MUTEK Montréal 2023 and PAN M 360, a combination that makes perfect sense! That’s why our team is focusing on it this week. Fans of cutting-edge electronic music and digital creation are in Montreal this week, so follow our team’s vibrant coverage through Sunday!

Experience 1

On Tuesday, May 22, Mutek Montréal 2023 took to the air on the Tranquille esplanade in the Quartier des spectacles. Outdoors and free? This is not outdoor programming made up of the leftovers from our indoor line-up, but rather a mix of internationally established artists whose current buzz here at home doesn’t yet justify paying admission.
– Alain Brunet

Leon Louder

// Vivien Gaumand

With Leon Lounder, the audience wasn’t sure whether to listen with the body or with the head alone. On the one hand, the pulse was drowned out by a sound design built around insect sounds, commissioned by the Insectarium de Montréal. Here, harmony and melody were not parameters. Rhythm, on the other hand, was mostly created by sound phrasing of a certain length, repeated in loops. Later, low frequencies changed the texture and were coupled with short sounds, but repeated so rapidly that they created the effect of continuous sounds. Towards the end of the performance, a more harmonic passage with what gave the illusion of being synthesized voices came to confuse this entomological music.
– Laurent Bellemare

Moon Apple

// Vivien Gaumand

That said, the Expérience 1 series also features emerging artists who have yet to fine-tune their proposals, but who show interesting potential. Such is the case of Moon Apple, an adopted Montreal producer whose grandmother became a Buddhist monk, which inspired her pseudonym. Equipped with modular synthesizers, a loop pedal, and percussion instruments, the musician offers an organic sound filtered by various effects whose purpose could be ritualistic at times. She also sings and taps live on a digitized surface. A little clumsily, we noted, when the rhythmic pattern was combined with other pre-recorded sequences,

It presented a kind of ceremony whose purpose was to represent the Four Pillars of Destiny. Guests Dédé Chen, author, and performer, and Ahreun Lee, multimedia artist and musician, came to lend a hand to a Moon Apple symbolically addressing mythical creatures – at least that’s what it says on her biographical profile. This integration of melodic synth-pop into this multi-layered experience is interesting but still needs some care before it hits the bull’s eye.
– Alain Brunet

Moon Apple’s music contrasted with the opening performance. The artist immediately immersed the audience in a harmonic universe of soft tones and ethereal vocals. Despite this delicacy, powerful attacks in the lower register quickly saturated the frequency range, creating a resounding yet soothing bath of sound. The musician from Seoul, Korea, incorporated some instrumental interpretation, notably with the rhythms she played on a digital pad before looping them. Unfortunately, these sequences were not synchronous, which even led the artist to abandon this technique towards the end of the performance. On the other hand, the highly processed vocals of the two guest artists added to the pop sound that must surely be delectable on the album.
– Laurent Bellemare

Indus

// Vivien Gaumand

This Colombian duo, self-proclaimed “electro-folk”, was the act that brought the house down. From the very first strokes of the Tambora combined with the powerful electronic rhythms, the audience started dancing. The catchy music was interspersed with samples of voices singing choral songs, although in the end the rhythm and bodily performance outweighed any melodic or harmonic content. Decidedly, the marriage of traditional percussion with electronic music is a winning recipe, as Indus’ performance was undoubtedly the most energetic of Expérience 1.
– Laurent Bellemare

Exclusive to the program, Colombian duo Indus made a splash on the Tranquille esplanade. Indus is made up of producer Oscar Alford and percussionist Andres Mercado, whose album of the same name did not go unnoticed in 2020. Indus’ appeal is based on the use of Afro-Colombian and Afro-descendant chants and rhythms (champeta, currulao, mapalé, etc.) at the heart of a rather pop electronic approach, in line with much of the genre’s dance-floor-oriented music. The vocals may occasionally sound a little out of tune (a problem with the monitors?), but the overall quality of the work made us forget about these minor discrepancies. Indus’ approach is solid and unifying, with warm percussive rhythms and traditional vocals blending well with the synthetic keyboards and other digital tools that make up the lutherie of this well-received tandem.
Alain Brunet

Opening event at New City Gas: Grand River and Tim Hecker

// Bruno-Aiello-Destombes

At New City Gas in Griffintown, the huge New City Gas club hosted the opening indoor program. Perfectly renovated (since 2012), this factory dating back to the Industrial Revolution (1847) boasts a surprisingly efficient sound system for the concert format.

