TAVERNE TOUR | When he cries, he’s happy… and so are we

by Arielle Desgroseillers-Taillon

In a packed 33 Tours, Raphaël Pépin-Tanguay, a.k.a. Velours Velours, gave an intimate, vibrant performance, performing, in order, the entirety of his latest album, Quand je pleure, je suis content. The small stage set up at the entrance to the vinyl store barely left enough room for his guitar and himself to maintain the warm atmosphere of the concert, a bit like a big campfire between friends.

From the very first notes of Corde à linge, the audience began singing along to the lyrics of the six-minute track, leaving a visibly moved Velours Velours. “I can’t believe it, I don’t know many six-minute songs where the world knows the words, except for Bohemian Rhapsody,” he declared, his cheeks flushed with emotion.

Released on January 31, her debut album Quand je pleure, je suis content (When I Cry, I’m Happy) features introspective, sometimes even depressing lyrics, carried by luminous melodies. It’s a rich project, combining guitar, violin, drums, synthesizer and, above all, a choral approach that lends it a delicate, almost fairytale touch. Transposing this richness of sound into a solo format was no mean feat, but Velours Velours has brilliantly won the bet!

A few minor hiccups – escaped lyrics and missed chords – punctuated the show, without marring the performance of Velours Velours who, with her natural charisma, was able to turn every mistake into a moment of complicity with the audience.

After performing the entire album, he closed his set with “Je t’aime”, the most popular song from his Fauve EP. Despite the crowd’s cries for an encore, the show was well and truly over. To relive these indie melodies in all their glory, you’ll have to wait until March 1, when the artist takes to the Sala Rossa stage, this time accompanied by his choir and team of musicians.

crédit photo: Camille Gladu-Drouin

Darkwave

TAVERNE TOUR | The Drin, distraction4ever, anarchy… darkwave

by Arielle Desgroseillers-Taillon

As you enter West Shefford on Friday evening, one thing immediately strikes you: the audience is divided into two very distinct groups. On one side, an older, predominantly male crowd. On the other, young adults in their twenties, mostly darkwave girls.

In front of this eclectic gathering, The Drin take to the stage, immediately attracting the older crowd, who raise their hands in rock. This post-punk band from Cincinnati, Ohio, imposes its presence with an unshakeable attitude. Not a smile, not a thank you, not the slightest exchange with the audience: it’s their stage, and fuck the rest. Coats, sunglasses and casualness intermingle in a raw, confident aesthetic.

But above all, the six band members are here to prove that they embody uncompromising garage/post-punk rock. Their sound, undeniably rock, plays on arrangements that cultivate an uncomfortable, almost freaky feeling. To accentuate this unsettling atmosphere, the saxophonist ventured out into the crowd, wearing glasses that completely obscured his pupils, adding an eerie touch to the performance.

After about 30 minutes on stage, the American band gives way to distraction4ever, a Montreal post-punk duo with darkwave influences. Popular with a young audience, it only takes a few seconds for them to unleash a wave of enthusiastic screams. The singer, Beau Geste, impresses with his stage presence and totally captivating facial expressions.

Performing several tracks from their latest album Business core, distraction4ever cultivate a sad boy aesthetic, tackling melancholy lyrics over electro music that paradoxically makes you want to let yourself go. The lyrics sound like a revolt against the torments of everyday life. During their hit City, Beau Geste dives into the crowd to take part in a wild mosh pit. Moments later, it’s Splitshift’s turn to continue this wild communion with the audience. The duo are generous, fuelling the raw energy of the evening.

Although each band offered a unique experience, West Shefford vibrated under a single watchword: anarchy.

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TAVERNE TOUR | Prewn in dungarees, VioleTT Pi on fire

by Florence Cantin

It was in snow overalls and with eight hours of driving in their bodies that Prewn took to the stage on Thursday night. At least, a fraction of the band, embodied by Massachusetts singer and guitarist Izzy Hagerup.

