percussion, but calmer strings and woodwinds. This leads to a grandiose, hopeful finale. In short, something more interesting than the two creations we personally attended at the Sunday, October 20 concerts. We can’t help smiling when we recall that the OM competition dates back to before the pandemic, and when we read that Jedem Baum spricht was premiered in 2020 as a commission from the Philadelphia Orchestra, which is conducted by… Yannick Nézet-Séguin!

24 hours before the concert, the OSM announced that Scriabin’s Piano Concerto would be replaced by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Third Concerto , still performed by Bruce Liu. The latter will thread the concerto with finesse and fluidity. He never forces, picks or over-stamps. His right hand is so agile that trills are almost imperceptible, and his nuances are breathtaking. Liu has the ability to suspend notes at the last moment to dampen a phrase or change character. The beginning of the second movement transports us into another world, with a comforting left hand and a melody barely touched by the fingers of the right hand. No one gave an explanation for the change of work, but this performance was well worth it.

The Alpine Symphony is impressive in terms of length (45-50 min.), dense instrumentation (abundant brass and percussion sections, unusual instruments) and thematic flourishes, but you have to delve into the details to really impress. With more or less 130 performers, playing loud is child’s play, but it’s not always easy to measure out the nuances. As Payare prioritizes the instrument family most likely to be buried, namely the woodwinds, everything balances out. As experienced guides, they were brilliant, individually and collectively. From the very first note, bassoonist Stéphane Lévesque and his colleagues set the calm mood of dawn, against a background of imperceptible violins. Then, new principal oboist Alex Liedtke distinguished himself in a distant solo. Later, the same Liedtke, with clarinetist Todd Cope and the legendary Timothy Hutchins on flute, literally had us on the edge of our seats on the eve of the storm, not quite sure when the sky was going to fall. The Post-GoldenElegy was even better. The abyssal gulf in orchestration (from full orchestra to intimate, chamber formation with woodwinds, horn and trumpet solos on organ pedal) doesn’t affect the playing in the slightest. The trap of excitement and agitation of the previous section is avoided, and we swim in a moment of zenitude. Throughout the symphony, the horns were present without being overpowering. In fact, they could have taken up more space in a few places, such as each time the chorale motif is repeated from the outset. The volume of the banda was good, and the horns made a real impact in their long Summit melody, but it wouldn’t have been as excellent without the contribution of the strings below, which dictate the phrase without releasing the tension in the long notes. In short, the Alpine Symphony may tell the story of an adventurer’s ascent alone, but this magnificent performance is the work of a collective perfectly aware of the role each must play to reach the summit.

Photo Credit: Antoine Saito

Art Rock / Folk / Rock

Coup de cœur francophone | David Bujold and Bandit Voyage

by Michel Labrecque

David Bujold, founder of the art-rock band FUUDGE, officially launched his first solo album, Le Sol ou le Ciel, as part of the Coups de Coeur Francophones festival. It was an ethereal, starry journey on a rainy November evening.

This album, which I have already reviewed on this site, represents a folk mutation for the stoner rock singer. We’re in a universe akin to Sufjan Stevens or acoustic Beck. Which is not to say that this proposal lacks originality. Bujold transposes these influences to create his own universe, with his ironic, second-degree lyrics.

The marriage between strings (violin and viola), guitars and vocals works. Lovely short instrumentals alternate with the songs. A few notes of piano and keyboards discreetly dress things up. Vocal harmonies pop up at just the right moment.

An atmosphere is created, and we magically find ourselves in the family cottage where the album was recorded, as David Bujold tells us. This cottage where, “during the holiday season, we listen to Debussy until four in the morning”, he tells us.

The song titles are very indicative of this atmosphere: Donne-moé aux Pauvres, Un Bal dans un Fusil, Ton Coeur a pu une Cenne. Not to mention the refrain “j’ai jamais été aussi ben…que demain”. Second degree, I tell you. In fact, it’s in the lyrics that we can connect the universe of FUUDGE to that of Le Sol ou le Ciel. Texts obsessed with life and death…or the opposite.

