OSM | Alban Berg and Beethoven’s 7th: Surprises and Elegance on the Menu

by Rédaction PAN M 360

The OSM continues the “Beethoven” parenthesis of its season with a concert echoing the previous one. Like the concert featuring the Violin Concerto, the graceful, dance-like 7th Symphony is presented in context with composers who have challenged classical composition.

It was the theme for both concerts. The first Viennese school (Haydn, Mozart and above all Beethoven) is set against, or rather in perspective with, the second (Schoenberg, Berg and Webern). We don’t seem to have the chance to hear any Schoenberg this year at the OSM, but Anton Webern was in the spotlight in October, and this time it was Alban Berg who was on the program.

Subtly enough, one senses that it was Berg’s works that shaped the program, even if their presence is invisible in the title of the concert. The Three Pieces for Orchestra are complex and stunning. The contrasts and thunderous percussion are breathtaking. The aggressive sonorities of the score startle and astonish. The stage was packed, with a powerful orchestra playing very loudly, even too loudly at times. Berg’s second piece, the Violin Concerto, often called “In Memory of an Angel”, is often considered the culmination of twelve-tone language. You can sense pain and sadness in the sinuous melodic lines that seem impossible to resolve. Soloist Augustin Hadelich delivers a crystalline, controlled and hypnotic performance. The score being technically difficult and highly unpredictable, the performance of these two works was certainly a daunting challenge for the orchestra and Hadelich, but one that was brilliantly met. The soloist thanked the audience with an encore, the Andante from Bach’s Sonata No. 2.

Beethoven’s 7th Symphony announced in the concert title, is a work of incomparable elegance and majesty. Considered by many to be the “apotheosis of dance,” it’s easy to imagine oneself at a grand ball in the Prince’s palace, with the court in its finest attire. A more controlled opening paves the way for an interpretation based on a gradual but constant rise in intensity. The orchestra’s musicians seem to know the score by heart, and Christophe Eschenbach’s direction is effective. Seemingly very square, his movements indicate his investment in the various sections. This is an interesting way to appreciate both the Beethoven piece and the Berg pieces.

Obviously, the magnificent and much-acclaimed second movement of the Symphony steals the show. Still, there’s a certain pleasure in seeing the orchestra bring out the best in the other movements, especially the third and fourth, which are played with all the intensity we’ve come to expect from the current artistic direction.

Beethoven will be back in the spotlight in April 2024 with a visit from Kent Nagano. For more details on upcoming concerts, visit the OSM page HERE.

Photo credit : Antoine Saito

Coup de coeur francophone | Le Roy, la Rose et le Lou[p], When Rising Forces Unite

by Jacob Langlois-Pelletier

The day after the Gala de l’ADISQ 2023, what could be better than to see on stage the trio formed by the recipient of the Félix for “Revelation of the Year” in 2022, Ariane Roy, and two former nominees in this category in 2019 and 2021, Lou-Adriane Cassidy and Thierry Larose.

After reuniting on stage for a memorable concert at the Francos 2022, the three singer-songwriters announced a short nine-show tour last June. In front of a packed Club Soda on Monday night, Le Roy, La Rose & Le Lou[p] put in an excellent performance, worthy of their talent.

As the curtain rises, the three artists introduce themselves to the audience, each seated on a chair, guitar in hand. In this acoustic opener, they perform their band’s theme song, followed by a solo track from each member. It’s immediately clear that this is no simple show. The various songs are re-imagined as a trio, giving life to a superb version of Cantalou, adorned with Cassidy and Roy’s harmonies.

From the outset, a special connection is established between them and the audience. Almost silent at times, the crowd admires the talent unfolding before them. However, this short guitar-vocal moment was far from being a harbinger of the rest of the show…

At the end of the more intimate segment, Thierry, Lou-Adriane and Ariane get up and their band takes to the stage. The rhythm becomes frantic, and the drums and guitars go wild. Their voices blend perfectly. The three protagonists’ proposal is rock, it’s hair-raising and it gets Club Soda moving.

The three members jump, dance and smile at each other; their fun is contagious. They exchange the lead role as we browse through their respective discographies. The result is coherent, and we salute all the work that went into putting together such an evening.