Freshly landed at the Pit Caribou Pub on Rachel, she quickly established an enveloping, almost esoteric atmosphere that immediately silenced the bar. In front of an audience dressed in fluorescent VioleTT Pi sweaters, Hagerup strummed her guitar with the confidence of an artist who hadn’t just arrived. The project being rather new, she strung together songs from her first and most recent album Through the Window, released in the summer of 2023.

Like a fire starting to burn, she whispers, then her voice gradually ignites into perfectly controlled, never plaintive howls. Her timbre is fiery, marked by a raw emotion that seems to inhabit her psychedelic flights. We don’t miss a word she says. Her words are at times moving, at times surreal and tinged with humor.

Si son projet s’adapte parfaitement à une formule solo, guitare électrique et voix, sa prestation promet d’être encore plus transcendante ce samedi en full band à la Sala Rossa.

From snow overalls to Korn sweaters, from folk-rock to electro-magnet, VioleTT Pi took over. The audience gathered at the foot of the stage.

Karl Gagnon, a.k.a. VioleTT Pi and his musicians performed under a faint mauve light, but at least it was to a capacity crowd. The pub stage was ill-suited to hosting a band: while the darkness suited Prewn, it did a complete disservice to VioleTT Pi’s performance. Such are the vagaries of an ephemeral pub scene. After threatening the absent lighting engineer with vandalizing his car with cucumber peelings, VioleTT Pi channeled his frustration into energy.
To the delight of his loyal audience, he drew on the best of his discography. He was provided with a bottle of Chartreuse and a spotlight, which he placed on the floor, breathing new vitality into the performance. VioleTT Pi closed with the effective closer Six Perroquets Séchés Dans Un Tiroir En Bois, where the audience chanted “Mange ma marde, mange-marde” in anthem-like chorus. He managed to keep the front of the stage moving, despite the technical problems. True to form, he once again rose to the occasion.

TAVERNE TOUR | On a Cold February Night

by Loic Minty

What brings everyone out into the streets on a cold February night? Cigarettes? Dancing? Whatever it is, there’s that bubbling, fleeting feeling that something is happening, and we’re right in the middle of it.

It carries you like a wave to its heart—to the soul-piercing stare of HRT’s singer as she tumbles through the crowd, to Michael Karson’s liquid golden voice, and to Pressure Pin’s and No Wave’s punk barrage. Taverne Tour is the all-you-can-eat buffet of the best shows you didn’t know you needed. The palette is wide and rich, with a local culture of music that ferments between the bars on St. Laurent and St. Denis. Out of these sewers came the mutant of Mulchulation II, flooding l’Escogriffe, the sidewalk, and the street. Out of the sky came Birds of Prrrey, diving into the crowd. Every scene collides into a tense explosion of heat, and if you listen closely, you can hear the whispers of the city—people caught in a moment.

At La Sotterenea, we felt the inescapable potential of trans-fem and queer electronic music for experimentation and radical expression. Puggy Beales opened the night with raw confidence, with the duo taking the stage armed only with microphones and a will to stir the crowd. Their house inspired beats reminiscent of early M.I.A., carried vivid lyrics like “work until you die” and their fierce presence made it clear that this was more than just dance music.

Across the street at Casa, Pressure Pin delivered a high-energy set, blending fast tempos and shifting rhythms with a raw, theatrical edge. No Wave followed, electrifying the room as they played each song like a hit. Between each set people were coming out of the pit with huge smiles and scratches on their faces. Closing the night, Speed Massacre pushed this pressured steam out like a boiling kettle and had everyone hanging on to the very last note.

With every venue packed, Taverne Tour demonstrates they not only curate amazing shows but also ones that contrast and complement each other. Here, you can find sweaty trans-fem music fans waiting in line for their coats alongside cowboy boot-wearing country fans still humming a jubilee. It’s a recipe for fun, for unpredictability that grows onto itself, opening all channels of the night into interweaving roads. Where will it take you next? Word goes around that there’s a dance competition down the street, and the evening goes on, bouncing on the energy this city so desperately craved on a cold February night.