In this ethereal, meditative folk, we also sense a rock spirit. In the middle of the song Ton cœur a pu une Cenne, we think we hear Offenbach’s Promenade sur Mars. Voluntary or not? I don’t know.

Be that as it may, the packed audience at Le Verre Bouteille, certainly including many friends, was clearly delighted with the offering.

The opening act, Swiss-Genevan duo Bandit Voyage, led us into their sympathetic surrealist universe, with influences from the Sixties and the New Wave of the Eighties.

Ghosts of Rita Mitsouko or Loundge Lizards, but smoother and less serious.

Anissa Canelli (vocals, guitar, mini-saxophone) and Robin Giraud (vocals, bass), are accompanied by purely eighties synthetic drums. They talk about the ghosts of Brigitte Bardot, mental health and Los-Angeles, where they began their career in 2017.

Two merry men who are enjoying some success in French-speaking Europe. Le Verre Bouteille was a little too small a venue for them to really immerse us in their delirium. One thing’s for sure, they seemed really happy to be in Montreal.

To get a better idea, listen to their recent Pastcore EP or their previous album Was Ist Das (2023). You be the judge.

Prog Rock / Rock / Space Rock

David Gilmour in NYC: The Pilgrims Were Jubilant!

by Martial Jean-Baptiste

NEW YORK

The atmosphere at Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening was electric: 19500 spectators attended the concert by legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. The program featured his latest album, Luck and Strange, created in collaboration with his wife, author Polly Samson.

It’s been almost 10 years since the arrival of this solo album, which incidentally topped the UK Billboard charts on its release last September.

Dressed in a T-shirt, black jeans and equipped with his Black Cat Strat guitar, the master of space/prog rock quickly took matters into his own hands, performing the song 5 AM, a track from the 2015 album Rattle that Lock.

He then followed up with the first tracks from his latest recording, Black Cat and Luck and Strange. According to the man himself, this is probably his best solo album since Dark Side of the Moon in ’73 – a statement he made during an appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last week. Matter for debate, no doubt.

Given the musician’s stature, you obviously had to pay a small fortune to attend this concert and, in my case, fly almost 600 kilometers to hear one of the world’s most influential guitarists. And, believe me, he didn’t disappoint anyone!

Despite his 78 years, Gilmour hasn’t lost an ounce of energy on stage. From the very first guitar notes, Gilmour’s sound and voice were unmistakable, as he effortlessly strummed his guitar strings.

This is David Gilmour’s fifth solo album, and the crowd at this legendary venue was delighted to see that the guitarist had taken care to recall his talent by playing, among others, Fat Old Sun from the album Atom Heart Mother (released in 1970). After this piece, he received a huge ovation from the colourful crowd, whose ages ranged from 25 to 77.

The visual environment for this show was entrusted to a long-time colleague, lighting designer Marc Brickman, who worked with Pink Floyd for many years in the late 70s. He was responsible for the set and lighting design of the famous 1979 show The Wall.

During the first part of the show, Gilmour played no less than 9 pieces from the Pink Floyd repertoire. Another highlight of the concert was The Great Gig in the Sky, one of the legendary pieces from Dark Side of the Moon (1973), an album released 50 years ago. For the performance, pianist Louise Marshall, the Webb sisters and the guitarist’s daughter, Romany Gilmore, were entrusted with the task. The ambience was spectacular, with candles arranged over the piano and those gorgeous voices i contrasting with Clara Tory’s mythical vocals on the original recording.

To mark this anniversary, the London-based group launched a vast promotional campaign. In the wake of this release, special screenings took place in Montreal and elsewhere around the world, at the Planetarium and SAT.

The Madison Square Garden crowd was in full voice too! We sang Wish You Were Here (1975) in unison, and I was there too, because without betraying my age, it brought back very old memories. David’s sensual guitar and warm voice took many back to the great years when Pink Floyd reigned unchallenged at the pinnacle of prog and space rock. David Gilmour has also surrounded himself with excellent musicians on guitar, keyboard, bass and drums.

The end of the show did not disappoint. As an encore, David Gilmour and his band played Comfortably Numb from the famous album The Wall, written by Roger Waters.