Ce qui monte doit redescendre (What goes up must come down), Le Roy, La Rose & Le Lou[p] offered the audience a moment of gentleness and calm at the end of the show. At the piano and accompanied by Ariane Roy’s voice, Lou-Adriane Cassidy sang Ça va ça va. Her gentleness charmed those present and was unequivocally one of the highlights of the show.

After the song Les amants de Pompéi, carried along by the crowd’s singing, Thierry Larose cried out “Vive la musique québécoise! twice. If the art of these three promising artists doesn’t convince you that good music can be made here, you might as well call yourself a lost cause…

Photo credit: Jacob Langlois-Pelletier

Art Punk / Experimental / Contemporary

A Night with Pussy Riot: The Band that isn’t a Band

by Ann Pill

If members of the audience thought they were going to see a Pussy Riot concert then they might have been a little disappointed by their sold-out show Wednesday night at Theatre Rialto.

Those who were completely prepared for a multimedia activism experience, an absurd but moving and poignant piece of performance art—then they delivered. The room at the beautiful former movie theatre was completely packed yet the stage was oddly barren. A few drums, a couple of mic stands, a DJ set, and a long table with a ridiculous amount of water bottles (we will come back to the water bottles later).

The performance, called Riot Days is a “play” in the loosest of terms, based on the book by member Maria (Masha) Alyokhina. It’s a memoir about her two years in a gulag prison after their infamous “punk-prayer” action.

For the uninitiated, Pussy Riot is a feminist protest group and art collective. They famously put on one of their guerrilla-style performances in 2012 at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour Church, protesting the re-election of Putin and his ties to the church.

There have been 10-15 members of Pussy Riot throughout the years, but only four of them performed: Maria Alyokhina, Diana Burkot, Olga Borisova, and Alina Petrovna.

Alexander Cheparukhin, producer and video director of the Riot Days’ visual elements introduced the group. “They have never been a punk band,” he said to the crowd, “they were never a band at all.”

You could feel the uncertainty from some members of the audience as to what to expect from the night.

Codes to donate to Ukrainian children’s hospitals were scattered everywhere. The members of Pussy Riot never lost focus on the realities of the war and the situation in Russia during their performance.

The show began with a performance by Liza Anne, a perfect opener who set the odd activism tone of the night. It was both beautiful and emotional as she talked about coming out at 30 and how now she’s, “sober, in love, and it all makes sense.” In almost the same breath she broke out into a deliciously confusing choreographed number about how much she loves Shania Twain.

That combination of beauty, emotion, chaos, confusion, and humour was the common thread of the evening.

Pussy Riot’s performance put us on an intended high alert. At one point, Alyokhina stood in the centre of the stage pouring water bottle after water bottle on her head while Borisova showered the audience.

The now-drenched leader lit a cigarette, and the entire group began doing laps of the stage.

Each element of the performance needed the other. As a non-Russian speaker, the text on the screen made the narrative element of the performance clear. This also led to incredible parts of the show where in all-caps giant letters it read, “Putin peed his pants.”

There were videos of Pussy Riot at the time of their arrest and content from their infamous punk prayer that really put the audience in the context of Russia at that time. Every book should be accompanied by an hour-and-a-half retelling yelled at you in Russian while you are being doused in water.

Though it was unclear if this was what the audience signed up for, they were certainly engaged and no one could look away. The show really picked up speed after the water bottle dousing. Unfortunately, the sound was a bit funky. Occasionally, the mic and DJ setup would cut out. But the show was so synchronized and choreographed that the show blared on.

Pussy Riot has put out a lot of new music in the past couple of years with some really cool features but we didn’t hear any of those hits at this show. The music was mostly a tool to keep you engaged with Masha’s story. It was neither their old raw punk sound nor did it sound like their newer more accessible electronic pop music. It was an experimental almost industrial soundtrack to the show.

This was not a concert. Pussy Riot is not a band. They are a political activism group that has spread their message through music. But their feminist anti-Putin message is more important than ever. And if between the water in your eyes and the sensory overload happening on stage, perhaps the succinct takeaway message was “Putin peed his pants.”

Photos by: Sarah O’ Driscoll

Ligeti Festival at Salle Bourgie | Pierre-Laurent Aimard: Touching and Transcendent Perspectives

by Rédaction PAN M 360

One hundred years ago, the fascinating Hungarian composer György Ligeti was born. Although he passed away in 2006, his music has left an imposing mark on contemporary and contemporary music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Salle Bourgie and the Ligeti Quartet have invited a host of performers and composers to pay tribute to this diverse and moving architect of sound.