The first artist on the program had never performed at MUTEK before but enjoyed a genuine buzz in MUTEK networks. And the buzz is perfectly justified! With origins in Italy and the Netherlands, Berlin-based Aimée Portiori, aka Grand River, offers marvelous superimpositions for fans of ambient music steeped in minimalism. She chooses to insert a few consonant chords and melodic or choral fragments as beacons for her brilliant explorations. In the vein of Christian Fennesz and Tim Hecker, Grand River’s electroacoustic proposals are laced with multiple tasteful synthetic filters. They are set to rhythms that are generally slow, sometimes faster, and more robust, but which have nothing to do with the binarity essential to the dance floor.
– Alain Brunet

Grand River’s performance was one of those that operated by gradually densifying the musical material. With very little development, the various moments of the show were built on short melodic loops and an accumulation of sound layers. Rhythmically, we moved from total abstraction to pulsation. Moments of contrast between slow keyboard chords and background noise, or vocal sampling, occasionally extended the artist’s sonic range, plunging his audience more than once into a form of urban trance.
– Laurent Bellemare

Tim Hecker

// Bruno-Aiello-Destombes

There’s no need to rehash the career of Tim Hecker, one of Canada’s most respected electronic composers. No Highs, his most recent album, is the expected extension of his most remarkable approaches. An ace of saturated frequency superimpositions, Tim Hecker has not been content to build these richly layered works despite their apparent linearity. His latest album is a long sinusoidal curve, so shallow that it can flatten out before resuming its roundness. Over time, the composer has added an instrumental dimension to his proposals: the bass clarinet is tangible on his new album, to cite just one example.

Hecker’s live performance is by no means an exact reproduction of his recent discography. The distortion effects may be more violent, the pulsations heavier (and wham in the plexus!), the quotations sometimes different, taken notably from the Anoyo and Konoyo recordings, which are largely Japanese-inspired. But these subtleties blend discreetly into the sometimes searing flows of this coherently performed concert. Pure Tim Hecker, no doubt about it.
– Alain Brunet

From the very first notes of Tim Hecker’s performance, we could recognize the sound world of his 2018 album Konoyo. Frames of instruments belonging to Japanese Gagaku began a long session of ambient drone, always navigating between harmony and dissonance. The hichirki glissandi that so distinctly opened the piece “This Life” then came to color the abrasion, serving as a transition to a new passage. Considering that it was the music of No Highs (2023) that was in the spotlight, these nods to an earlier album created a subversive effect. The same goes for Fumiya Otonashi’s shô interventions, unfortunately, inaudible during the first part of the concert.

More generally, the audience was treated to a forced immersive experience, with low frequencies so intense you could feel them through your body. Fortunately, Tim Hecker’s music is fascinating, and we happily play along behind his analog and digital machines.
– Laurent Bellemare

The PAN M 360 team is very present at the Virée classique, presented by the MSO. Our contributors report daily on what they have seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until August 20.

Three Choirs Come Together to Sing Fauré’s Requiem

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

Under the baton of Rafael Payare, the OSM unveiled a nuanced interpretation of Fauré’s Requiem that resonated with luminous clarity and depth. Presenting this seminal work in collaboration with three amateur choirs and a concert organist, this afternoon’s performance aligned more closely to Fauré’s original intent, allowing one to hear the counterpoint more clearly than with full orchestral accompaniment.