TAVERNE TOUR | HRT + God’s Mom

by Will Misha Nye

Moshing is a pretty effective way to keep warm when it’s -15 outside. When HRT took to the stage, La Sotterenea came alive. Composed of Kirby on vocals and Ana on programming, their brand of ‘transgirl electronic body music’ ripped any people that were lurking in the corners and thrust them into the mix. With urgent vocals growled from the depths of heavy industrial beats, Kirby’s forays into the crowd only dialled up the energy even more.

God’s Mom at La Sotterenea felt like a ritual, a moment of collective worship. Grand, haunting vocals. Throbbing, clubby instrumentals. All hemmed by Bria Salmena who, adorned with chainmail and latex, was the magnetic presence leading the sermon. Salmena says that the Toronto-band is ‘not hedonism for the sake of hedonism, it’s a reckoning’. Montréal is here for it.

TAVERNE TOUR | A Thursday evening on Saint-Laurent

by Alain Brunet

Here’s the Thursday evening stroll at Taverne Tour, Saint-Laurent Boulevard section. Come along for the ride!

Rosario Caméléon is also Yan Villeneuve, an actor who has created a stage persona for himself, somewhere between performance, variety, non-binary extravagance and a penchant for what he calls pop coitus, a kind of carnal communion between performer and audience. He appears in costume, with white boots, moustache and lots of taffeta. He raps, sings, waddles in front of curious onlookers, and can also be quite invective, surrounded by video projections and a DG with a trappy groove migrating towards tech-house, a rather inspiredsalad. It’s a fine piece of contemporary entertainment.

Then it’s on to coldwave, synthwave… distant hints of the ’80s, but also the glimmer of a timeless varnish. Void Republic ‘s deep voice is supported by staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato staccato. Like tarte tatin and unemployed pudding, this is a tried-and-tested approach. You can only change it by grafting on tiny details, given the advances in technology, the sound recording, the way you present yourself and the way you put your voice over the frames.

Leaving the Ministry on this snowy Thursday, we walk a corner on the white, climb some stairs, Wombo performs at the Sala Rossa. This trio from Louisville/Kentucky (Mohamed Ali’s hometown) is said to be “stylistically ambitious”, drawing on pop, noise rock, psychedelia, funk and lo-fi. Bassist and soloist Sydney Chadwick’s tenuous voice is reminiscent of Laetitia Sadier’s organ, and the overall sound is in the vein of lo-fi bands such as Pavement. Again, nothing memorable, execution a little thin, and … indeed stylistically ambitious. You had to migrate to the basement and take a few slaps from Wesleys, a band barely out of puberty and well versed in its garage and proto-punk history. There’s loureedism underneath. Amazing drawl, amazing pout, amazing nochalance, solid execution. We love The Wesleys!

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Classical / Modern Classical

Echoes of Africa that resonate very well

by Frédéric Cardin

Last night saw the Orchestre classique de Montréal’s concert Échos lointains d’Afrique (Africa’s Distant Echoes) featuring soprano Suzanne Taffot. The programme for this evening, under the musical direction of Kalena Bovell, an American conductor originally from Panama, included works by Afro-descendant composers: the British Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the Americans George Walker and William Grant Still, the Quebecer David Bontemps and a number of Spirituals.

The main course of the evening was the creation of David Bontemps’ song cycle, Le deuil des roses qui s’effeuillent (Mourning for the roses that are falling apart). This evocative title comes from the pen of Haitian poet and author Jacques Roumain, whose 80th birthday we were commemorating in 2024. In nine texts beautifully set to music by Bontemps, soprano Suzanne Taffot has brought to life subtle, warm, sometimes melancholy landscapes in a musical language steeped in the stylistic roots of the tiny Caribbean country. Sinuous lines, swaying, syncopated rhythms, but in a light, sober sound architecture. By paying this fine tribute to his own Haitian roots, Bontemps has confirmed his status as a rising star of modern Quebec composition. That said, we would have appreciated it if the texts had been projected onto the large empty wall behind the orchestra, so that we could have fully immersed ourselves in the beauty of this inspiring poetry, the vocal writing not always allowing the words to blossom with all their potential clarity (and the dim light preventing us to read them in the paper program). Suzanne Taffot’s voice is beautiful, with a wide register that demonstrates a natural ease in all pitches.