Ligeti’s music is difficult to define in a single work since it evolves not only through the formats in which he composed but also through the periods. So it was impossible to adequately represent and honor his work through a single concert. That’s why this festival is made up of three separate, independent concerts, to represent the different aspects of Ligeti’s work and present it to an audience that is often already conquered, but still curious about such unusual music.

The final concert of the Ligeti Festival featured a distinguished musician. The fantastic French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard paid a heartfelt tribute to a close friend and collaborator in Ligeti. He offered a touching comparison of the composer’s piano works with those of the classical (with Beethoven), romantic (with Chopin) and modern (with Debussy) repertoires. It was also an opportunity to showcase Salle Bourgie’s new concert grand piano (a Steinway model D-274 from Hamburg).

The first part is entirely devoted to alternating movements from Ligeti’s Musica ricercata (1951-1953) and Beethoven’s Bagatelles (a selection from among them). We appreciate the way Aimard highlights the resonant ideas and close links between the two composers’ writing. We sometimes find ourselves losing track and confusing the two composers, at least if we don’t know the works by heart. One can only admire the pianist’s intense, magnificent interpretation.

The program for the second half was modified, again alternating composers, this time between works by Ligeti, Chopin and Debussy. This gives Aimard the opportunity to comment on each work on the program and explain its logic. The care with which he has reconstructed the program demonstrates his sincere love for Ligeti and his music and is evident in the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic exploration he has proposed. He even offered an encore, playing the work Fanfares which had been withdrawn from the program. A great success, and a fine opportunity to reflect on the echoes between eras.

The celebration of György Ligeti and his Festival at Salle Bourgie can only be described as a success. Whether it was an opportunity to discover or deepen one’s knowledge of the Hungarian composer, one thing is certain: it was impossible to remain passive in front of the intensely creative and breathtaking music of this monument of contemporary music.

Photo credit: Claudine Jacques

Ligeti Festival at Salle Bourgie | Quatuor Ligeti : How Do You Honour A Giant?

by Rédaction PAN M 360

The second concert, on Sunday afternoon, was an opportunity for several composers to pay tribute to György Ligeti through works commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet. We hear works by Nicole Lizée, Xiaoyong Chen, Emily Hazrati, Mandhira de Saram, Rolf Hind, Sidney Corbett, Ana Sokolovic, and above all Lukas Ligeti, György’s son, whose work Entasis opened the program.

Their works evoke, pastiche and borrow from the particular style of Ligeti (father). Rhythms and timbres are explored in equal measure, with voice and whistling combined on several occasions with the harsh violin techniques often requested by the composer. During this first part, we realize just how much Ligeti knew how to use the breadth of contemporary musical language, adding dimensions of texture and intensity that inspired several generations of composers after him. The quality of the Ligeti Quartet is exemplary, perfectly communicating the intentions of the scores.

The concert ended with Ligeti’s two String Quartets, works that highlight the aggressiveness and anxiety-inducing delicacy of Ligeti’s more mature style. The contrasts are striking, in terms of sonority and intensity, and it’s easy to get caught up in the force of the writing. We’re exhausted by the end but leave satiated and marked.

To read the review of the third and final concert, click HERE!

Photo credit: Claudine Jacques

Ligeti Festival at Salle Bourgie | OSM Ensemble and Quatuor Ligeti: A Composer with Multiple Musicalities

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Ligeti’s music is difficult to define in a single work since it evolves not only through the formats in which he composed but also through the periods. So it was impossible to adequately represent and honor his work through a single concert. That’s why this festival is made up of three separate, independent concerts, to represent the different aspects of Ligeti’s work and present it to an audience that is often already conquered, but still curious about such unusual music.

Saturday evening’s concert set the ball rolling, with talented guests either complementing the Ligeti Quartet with larger-scale works or offering their own interpretations of the composer’s works.

Conductor Jean-Michaël Lavoie and the Ensemble de l’Université de Montréal et de l’Université McGill made up of students from both music faculties, assisted the Quartet in Ramifications, a work dating from the late 1960s and firmly part of its more textured style now associated with suspense (thanks to Stanley Kubrick). The performance is exemplary, and the audience appreciates it.