This show marked the end of a series of concerts that began in London, at the famous Royal Albert Hall, followed by Italy (Rome), a country the guitarist is particularly fond of.

Photo Credit: David Gilmour’s Instagram account

Contemporary Opera

Festival du Monde Arabe 2024 | Sainte Marine: a character and a opera between two worlds

by Frédéric Cardin

Saturday 9 November saw the premiere of Sainte Marine, an opera by Katia Makdissi-Warren (of the OktoEcho ensemble), with the support of Chants Libres, opera company directed by Marie-Annick Béliveau.

Listen to my interview with Marie-Annick Béliveau about the character of Sainte Marine and the opera itself (in French) :

The opera is described as immersive, which is apt given that the audience and the artists are dispersed in the same spheric shared space: the dome of the SAT (Société des Arts Technologiques) in Montreal. What’s more, the artists move through the audience, who are free (sometimes forced) to change places, sit or stand, depending on their interest in one musician rather than another. The dome itself serves as a screen for various projections during the show. Some are pretty (drawings of flowers, plants, trees), others touching (candles accompanying an introspective musical passage towards the end of the work), but too often they are limited to spurts of coloured lines or sketched shapes that seem to severely under-use the modern potential of digital visual art.

The music evokes traditional Maronite songs from Lebanon (think Sister Marie Keyrouz), as Sainte Marine lived in what is now Lebanon around the 5th century. The vocal score evolves with simple and above all modal lines carried by the amplified voices of Marie-Annick Béliveau, a mezzo-soprano who is sometimes asked to deviate considerably in addition to singing and narrating, and a trio of male bass voices, Sainte Marine’s ‘brothers’ in the monastery (she was a women posing as a male monk all her life). What we hear is mostly ritual or incantatory chant, virtually devoid of any harmonisation, except for some polyphonic writing for the trio of male voices. The effect is certainly sometimes trance-like, but above all emotionally stunted. There were a few times when I thought I would have liked a fuller drama.

Michel Duval, David Cronkite et Clayton Kennedy, basses
cr.: Camille Poirier
Sainte Marine, opéra immersif

The instrumental score is the one that spans the widest range of styles and effects. I particularly liked the flutes proposed by the composer: the classical traverso and alto played by Marie-Hélène Breault, and above all the traditional iranian nay superbly played by Aymen Trabulsi. They are the anchor in this distant world of the Levant, both culturally and temporally. Then the percussions (very good Bertil Schulrabe) and piano (Pamela Reimer) disguise the cultural authenticity initially sketched out with interventions that are sometimes contemporary, elsewhere jazz or slightly pop. All the stylistic personalities described so far occasionally overlap, but more often than not come together in a grouping for which I hesitate between the qualifiers of curious or happy. It’s a bit like tasting a dish that I like, but wonder what’s missing to make it really tasty.

The quality of the performers is undeniable, even if I felt Marie-Annick’s voice was a little fragile, even hesitant, in a few passages. Perhaps this was intentional, to better embody the character? Once again, I hesitate.

Sainte Marine is a very interesting proposition, but it will need some aesthetic refinement and tighter dramatic writing (both musically and on stage), and then some je-ne-sais-quoi still to be determined, to enable it to reach its full potential.

Line up :

Marie-Annick Béliveau, mezzo-soprano; Marie-Hélène Breault, flutes; Aymen Trabulsi, nay; Pamela Reimer, piano; Bertil Schulrabe, percussion; Michel Duval, David Cronkite and Clayton Kennedy, basses

Katia Makdissi-Warren, conception and composition

Marie-Annick Beliveau, conception, libretto and artistic direction

Charlie Poirier-Bouthillette, video design

Normal Studio, immersive production

Flavie Lemée, lighting design

Marianne Lonergan, set and costume design

Angélique Wilkie, dramaturgy

Classical

Jason Xu, first saxophonist to win top honors at the OSM Competition

by Alexis Desrosiers-Michaud

For the first time in its history, the finale of the OSM Competition featured not one, but two saxophonists, in addition to a trumpeter and a bass trombonist. And for the first time in its history, the top prize went to a saxophonist, Chinese-Canadian Jason Xu.