The program began with François Morel’s Prière pour Orgue, a short piece for solo organ which briskly set a reverent but equally grave tone in the halls of the Maison Symphonique. It was in the silence that followed that the choir, composed of three sections, each with its own choir conductor, took to the stage with a performance of Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine. Often performed alongside his Requiem, this text setting was an early sign of the unique musical and religious vision Fauré had.

Fauré’s text settings marked a departure from the severity and drama of traditional musical settings of the mass, and perhaps nowhere was this better illustrated than in the “In Paradisum” movement. The conductor, the choir, and the organist merged together to craft a sublime ascent into the realms of paradise. The music floated, weightless and serene, as a sense of tranquil closure enveloped us in the auditorium.

Varun Swarup

Jeremy Denk, or how to link JS Bach, Ravel and Ligeti

Jeremy Denk is now considered one of the finest American concert pianists on the classical planet, and we were able to confirm this assertion at the Virée classique. What’s more, he’s also one of those virtuosos interested in intimately linking eras, as we were able to savour on the reconfigured stage of Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on Sunday morning.

The program featured JS Bach, Ravel and Ligeti, composers from the Baroque, modern and contemporary periods respectively. First up was the Partita no. 1 in B flat major BWV 825, one of those “German suites” renowned for the contrapuntal genius of their creator, whose style had achieved its full identity by the time it was conceived, some two decades before the composer’s death – Partita no. 1 was premiered in 1731.

As for Jeremy Denk’s style, it can roughly be said that it is neither too delicate nor too abrupt. This centrism can also bear the defect of its quality, to the point of sometimes feeling a certain academic coldness in the playing of the Bach Partita played first. But perceptions change when the pianist plays Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, composed in 1908 and inspired by poems by Aloysius Bertrand. Divided into three “poems for piano”, the work becomes increasingly dense and climbs in intensity, particularly in the last one (“Scarbo”), where we can contemplate the full capabilities of the performer. We are then ready to absorb the piano studies IV (“Fanfares”) and V (“Automne à Varsovie”) by Hungarian composer György Ligeti.

Not so long ago, such a program would have been unthinkable: negative “social acceptability” would have repelled any concert company’s artistic management from putting forward such a combination, but this is clearly no longer the case. On the contrary, the program proposed by Jeremy Denk is now just what’s needed to feed music lovers properly in 2023.

Alain Brunet

Learning Music the Fun Way at Virée Classique

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

Programming for families and children is an integral part of the Virée classique. Each year, several concerts and activities for toddlers give the OSM the opportunity to showcase music through play, stories and tales. This year’s concert featured Les créatures fantastiques with Rafael Payare, as well as a series of activities with a musical mediation objective, such as the Enchanted Forest, which was a musical enigma combined with the exploration of the sets, or a number of participatory workshops where the audience composed with the ensembles, while discovering various instruments.
On Sunday morning, in the superb Piano Nobile space in the foyer of Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, children were introduced to the enchanting sounds of the orchestra’s woodwinds. Through the medium of the classic tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the musicians (Vincent Boilard on oboe, Alain Desgagné on clarinet and Mathieu Harel on bassoon) and guest actress (Gabrielle Marion-Rivard) taught the children how music can evoke specific objects, characters or scenes while introducing the orchestra’s instrument families.

Pieces by Jacques Ibert, Joseph Canteloube, Alexandre Tansman, Jean Françaix, Ange Flégier, Mozart and Jacques Hétu lent themselves to the game, sometimes illustrating the idyllic forest, sometimes reverie. The sound of the wooden trio was magical, and it’s certain that the families present enjoyed their little escape to the home of the three bears.

Alexis Ruel

Encounters with Inuit Throat Singing

The Les grands espaces project, in collaboration with the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), was presented on Sainte-Catherine Street in a participatory format. Katia Makdissi-Warren, composer and conductor of the group Oktoecho, is behind this project, aimed primarily at young people. Ideally, the piece would have been conducted by a child in the audience, but only one young girl volunteered to do so, accompanied by her mother. The children seemed embarrassed and a little intimidated. Nevertheless, the result was very successful. The concept is to create a choral soundtrack, singing short, simple melodic motifs and adding body percussion, to imitate sounds of nature (rain, wind, owl, geese). Meanwhile, two women perform the katajjaq, producing the corresponding vocal patterns in this musical tradition. The idea is to open up a space for an encounter, where two musical traditions meet with the utmost respect.