An OSM delegation of wind instruments (brass and woodwinds) presented Kammerkonzert (Chamber Concerto, composed 1969-70), with an enlarged orchestra, and Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (1953). In both works, the marriage of timbres and textures was utterly delectable. The OSM musicians’ mastery of sound was more than adequate to pay tribute to such works.

A health problem forced a change of program, and for the first time, we had a more intimate encounter with the Ligeti Quartet, who kindly offered to play works that were not on the program. As a result, we were able to hear a wider range of Ligeti’s compositional styles, with some fine contextualizations by the quartet members. A window onto a more melodic style, the musicians’ impromptu effort was much appreciated, and the works (extracts from the string repertoire) were magnificent.

Read about the second concert HERE!

Photo credit: Simon Laroche

Coup de cœur francophone | Mission Accomplished for Likouri and Madame Autruche

by Michel Labrecque

Attending a show at Quai Des Brumes, that iconic bar of the Plateau Mont-Royal counter-culture, always brings back a ton of memories. The beers after choir rehearsals, the first shows of the then-unknown Lhasa De Sela. The place is magnificent and full of stories.

On Saturday, November 4, Coup de cœur francophone introduced us to two young singer-songwriters who are musically very different, but who complement each other perfectly.

Likouri is a singer, accordionist and composer at the head of an acoustic sextet. She likes to tell her life stories, rather sad ones, but with a lot of humour. Right from the start, she invites us into her “organized chaos”, talking about escape, whisky and denial of paradise.

While his monologues are presented in Quebecois French, his songs are written in French from France. The music is a mix of valse musette, gypsy and klezmer, with a few jazz touches. Accordion, violin, cello, double bass, clarinet and bandolim. A nice mix, but the acoustics of the bar make it difficult to fully appreciate.

The show includes several songs from Likouri’s only album, Aza, as well as new pieces, two of which are sung in very decent Spanish.

But it’s Likouri’s self-deprecating personality that seems to have won hearts.

At the end of the performance, she donned a keffiyeh, the Palestinian scarf, to express her indignation at the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the apartheid that has reigned there for decades. It was a heartfelt gesture. Except that she never mentioned the Israeli deaths on October 7. Which left me feeling a little uneasy.

Madame Autruche, aka Mélisande Archambault, took over, with her violin and trio of musicians. Folk, rock and atmospheric music, with very personal lyrics.

I discovered Madame Autruche last summer in a very unlikely place: Ste-Rose du Nord, a small village on the Saguenay Fjord, where she was performing in a tiny bar. I was seduced by the proposition. This woman had built a personal identity.

Later, I learned that Mélisande Archambault had worked with the groups Canaille, Groenland and Les Royals Pickles. And that Madame Autruche had made two albums: Les Pentes Glissantes in 2019 and Réveillez-moi quand il fera beau in 2023.

If there’s one thing Likouri and Madame Autruche have in common, it’s their capacity for self-mockery. Feminine. But with room for jubilation.

Mélisande Archambault is no violin virtuoso, but she knows how to make the most of her instrument. The three accompanying musicians are talented, especially the guitarist, who has put together some very inspired solos. We could have taken more.

The spirit of the Coup de cœur francophone is one of discovery. In this respect, this evening was mission accomplished.

SMCQ | À la croisée des pianos 8 : Moritz Ernst Completes the Cycle with Success

by Elena Mandolini

From November 3 to 5, the SMCQ presents a veritable piano marathon. A series of eight concerts will be presented in the concert hall of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique de Montréal, making this a not-to-be-missed event in contemporary piano. The PAN M 360 team will be attending the event and sharing their impressions throughout the three days.

For the last of the 8 concerts organized by the SMCQ around the contemporary repertoire, Moritz Ernst once again took to the stage to complete Sandeep Bhagwati’s cycle, Music of Crossings, a grand cycle of 36 fragments which had begun on Friday evening. This recital also closed the marathon offered by the SMCQ.

Ernst did not disappoint the audience, maintaining throughout the concert the high level of playing to which he had already accustomed us in his two other interpretations of Bhagwati’s music. From the fragments presented on Sunday, a more dreamlike and sometimes humorous theme seemed to emerge. Indeed, the fragments, always accompanied by a short text projected on the back wall of the hall, were at times spare, with resonant melodic lines. These extracts invited contemplation and contemplation. Conversely, some highly rhythmic fragments brimmed with contagious, sometimes playful energy. Once again, the repertoire on offer was full of contrasts, and Moritz Ernst was able to underline these contrasts in a very convincing manner. The pianist once again reaffirmed his great versatility as a pianist, as much in his agility as in his sensitivity.