It was with him that the final of the competition opened, with a performance of André Waignien’s Rhapsodie for alto saxophone. This piece gave him no respite. There aren’t many lyrical passages, but he’s able to make the lines sing in a virtuosic way. Xu has a beautiful, expressive and silky sound. However, we lose him a little on the soft nuances, but the orchestra, conducted by Jacques Lacombe, could have played less loudly. Otherwise, one of his qualities is to make a whole with the latter. You can quickly sense the chemistry between soloist and orchestra.

The second candidate was Ottawan trumpeter Charles Watson in Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. Stoic, he took up the challenge of playing with a rounded sound, without force or flamboyance, using finesse and clean articulations. However, there was a slight lack of nuance and phrasing. No one knows if concentration earns points, but he was occasionally disturbed, notably by applause in the wrong places, despite the warnings, and by the cries of a toddler. Also, a concerto cadenza is not a jazz solo: you don’t applaud at the end of it and when the orchestra resumes! Despite this, Watson remained unperturbed.

After the intermission, it was Malena Lorenson’s turn to perform John Williams’ Concerto for Tuba (yes, him), but adapted for bass trombone. Despite a few cracks at the start, her performance was breathtaking. The sound is even throughout the instrument’s vast register, and Lorenson easily rises above the orchestral ensemble. It should not be forgotten that the concerto is designed to be played by a valve instrument, whereas on the trombone, it is the arm alone that moves a slider to make the note changes. Lorenson renders these complex gymnastics with impressive ease, and also outdoes herself in the articulations of the lower register. A native of Alberta but currently studying in Montreal, she was roundly applauded by the audience.

The afternoon line-up concluded with Bingchen He. The second saxophonist of the evening chose to perform Henri Tomasi’s Concerto for alto saxophone. There are plenty of notes, but little added value in virtuosity. As in Williams’ Concerto, the orchestration is very dense and, unfortunately, the saxophone is eaten alive on several occasions. He takes up more space on stage than the others, and there’s a sense of less symbiosis with the orchestra. After lengthy deliberation, the results were as follows:

1st prize: Jason Xu

2nd prize: Malena Lorenson

3rd prize: Bingchen He

4th prize: Charles Watson

The international jury, chaired by Aline Sam-Giao, General Director of the Orchestre philarmonique royal de Liège, was comprised of : Leone Buyse, Ida and Joseph Kirkland Muller Professor Emeritus of Music at Rice University, Manon Lafrance, trumpeter and teacher, Louise Pellerin, oboist and professor at Zurich University of the Arts, Rafael Payare, Music Director of the OSM, Jacques Lacombe, conductor and Peter Sullivan, principal trombone with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

photo : Antoine Saito

Contemporary Jazz

ONJ, Miho Hazama and the Power of Women in New Jazz For Large Ensembles

by Vitta Morales

The ONJ continued their season of good form at Le Gesù this past Friday, November 8th. Under the direction of Grammy nominated Miho Hazama, (who we had the pleasure of interviewing here at PAN M 360), the ONJ played an evening of music showcasing compositions by Hazama herself, as well as other women in jazz including Maria Schneider and Christine Jensen. Additionally, in this same spirit, more than half of the band for this concert was made up of women musicians, most of whom formed the sizable string section.

As concerns the compositions themselves, they exemplified modern jazz band music in all of its “colours.” Here I’m using that term to refer to all the timbral considerations that must be accounted for when writing for a large jazz ensemble. Frankly, the amount of sound combinations that are available, (especially when strings are added), is massive. Hazama, however, made very pleasing and interesting choices.

Her skill in orchestration could be discerned from the very first piece, in fact. Her composition, “Run,” began with clever use of artificial harmonics in the strings which created a pad for the horns and rhythm section to make their entrance. In some moments she proceeded with a mellower choice of brass, preferring a combo of flugelhorn, french horn, and trombone instead of trumpets; at other points it was saxophones being traded in for flute and oboe; and still in other moments, vocals were added.