There were lovely Novelletten by Coleridge-Taylor, a British Romantic composer of Sierra Leonean origin, and very pleasant Danzas de Panama by William Grant Still, with their simple melodies treated with sober refinement. George Walker’s Lyric for Strings was perhaps the most impressive, with its restrained, elegantly constructed pathos. A sort of Barber Adagio, more sparing of affect.

A few moments of pure vocal grace rounded off the evening when Suzanne Taffot returned to the stage to perform four spirituals, warmly arranged by Moses Hogan and Hugo Bégin. The audience was won over, if it hadn’t already been, by Deep River, Give Me Jesus, Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child and He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.

Kalena Bovell led the ensemble with a sincere commitment, in a direction combining precision and emotional suggestiveness.

A highly successful evening in front of a packed Pierre-Mercure Hall (which should be enough to call into question certain recent statements criticising programming based on diversity in classical music).

Soccer Mommy: flowers and consistency

by Stephan Boissonneault

The last time we saw Soccer Mommy in Montreal was during the sweltering heat during Osheaga 2023, and now she is playing Theatre Beanfield in the dead of winter. And to be completely honest, both sets are quite similar. Sophia Allison, aka Soccer Mommy, is nothing if not consistent with her dreamy indie rock. Her voice is smokey like velvet; her band is super tight and knows when to pick their moments in the limelight.

The biggest difference between this set and the Osheaga one is the stage setup; tonight’s has bunches of flowers and a visual backdrop in the form of a painted canvas and a flower wreath with some video playing between songs. Maybe that and the volume; the whole show isn’t as in the red as the Osheaga one, which is welcomed for this lazy Sunday set. The background video is quite abstract but usually focuses on different kinds of flowers, vibrant and monotone, as Soccer Mommy sings her songs of confession, lovesickness, and restless wanderlust.

This time, Soccer Mommy is supporting her latest album, Evergreen, which is, again, quite similar to the last one, Sometimes, Forever. And besides a few subtle nuances live, the songs sound almost identical, even down the the mix of the record. The show is good, but after four or five songs, you basically get the gist and vibe. We get a few reserved for live moments, like the drawn-out flute solo, which adds a baroque feeling to the song “Some Sunny Day,” and the triple guitarmony solo in “Thinking of You.” Allison is still quite shy with stage banter or even talking with the crowd, so if Soccer Mommy really wants to separate herself from the other sad-girl indie rock groups, she might want to completely shift sounds or work on her stage presence. That, or perhaps be lost in the shuffle. Right now, if you’ve seen her once, you’ve seen her.

photos by Julia Mela

classique / Electroacoustic / Jazz / musique du monde / Traditional

28th Opus Awards Gala | 32 Trophies For The Concert Ecosystem

by Judith Hamel

On Sunday, February 2, the entire Quebec concert music community gathered at Salle Bourgie to celebrate the highlights of the 2023-2024 season. Presented at Salle Bourgie by the Conseil québécois de la musique and broadcast (CMQ) on its FB page as well as on PAN M 360, this 28th Opus Awards Gala was, for the fourth year running, hosted by the enthusiastic Jocelyn Lebeau. A total of 32 awards were presented at a ceremony punctuated by interview blocks with the winners, encouraging dynamic exchanges on their respective projects.

This year’s Prix Hommage was awarded to Michel Levasseur to celebrate his 40 years at the helm of the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV). A key figure and builder of the experimental music and improvisation scene, this tribute was an opportunity to shine the spotlight on his hard work, which has greatly contributed to the development of the Quebec music scene.