The last notes of the last fragment, of the last concert of the evening and of the series, were played pianissimo, fading into the hall. The audience watched in silence as the final notes of the piece were played out, in a highly successful and contemplative manner. The pianist and composer were warmly applauded, and deservedly so. A superb conclusion to this marathon!

For the full SMCQ program, click HERE!

musique contemporaine

SMCQ | À la croisée des pianos 4 : Moritz Ernst Continues The Cycle

by Alexandre Villemaire

From November 3 to 5, the SMCQ presents a veritable piano marathon. A series of eight concerts will be presented in the concert hall of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique de Montréal, making this a not-to-be-missed event in contemporary piano. The PAN M 360 team attended the event and shared their impressions with you throughout the three days.

German pianist Moritz Ernst continues the presentation begun the day before of Sandeep Bhagwati’s great piano cycle Music of Crossings. Composed of 36 fragments, this second part featured twelve of them. The sequence of fragments offered in the program offered a good balance between exuberance, lightness, drama and lyricism. Using 4 compositional vectors (choice of pitches, internal dramaturgy of the music, texture of both hands and finger articulation) organized in different ways, each piece was accompanied by a poem – most of the time in Bhagwati’s own hand – which lent relief to its musical meaning. For example, fragment 26 “espèce de mouche” (fly species), with its velocity in the upper register, creates a buzzing sound reminiscent of a swarm of insects, while fragment 19 “diabellissimo” (for Ludwig van Beethoven), with its heavy chords in the lower register and frenetic notes above, perfectly evokes the ebullient and intemperate character of the German composer, to name but a few. The detachable, independent nature of each of the fragments creates a sound narrative in which the audience is drawn in and feels invested in the sound universe unfolding before them, apprehending which window is about to open before them. The mood in the Conservatory Concert Hall was one of absorption and engagement as the story unfolded. The audience’s interest in what lay ahead was also sustained by the concentration and intensity of Moritz Ernst, perfectly in tune with his sensitive and dynamic interpretation.

To find out about upcoming concerts in the À la croisée des pianos series, click HERE.

For the complete SMCQ season, click HERE.

musique contemporaine

SMCQ | À la croisée des pianos 3 : Erik Bertsch and Pamela Reimer

by Alexandre Villemaire

From November 3 to 5, the SMCQ presents a veritable piano marathon. A series of eight concerts will be presented in the concert hall of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique de Montréal, making this a not-to-be-missed event in contemporary piano. The PAN M 360 team attended the event and shared their impressions throughout the three days.

Led by pianists Erik Bertsch and Pamela Reimer, the third recital offered a range of luminous, percussive worlds in two parts, each featuring two new creations. Playing in the first part, Erik Bertsch premiered Michael Oesterle’s twenty habituels. Miniatures for piano, reminiscent at times of French and German music from the first half of the 20th century, these short pieces present contrasting characters and dynamics, each expressing recurring thematic ideas. Fabio Nieder’s Vom Himmel hoch, da kommt eim Engel ha zu Dir is based on Martin Luther’s chorale of the same name. Here, the musical quotation is presented over the piano’s four octaves in such a slow tempo that the melody increases in value over time, making use of the piano’s resonance and harmonics to create a soaring atmosphere. Ivan Fedele’s Études boréales (Boreal Studies) follow on from the same aerial resonance aesthetic, offering an active, luminous dynamic with sound aggregates supported by the committed resonance of the piano’s una corda pedal. Erik Bertsch delivered the pieces with great technical mastery and attention to nuance, particularly in the Nieder piece.

In the second half of the recital, Pamela Reimer offered a more explosive program. Luciano Berio’s Sequenza IV is dense and typical of the writing of the Darmstadt school. Enno Poppe’s Thema mit 840 Variationen explores how a simple motivic idea can be developed to imposing proportions with a theme of a single second interval, which unfolds over the full range of the piano with force. The second work of the evening, Salto Piano Montale, by Yuliya Zakharava, was composed for and in collaboration with Pamela Reimer. It is a stylistically heterogeneous pastiche through which various musical quotations are grafted, from Bach to Belarusian folklore, Ukrainian war songs and even I Will Survive! The finale of the piece is reserved for improvisation. Reimer delivered a passage reminiscent of Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom.