The latter was provided by the talented Sienna Dahlen who sang on several pieces and even treated the audience to a vocal solo which showed off her ability in extended vocal techniques. Other notable solos came from Jean-Pierre Zanella on soprano sax, Bill Mahar on flugelhorn, and Gentiane MG on piano.

My only true gripe came from the occasional rhythmic discrepancy in the string section. Though nothing too egregious, some punches were interpreted with a slightly different groove than the rest of the band and it didn’t seem like everyone knew when to push or pull. One poor violinist could even be heard tapping her foot determinedly in order to help her play a syncopated pizzicato section. Having said that, the entire band nailed the background figures during Kevin Warren’s drum solo, and so this groove discord was not a problem at all times. I suspect Summer Kodama’s rock solid time feel on her bass might have helped bridge this rhythmic gap as she was, perhaps even poetically, situated in the very middle of the horns, strings, and rhythm section. All told, a very successful night of eclectic modern chamber jazz for the ONJ as they continue their season programming.

Choral Music

ArtChoral | Autumn Colors in Half-Tone

by Alexandre Villemaire

The Maison symphonique was packed to the rafters for the first concert of the 2024-2025 season by Ensemble ArtChoral, conducted by Matthias Maute, with piano accompaniment in some pieces by Meaghan Milatz, “Discovery of the Year” at the last Prix Opus.

The premise of the concert, and of Maute’s theme of fallen leaves, was an escape into the autumnal Paris of the Belle Époque, as well as into the colors of Canadian autumn. Indeed, this concert was not all French chanson and melody. There was also Canadian choral music represented by composers Afarin Mansouri, Alice Ho, Beverley McKiver and Sandy Scofield. Of these, McKiver’s Dreamers’s Rock and Scofield’s The Sacred One are particularly noteworthy, as the themes of these pieces, rooted in their Aboriginal origins, were very telling.

The concert was divided into two symmetrical parts. Each began with pieces by Gabriel Fauré, whose death in 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his death. This was followed by a piece performed by the Grand Chœur, an ad hoc ensemble of some one hundred choristers from fifty choirs in the Montreal region. The final parts of the concerts were once again performed by the singers of the Ensemble ArtChoral. The members of ArtChoral took to the stage in a procession to Fauré’sAve verum , led by Matthias Maute, entering simultaneously from the garden and courtyard sides of the stage, red roses in hand.

Among the only pieces specifically written for Faurean block choir, we were surprised in Madrigal by the conductor’s choice of staccato vocal articulation in the opening lines of Armand Sylvestre’s poem, in contrast to more legato interpretations generally heard. Understandably, this articulation responds to the piano accompaniment, provided here by, but despite a solid interpretation by the voices, the lyrical character of the text was diminished. Most of the Fauré works performed were solo melodies arranged for four accompanied voices. This treatment, which is a step up from the originals, gives a new dimension to the works and text, which are attractive but unevenly rendered. May, Butterfly and Flower and Dans les ruines d’une abbaye were among the most interesting. It’s also worth noting that, to our ears, the four-voice treatment meant that, at times, the intelligibility of the text was lost. The homogeneity of the ensemble’s timbre also had the perverse effect of giving some pieces a hushed, almost meditative quality, leaving little room for expressiveness. In contrast, Les Djinns, a poem by Victor Hugo which Fauré sets to music with a quasi-operatic musical treatment, was sharply precise, with a coherent and precise play of nuances. The menacing character of these evil geniuses from Arab mythology was palpable, from the murmurs initiated by the mezzos to the rumbling of the basses, culminating in a breathless vocal torrent that gradually fades to silence.

In the first part, the Grand Chœur performed two choral pieces: Upon your heart by Eleanor Daley and Terre-Neuve by Marie-Claire Saindon. Daley’s piece is in a very airy style, with close harmonies that the choristers performed well, despite perceptible differences in timbre between the voices. Saindon’s piece offered a similar harmonic texture, with a more dynamic varnish where passages of body percussion exemplified the cracking of ice. This was not the only element that cracked in this piece. A general confusion of rhythm and notes forced the conductor to restart the piece after a few seconds. Once they’d left, the result was highly appreciable. Calling on a choir made up of amateurs, however good they may be, inevitably entails elements of risk and unbalance in terms of the vocal aesthetics of the concert. But the commitment and determination of these singers, whose passion and love of choral singing are the driving force behind their performance, must be underlined. To find them in the first rows of the stalls singing Katerina Gimon’s All Together We Are Love is a perfect illustration of this honorable dedication.