Video testimonials from FIMAV loyalists Jean Derome and René Lussier were among the evening’s highlights. The tribute concluded by underlining the importance of the support of those around him throughout his career, as the audience gave a standing ovation to his family, friends and partners.

The evening’s musical highlight was provided by the Forestare guitar ensemble and its 13 performers, who took us from Denis Gougeon’s Une petite musique de nuit d’été to Bach, with the third movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major closing the gala. Its conductor, Pascal Germain Berardi, also won an Opus for Musical Event of the Year, held at FIMAV in Bois-Francs: Basileus, an oratorio in 4 acts featuring the ensembles Horizon (brass), Forestare (guitars), Sixtrum (percussion) and the Growlers Choir (metal voices).

Traditional Québécois music was in the spotlight this year, with an outstanding performance by three traditional Québécois music duos. First, Cédric Dind-Lavoie and Dâvi Simard performed Alphonse Morneau’s Tenant mon frère from the album Archives, winner of the Concert traditionnel québécois de l’année award. A project in which recordings by the chansonniers of yesteryear are reborn and sublimated by an ambient musical setting. An album not to be missed. Then, Nicolas Boulerice and Frédéric Samson delivered Trois beaux garçons, before Alexis Chartrand, on violin and podorythmy, brought his energy to bear on Isidore Soucy’s Le Cyclone, accompanied by Nicolas Babineau on guitar.

Continuing this string resonance, guitarists Adam Cicchillitti and Stevan Cowan performed a beautiful arrangement of Germaine Tailleferre’s Sonata for Harp, with the two guitars in symbiosis, an arrangement sublimated by a meticulous sound system.

Among the double winners, pianist, composer and improviser Marianne Trudel was crowned Composer of the Year and received the award for Jazz Album of the Year for Time Poem: La joie de l’éphémère. Having returned in extremis from a concert on the Magdalen Islands, this is yet another distinction for this artist with a prolific career.

Roozbeh Tabandeh, an interdisciplinary artist nourished by Iranian and Western musical traditions, also distinguished himself by winning the Inclusion and Diversity and Discovery of the Year awards.

Montreal string ensemble collectif9, directed by Thibault Bertin-Maghit, walked away with the Artistic Direction and Performer of the Year awards.

Once again this year, I Musici distinguished itself by winning Creation of the Year with Denis Gougeon’s Spassiba Yuli, as well as Album of the Year – World Music for its participation in Continuum with Turkish artist Didem Basar under the label of the Centre des musiciens du monde.

The Orchestre Métropolitain, meanwhile, walked away with two Opus awards for its season-closing production of Aida, as well as for the Leningrad Symphony.

Early in the morning, the Concert of the Year Opus – Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Music – was won by Arion Orchestre Baroque, for Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, conducted by guest conductor Francesco Corti, and featuring soprano Kateryna Kasper, contralto Margherita Maria Sala and bass Lisandro Abadie.

Finally, the interview format opened the door to some interesting discussions. Marianne Trudel and composer and improviser Joane Hétu, among others, spoke movingly of the contribution of sound engineers Rob Heaney and Bernard Grenon to the genesis of their works. Both passed away suddenly in recent years, leaving an indelible mark on the Quebec music scene. Their premature departure, like those of so many other artisans in the shadows, reminded us of how lucky we are to be here and to be making art,” said Marianne Trudel.

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners.

I invite you to check out PAN M 360’s other Opus Awards content.

Here is the list of winners for the 2023-2024 season:

Concerts

Concert of the year – Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music

Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, Arion Orchestre Baroque, Francesco Corti, guest conductor, Kateryna Kasper, soprano, Margherita Maria Sala, contralto, Lisandro Abadie, bass, January 12 to 14, 2024

Concert of the year – Classical, Romantic and Post-Romantic music

Aida season finale, Orchestre Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor, Angel Blue, Sarah Dufresne, sopranos, Matthew Cairns, SeokJong Baek, tenors, Ambrogio Maestri, baritone, Alexandros Stavrakakis, Morris Robinson, basses, Choeur Métropolitain, Festival de Lanaudière, August 4, 2024

Concert of the year – Modern and contemporary music

Two, Molinari Quartet, February 16, 2024

Concert of the Year – Contemporary and electroacoustic music

Monnomest, Ensemble SuperMusique, Joane Hétu, conductor, Vergil Sharkya, conductor, Productions SuperMusique, co-production Groupe Le Vivier, November 23, 2023

Concert of the Year – Jazz Music, accompanied by a $5,000 gift card from Instruments de musique Long & McQuade.