To find out about upcoming concerts in the À la croisée des pianos series, click HERE.

For the complete SMCQ season, click HERE.

Contemporary / musique contemporaine

SMCQ | À la croisée des pianos 2 : Contrasts and Classics of the Contemporary Repertoire in the Spotlight

by Elena Mandolini

From November 3 to 5, the SMCQ presents a veritable piano marathon. A series of eight concerts will be presented in the concert hall of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique de Montréal, making this a not-to-be-missed event in contemporary piano. The PAN M 360 team attends the event and shares their impressions with you throughout the three days.

The second event in the series of eight presented by the SMCQ featured two pianists, Viktor Lazarov and Philippe Prud’homme. Having been active for some time, the qualities of these two performers are already well known, and they were able to reaffirm them in a program that was apparently very personal to them.

Viktor Lazarov began with Bolero in Dark Red by Snežana Nešić, a work with a very contemporary language, exploring the sonic potential of the piano. The second piece was a complete contrast. Waltz, by Leon Miodrag Lazarov Pashu, composed in 2008, recalled the waltzes of the Romantic era, with its bewitching theme and powerful rubato passages. Two works with completely opposite idioms, but which showed a great variety of 21st-century works. Lazarov did full justice to both works, demonstrating his versatility as a pianist.

For his part, Philippe Prud’homme also offered a journey through compositional styles for the piano from the second half of the twentieth century to the present day. His recital also highlighted the extent to which contemporary composers are striving to expand the sonic possibilities of the piano. His program included “classic” works from the contemporary piano repertoire, by François Morel and Silvio Palmieri, as well as Francis Battah. Here too, Prud’homme’s playing stands out for its contrasts of nuance and tone. His expressive playing is remarkable, and he clearly takes great pleasure in sharing these pieces, which have been with him for several years now.

This second concert in the À la croisée des pianos series was all about contrasts. This skilfully-constructed program demonstrated the wide variety of the current piano repertoire. It promises to be a most interesting weekend!

To find out about upcoming concerts in the À la croisée des pianos series, click HERE.

For the complete SMCQ season, click HERE.

Contemporary

SMCQ | À la croisée des pianos 1 : Moritz Ernst and Sandeep Bhagwati’s Literary Musical Universe

by Elena Mandolini

From November 3 to 5, the SMCQ presents a veritable piano marathon. A series of eight concerts will be presented in the concert hall of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique de Montréal, making this a not-to-be-missed event in contemporary piano. The PAN M 360 team attends the event and shares their impressions with you throughout the three days.

The first of eight concerts in this major SMCQ series is devoted to Sandeep Bhagwati’s large-scale cycle, Music of Crossings. This cycle, which Bhagwati composed spontaneously for pianist Moritz Ernst, will be heard this weekend for the first time in its complete, three-part form. Moritz Ernst himself is responsible for the North American premiere. This event is all the more special in that the SMCQ is dedicating its tribute series this year to Sandeep Bhagwati.

The work itself comprises 36 fragments, varying in length and style. At the origin of these fragments are poems, and structures that are intrinsically literary. As you listen to each piece, the corresponding texts are projected onto the back wall of the room, a welcome gesture that deepens your understanding of the work. In a way, this is an intermedial concert.

Moritz Ernst’s playing is impeccable: the contrasts between the fragments (in terms of nuances, tones, effects, etc.) are convincing and touching. Some fragments are akin to sonority studies, where we are invited to savour intervals and stripped-down melodic lines. By contrast, other fragments are torrents of notes, in which the pianist’s two hands are completely independent. Ernst gives an impressive performance of the highest quality. His playing is always spot-on, adapting to the language of each fragment: lyrical, stripped-down, resonant, intimate.

This first concert is the perfect opening to what promises to be a highly enjoyable musical marathon filled with wonderful discoveries. The rest of the cycle will be presented on Saturday at 6 p.m. (second part) and on Sunday at 6 p.m. (third and final part).

To find out about upcoming concerts in the À la croisée des pianos series, click HERE.

For the complete SMCQ season, click HERE.