After offering Joseph Kosma’s famous piece Les feuilles mortes, the Ensemble ArtChoral concluded its concert with an interpretation of songs by Édith Piaf, arranged by Jean-François Daigneault and William Kraushaar in contrasting stylistic approaches. Whereas Daigneault favors a textural, effect-oriented approach, notably in La foule, where the voices imitate the timbre of the orchestral accompaniment, Kraushaar focuses on the clarity of the text. His arrangement of the popular aria Dans les prisons de Nantes beautifully accentuated the modal character of the piece.

Despite a few minor hiccups in interpretation, Matthias Maute’s dynamism and conviviality, and the inventiveness of his program, like the piece that ended the evening, we have no regrets about attending this concert.

photos : Tam Lan Truong

Africa / Flamenco / West African traditional music

Malasartes | Noubi and His Melting Pot of Sounds

by Sandra Gasana

Accompanied by flamenco composer and guitarist Caroline Planté and Venezuelan Héctor Alvarado Pérez on bass, it did not take too long for Noubi to invite Argentine saxophonist Damian Nisenson on stage. The latter, who had introduced the evening a few minutes earlier, is the man behind Malasartes, the creation and production company behind this series of autumn concerts.

Noubi’s themes range from youth issues, politics and individualism in Western societies, to denouncing violence in all its forms, as he does in the track Nanela. It was during this track that the audience began to dance, unable to sit still any longer, as Noubi got the audience involved in the chorus in Wolof.

He takes the time to thank his audience after each track, in French and in Wolof, his mother tongue. Indeed, this native of Saint-Louis in Senegal is very attached to his language, since all his tracks are in his native tongue, to which he adds a few French lyrics here and there. Caroline and Héctor also sing backing vocals in Wolof on some tracks, adding an extra element of surprise to the show. Mainly on his cajon, he plays guitar once or twice, complementing his musicians. The strong complicity, especially with Damian, was felt throughout the show, the two having worked together for several years since his debut in Montreal, as part of Diversité artistique Montréal’s mentoring program.

Noubi also pays tribute to his mom on Légui, “thanking the woman who made him the man he is today”, he confides. He also shares his collaborations with great artists such as Brazil’s Bia Krieger and Mexico’s Mamselle Ruiz, on the track Sourire, both of whom are unfortunately absent.

In the track Autrement, he invites the audience to take “a new look at the world, a new look at life”, between the jerky rhythms of the cajon and the flamenco guitar, which merge perfectly. I was surprised to see how well the rhythms of Mbalax went with the flamenco style, an original combination. And that’s exactly what came out of this concert: Noubi’s openness to others, to other rhythms from Latin America and elsewhere, all with originality, while inviting the audience into his Senegalese-Quebecois universe. A true melting pot of sounds.

Classical / période romantique

OSL | Rencontre(s) au sommet with Antoine Bareil and Adam Johnson

by Alexandre Villemaire

The theme of encounters punctuated the Orchestre symphonique de Laval’s first concert of the 2024-2025 season on October 30.

The headliner was Antoine Bareil, OSL concertmaster, in Felix Mendelssohn’s masterful Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor. But, more broadly, what emerged throughout the evening were encounters: encounters between the Mendelssohn sister and brother, encounters between guest conductor Adam Johnson and the orchestra, encounters as we strolled between different musical tableaux, but above all an encounter between the orchestra and its audience. A faithful audience, who turned out in large numbers to fill almost the entire Salle André-Mathieu. Just over 500 people, we were told.