Sport national, Hugo Blouin, September 28, 2023

Concert of the Year – World Music

Continuum, Didem Başar, kanun, Patrick Graham, percussion, Etienne Lafrance, double bass, Quatuor Andara, Centre des musiciens du monde, February 13, 2024

Concert of the year – Traditional music from Quebec

ARCHIVES, Cédric Dind-Lavoie, multi-instrumentalist, Alexis Chartrand and/or Dâvi Simard, violins, November 15 and 19, December 10 and 16, 2023

Concert of the year – Répertoires multiples

Leningrad Symphony, Orchestre Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor, Maria Dueñas, violin, November 18, 2023

Concert of the year – Ancient, classical, romantic, modern, postmodern impulses

Fabula femina, Cordâme, August 10, 2024

Creation of the year

Spassiba Yuli, for 2 cellos and strings, Denis Gougeon, Yuli’s legacy: Stéphane Tétreault and Bryan Cheng, I Musici de Montréal, April 25, 2024

Production of the Year – Young Audience, accompanied by $5,000 from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications

J’m’en viens chez vous, Bon Débarras, February 11, 2024

Albums

Album of the year – Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music

Calcutta 1789: At the crossroads of Europe and India, Christopher Palameta, Notturna, ATMA Classique

Album of the year – Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic music

16 Histoires de guitares – Vol. III, David Jacques, ATMA Classique

Album of the year – Modern, contemporary music

Confluence, David Therrien Brongo, Ravello Records

Album of the Year – Contemporary and Electroacoustic Music

Limaçon, Léa Boudreau, empreintes DIGITALes

Album of the Year – Jazz

Marianne Trudel-Time Poem: La joie de l’éphémère, Trio Marianne Trudel, Productions Marianne Trudel, Indépendant

Album of the Year – World Music, accompanied by a $5,000 Mundial Montréal Mentoring & Conference package offered by Mundial Montréal.

Continuum, Didem Başar, Patrick Graham, Jean-François Rivest, I Musici de Montréal, Centre des musiciens du monde

Album of the Year – Quebec Traditional Music

Layon, Nicolas Pellerin and Les Grands Hurleurs, La Compagnie du Nord

Album of the Year – Ancient, classical, romantic, modern and postmodern impulses

Cendres, Vanessa Marcoux, Indépendant

Writing

Article of the year

“Du son vers la forme, le sens… l’Autre… : spectral thought and engaged art in the mixed works of Serge Provost”, Jimmie LeBlanc, Circuit, musiques contemporaines, May 1, 2024

Special awards

Opus Montréal Prize – Inclusion and Diversity, accompanied by $10,000 from the Conseil des arts de Montréal.

Roozbeh Tabandeh, Ensemble Paramirabo et Chants Libres, Songs of the Drowning, August 24, 2024

Prix Opus Québec

Festival Québec Jazz en Juin, June 20 to 30, 2024

Prix Opus Régions

Festival Ripon trad, September 14 to 17, 2023

Composer of the Year, accompanied by $10,000 from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Marianne Trudel

Discovery of the Year, accompanied by a video production courtesy of Télé-Québec’s La Fabrique culturelle.

Roozbeh Tabandeh, composer

Multidisciplinary Broadcaster of the Year

Salle Pauline-Julien

Specialized Broadcaster of the Year

Domaine Forget de Charlevoix

Artistic Director of the Year

Thibault Bertin-Maghit, collectif9

Modern Classical

A Common Root, in Perfect Harmony

by Hélène Archambault

To close the OSL Winter Classical Festival, Diane Caplette led the Harmonie Laval with musicality, rhythmic precision and continuity of tempo. Her solid baton technique let the orchestra’s instruments express themselves in turn. The result? The musicians share a real pleasure and easily transmit it to the audience, made up of at least three generations. Oh yes, and as it would be redundant to talk about it with each piece, I’d like to mention the work of the percussion. They punctuated this concert with little marvels.

A Barrie North Celebration by Quebec composer André Jutras, renowned for his contribution to the wind ensemble repertoire, begins with rhythmic and harmonic concepts. Jocelyn Veilleux, OSL principal horn since 1986, then transports the audience into a world of rich sonorities with his nuanced interpretation of Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1, in E-flat major, Op. 11 (arr. John Boyd).

This is followed by Madurodam, composed and arranged by Dutch composer Johan de Meij. Inspired by Madurodam, a miniature Dutch city made up of 1:25 scale models, this suite is composed of eight miniature parts. The orchestra doesn’t seem to mind the demanding nuances, rhythmic inflections and accents. In Réveil, the piccolo and drums cheerfully herald the day, while in Les Petits soldats, the horns parade in front of the miniature barracks. The more solemn Binnenhof melody launches the melodic theme, Les Petits moulins offer a lively waltz, and the Nocturne has the orchestra’s basses playing in unison. Part 6, Église de Westerkerk, takes up the theme in a waltz, the Château de Muiderslot is a pavane, and the Grand Finale relaunches the theme of the mills and then that of the Binnenhof. I bet the miniature town will supplant the tulips in the collective imagination!

After this reassuring soundscape, the second part plunges us straight into the heart of the Taiga. Taïga, by Ilari Hylkilä, is a veritable giant screen of sound. The piece opens on vast, cold spaces, and when the storm breaks, the flutes’ frantic ascending and descending chromatic scales project a crystalline air into the hall. The trumpet, followed by the horns, announce the calming and reveal the majesty of the landscape. The Finnish Tourist Board has the material to convince even the most hardened snowbird to abandon Florida for a cooler land. Then it was clarinettist Jean-François Normand’s turn to delight the audience. The Concertino for clarinet in E-flat major, Op. 26, in arrangements by Alfred Reed, demonstrates the instrument’s wide range and the performer’s virtuosity. The concert closes with Noah’s Ark, by Belgian conductor and composer Bert Appermont. This musical tableau from the biblical story evokes the Message, the Parade des animaux, with its varied musical motifs, the Tempête in which the clarinetists personify the wind and swap keys for hands, and Espoir in which everything is reborn. It was a perfectly harmonious afternoon, with just a few glitches that were quickly forgotten. L’Harmonie Laval, which Caplette has been leading since 2019, is a semi-professional wind orchestra. Which suggests to me that we shouldn’t be afraid of amateurs, especially when that term refers to what I heard today.

Baroque / Classical

OSL Winter Classical Festival | Friendly Baroque Journey

by Hélène Archambault

To open the 4th edition of its Winter Classical Festival, the Orchestre symphonique de Laval (OSL) invites us to travel to 18th-century Europe. Under the direction of conductor Mathieu Lussier, in the heart of winter, the OSL performs music by Handel, Vivaldi, Hasse, Quantz and Albinoni.

The repertoire is meticulously chosen: while presenting well-known composers, the orchestra offers pieces that are less well known. Mathieu Lussier, not without a sense of humor, introduces each piece to an attentive and receptive audience. Between anecdotes, keys to understanding and frankly amusing comments, his friendly tone enhances and enriches the journey.