Programming the two child prodigies of the Mendelssohn family as the opening act gave Adam Johnson – whose interventions to introduce each of the evening’s works were pertinent – the opportunity to highlight the undoubted talent of Fanny and Felix, linked by blood but separated by the conventions of their time. The concert began with Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn’s Overture in C major. A rarely performed work and the composer’s only piece for orchestra, it features a conventional structure and clear, vital writing divided into three parts: a noble introduction supported by a bass of winds, over which the strings weave delicate motifs; a second, more animated section where an interplay between two contrasting themes emerges between woodwinds and strings; and a festive, trumpeting finale. In each of these passages, conductor Johnson brings about changes in dynamics and textures with fluidity and precision. The woodwinds were particularly strong, complementing the virtuoso string lines of the fast part.

Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto No^. 2, one of the best-known and most important in the repertoire, plunges us into an entirely different character, between drama and lyricism. Antoine Bareil, the orchestra’s concertmaster, was giving his first performance of the work, and to say the least, he rose to the challenge with brio. Right from the first movement’s appassionato theme, Bareil sets the tone with an energetic, embodied opening. In the cadenza, the soloist makes his instrument sing, showcasing its full range. His work is a true masterpiece, meticulously sculpting each sound with precise attack and great agility. The second movement, attacca,offers a lyrical, languorous theme in which Johsnon highlights the orchestra’s timbre, while leaving the necessary space for Antoine Bareil to unfold his playing. Communication was visible and symbiotic between the two partners, despite certain moments when it seemed that the tempo was pressing a little. Concluding with a virtuosic third movement tinged with an almost humorous veneer, this was a captivating performance that kept the audience on the edge of their seats right up to the last note.

The second part of the evening featured Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, originally composed for piano, but frequently performed by large ensembles with orchestration by Maurice Ravel. Typical of program music, the work presents a succession of pieces inspired by different paintings, with musical interludes (promenades) linking the paintings. Unlike other interpretations, in which the theme of the “Promenade” is played in a tightly bound manner, especially when taken up by the strings, Adam Johnson retains the march-like character introduced by the brass in this section, which accentuates the strolling character between the various tableaux. These were all performed with a commitment and dynamic precision that brought out the full richness of the orchestration. To name but a few, Gnomus, with its unusual character, Il vecchio castello, where the duet between alto saxophone (Ludovik Hinse-Lesage) and bassoon (Michel Bettez) was lyrical, Bydlo with its rumbling double basses and cellos framing the growling euphonium (Sébastien Côté) and the Great Gate of Kiev, which concluded the work in a majestic, triumphal march.

In top form, the Orchestre symphonique de Laval made a strong impression for its season opener. The energy, vigour and musicality that enveloped Salle André-Mathieu bode well for the rest of the season.

Photo Credits: Gabriel Fournier

classique / post-romantique

OSM | Sublime Sibelius !

by Alexis Desrosiers-Michaud

This week sees the return of beloved guest conductor Vasily Petrenko to the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM). The man who was once one of the favorites to replace Kent Nagano shone as usual on Wednesday evening at the Maison symphonique.

The concert opens with Blue Cathedral by American composer Jennifer Higdon. This beautiful, floating work is a tribute to her late brother. Several flute and clarinet solos represent her and her brother. Also symbolizing a celestial journey, the piece comes alive to signify wonder and joy, before ending with percussive resonances and barely audible harmonics. By the way, we could see the other musicians waving haki-sized balls, which stumped many of us as many of us looked at the program afterwards, only to find, alas, no information on the subject.

Then Beethoven’s famous Emperor Concerto kicks off with panache, with Simon Trpčeski at the piano. After an admirable orchestral introduction, the soloist enters the stage, at the last second, as if emerging from the Moon. After some difficulty in maintaining a steady tempo, creating a few small shifts with the orchestra, Trpčeski stops accelerating in his solo excerpts to finally create a whole with the orchestra.

He is very agile with his fingers, but lacks the weight and sound required for a concerto of this magnitude. This style of playing suits him very well in the slow movement, where he blends perfectly with the orchestra. Or it’s the orchestra that envelops him brilliantly.