The concert opens with 3 movements from Georg Friedrich Handel’s Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6, No. 5. Antoine Bareil, Johanne Morin and Chantal Marcil, respectively first solo violin, second solo violin and principal cello of the group, rival each other in spirit. This is followed by the Bassoon Concerto in E minor, RV 484. The sound of OSL principal bassoon Michel Bettez is enchanting, especially in the second movement. Performed immediately afterwards, Johann Adolphe Hasse’s Sinfonia in G minor, Op. 5 No. 6 was my finest moment of the evening. The orchestra is full of fire, and Bareil’s playing is expressive, precise and nuanced. Johann Joachim Quantz’s Concerto for flute in G major was a little less successful for soloist Jean-Philippe Tanguay, second flute and piccolo with the OSL. His high-pitched attacks lacked clarity. Vivaldi’s Overture, La verità in cimento, RV 739, plunges us back into the fire of the orchestra, while Tomaso Albinoni’s Concerto for oboe in D minor, Op. 9, No. 2 introduces us to the lively playing of Lindsay Roberts, second oboe and English horn of the OSL. Vivaldi closes the journey with the Trio Sonata in D minor “La follia” RV 63, arranged by Mathieu Lussier and featuring all three soloists.

Unfortunately, the room wasn’t full for this first evening. What I have to say about that is that the absentees are often, if not always, wrong. The comments and smiles on people’s faces at the end of the evening left no doubt: they left with their hearts in their mouths, warm and cosy, despite the chill that returned with a vengeance towards the end of the evening.

Photo Credit: Gabriel Fournier

Classical

The symphonic magic of age-old tales

by Frédéric Cardin

While Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier next door shook to the metal-symphonic sound waves of Voivod and the OSM, the Maison symphonique, the usual refuge of Rafael Payare’s musicians, vibrated to the thousand and one colours of musical tales from China and Russia.

At the start of the programme, the Orchestre FILMharmonique, conducted by Francis Choinière, welcomed soloist Liu Fang, master of the Chinese pipa, an instrument in the lute family, in the creation of a new concerto for her instrument by Quebecer Christian Thomas. In 2023, Thomas gave us his Messe solennelle pour une pleine lune d’été (Solemn Mass for a Full-Moon Night), an opera based on the work of Quebec author Michel Tremblay, which was well received by audiences and critics alike. Much more romantic in its idiom than the Mass, the Pipa Concerto, nicknamed Dragon, allowed Ms Liu to show the full extent of her technical talent, despite some occasional hiccups in the first movement. I wrote about this concerto in a review elsewhere on the site (read it HERE), so I won’t go into that again, but I will say that the four-movement piece struck me as even more accomplished than when I first listened to it on digital files. This is a sign that listening to it is enough to sustain prolonged and repeated attention. In any case, the largely East Asian audience that packed the hall seemed to appreciate and enjoy the performance. It is to be hoped that other Quebec orchestras will programme this concert, giving fellow Quebecer (Chinese born) Liu the chance to tour as much in Quebec as she does internationally, hopefully.

The second piece on the programme was the Butterfly Lovers violin concerto with soloist and Opus Prize 2023 Discovery of the Year Guillaume Villeneuve. Villeneuve’s twirling, scintillating performance gave a superb breath of life to this Chinese Romeo and Juliet, whose original title is the Romance of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The concerto, written in 1959 by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, is one of the first works of its kind in Chinese musical literature. The style and language are hyper-romantic, as if Tchaikovsky had lived in Beijing rather than St Petersburg, but the soloist has to achieve several effects that are clearly inspired by the traditional techniques of the erhu, a Chinese instrument that is similar to the Western violin. It’s a musical bonanza, with endearing, memorable melodies and abundant colour, especially in the woodwinds.

Francis Choinière had chosen to conclude the evening with another evocative piece of music, Stravinsky’s The Firebird. A judicious choice, which allowed us to return to the more usual Western repertoire while remaining true to the enchanting spirit of the evening. The orchestra, made up of many young musicians, probably fresh out of Quebec schools, performed well, and the conductor’s direction was committed. A few technical imperfections in Kastchei’s dance did not detract from the energy that Choinière wished to infuse into the ensemble, which ended in a successful climax.

An evening that clearly delighted a very mixed and diverse audience. If that was one of the objectives, it was achieved.