Anyway, when you ask yourself the question, it means it’s very successful. For the rest, we’ll overlook his head, leg and arm gesticulations (there’s already a conductor to look after the orchestra) to concentrate on his dynamic, excited playing. As encores, we are treated to a short excerpt from a dance in his native Macedonia, followed by the October movement from Tchaikovsky’s Seasons, “for a better world”, resulting in a sensitive and touching performance.
Then comes Jean Sibelius’s very pastoral Fifth Symphony. As in the preceding work, Petrenko’s direction is very clear-cut. His intentions are clear, and nothing is left to chance: nuances, accents, entrances, phrasing and so on. Nothing is forced and played with finesse. I once heard a conductor tell students in a master class that “you have to like to play softly”, and that’s what came to mind on Wednesday evening. The woodwind chorale in the second movement is sublime, accompanied by precise pizzicatos. The last movement is frenetic but not overly so, ending with a repetition of the main theme in the brass, which rings out like bells. Throughout the symphony, one could close one’s eyes and easily imagine oneself at Sibelius’s side, contemplating majestic, bucolic landscapes.

Publicité panam

Modern Classical

Pinnacle of Modern Choral Music at the Azrieli Music Prizes

by Alain Brunet

For the tenth year running, the Azrieli Foundation celebrated the four winning composers of the 2024 Azrieli Music Prizes at the Maison symphonique on Monday, whose beautiful works for choir and instrumental ensemble evoked the Jewish soul and metaphysics in a contemporary context.

Hosted by the foundation’s initiator, singer and generous patron Sharon Azrieli, and former CBC radio host Mario Paquette, the evening showcased the award-winning works, most of which were world premieres. OSM musicians and the OSM Chorus, under the direction of its eminent conductor Andrew Megill, performed some very special choral works.

Light to My Path, a choral fantasy for mixed choir, saxophone, percussion and piano, by Israeli composer Josef Bardanashvili. Each of the piece’s five movements combines different ensemble configurations: a cappella men’s choir, a cappella women’s choir, mixed choirs with musicians, a cappella mixed choir. Non-Jews must discover this brilliant choral approach, inspired by the sacred writings, as the vocal inclinations are unique – for example, Leonard Cohen’s album You Want It Darker , which featured some very inspired choristers.

In Light To My Path, for example, the composer maintains the sacred link , with tremendous call-and-response, canons, ornamental whistling and other compelling effects. Vocal technique is distinctly Baroque or Renaissance but also very modern at the same time. The difference with the well-known sacred songs of the Jewish tradition lies here in the modern harmonizations and instrumental accompaniment.

Secondly, composer Yair Klartag saw The Parable of the Palace,his work for choir and four double basses, as a further update on the notion of spirituality. The composer’s penchant for contemporary music, given the instrumentation chosen and the harmonization of the voices, contrasts with the primary inspiration for this Azrieli Foundation award-winning work: the parable of the palace taken from the Guide for the Perplexed by the Talmudic philosopher Moshe ben Maimon, known as Maimonides, who lived in the 12th century and spoke in the now extinct Judeo-Arabic language. Passages from this metaphysical writing attempt to draw that thin line between reason and irrationality, and would have influenced the composer’s search for universal notions in today’s context, starting with the insatiable human desire “to get closer to the divine without ever understanding it”. Notions that are nonetheless mystical, deeply traditional and clearly identity-based.

The third work on the program, Symetrias Prehispanicas, was by Mexican-American Juan Trigos, inspired by Aztec cosmology, with projected images (by brother Luciano Trigos), and 15th-century Aztec poets, both known and unknown. The songs are in Spanish and Nahuati. Here, tonality, modality and atonality cohabit even more closely, and the cross-hatching and clashing of voices and instruments is even stronger. A cantata-oratorio for mixed choir and ensemble, the work unfolds over 11 tableaux grouped into 4 distinct parts, a non-linear narrative illustrating Aztec thinking of the world before the Spanish conquistadors forcibly obliterated it, as we know. This is certainly the most up-to-date work on the program.

Last but not least, Kanata for SATB a cappella voices, composed by Canadian Jordan Nobles, was the shortest and most singular work on the Azrieli 2024 Prize program. Linear, horizontal and texturally wonderful, with subtle rhythmic shifts in the vocal motifs, this work is a “sonic meditation on notions of place, landscape and home”. A cross-Canada train journey is said to have inspired the composer to create this succinct and so original choral gem.