Inuit throat singing is a competition between two women, but also a game. Those attending the workshop are treated to a demonstration and explanation of how to produce the sounds. The audience is curious and asks lots of questions, which the two singers on stage answer with great generosity. Les grands espaces is a project that provides an opportunity to encounter a musical tradition that has long been outlawed but has been enjoying a resurgence in recent years.

Elena Mandolini

A Breath of Fresh Air at Complexe Desjardins

Les vents de l’île de Montréal is a band made up of young people from several Montreal high schools, directed by Éric Levasseur. The pieces presented ranged from film music to the more classical wind band repertoire. The works presented were original, even daring (there was one slightly dissonant piece, performed with great confidence by the young musicians). The assurance with which the works were performed is to be commended. The sound produced by these young musicians was powerful, precise and assured. The ensemble’s sound was broad and its direction was remarkable for an ensemble of this level. The audience greeted the works with enthusiasm, and were treated to solemn, triumphant and powerful musical moments!

Elena Mandolini

The Entertaining and Charismatic Trio Débonnaire Takes Us On A Journey Through Time

One of the great successes of Virée classique’s free programming, Trio Débonnaire performed to a full house every time. A success that testifies to the complicity between its members. The ensemble is made up of Laurence Latreille-Gagné on horn, Simon Jolicoeur on trombone and their spokesman Frédéric Demers on trumpets. And yes, trumpets, because one of the great attractions of this concert is the overview they give of trumpets and mutes, thanks to the arsenal displayed on stage. With excerpts from Bach, Beethoven, Edith Piaf and the Beatles (and yes!), the audience is taken on an overview of the possibilities the trumpet has to offer. Frédéric Demers takes mediation to heart and strives to communicate his love of his instrument to the audience.

Two simple words can be used to describe this concert. Interesting, and above all, entertaining. Time flies, and the entertainment is at once charismatic, instructive and amusing. Place des Arts resonates with the warm, noble timbres of the horn and trombone supporting the melodic trumpet. The explanation and use of mutes is an excellent idea. However, we regret that the demonstration did not extend to the other instruments, whose use of mutes is just as important.

You’re transported through the ages, having a great time and learning, all in the blink of an eye!

Alexis Ruel

Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Virgin: Beauty and Contemplation

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

Some thirty musicians shared the stage at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier to perform Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Virgin, but the space didn’t feel overcrowded. The number of musicians was kept to a strict minimum, and that was welcome. This enabled the ensemble, directed by Eric Milnes, to offer an intimate, delicate and luminous interpretation of Monteverdi’s work.

This composer is best known for his mastery of polyphonic art. In the Vespers of the Virgin, we are treated to majestic musical lines, enveloping basses and complex harmonies. The performers play with great sensitivity and know how to support the delicious dissonances present in the score. The music moves easily from major to minor modes, and you feel transported by it. One movement follows another, moving from a triumphant tone to a sorrowful one in a fraction of a second. In this interpretation, we have the opportunity to see and hear ancient instruments, such as the sackbut, dulcian, and lute.

The only downside to this interpretation is the acoustics. The sound is lost and muffled in this arrangement of the hall. This music, designed to be performed in a church, would have been even more beautiful if the sound could have resonated in the hall and all around the audience. Nevertheless, the ensemble knows how to use space and spatialize sound. Halfway through the work, the choir begins to rearrange itself to diversify the acoustics. Musicians and singers move backstage, to play in the space and offer new listening conditions to the audience. Despite the acoustic shortcomings of the venue, the ensemble’s sound is round and powerful. This is a moving and luminous interpretation of Monteverdi’s work.

Elena Mandolini

Dances of the Bohemian Countryside With the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunes de la Montérégie

On Saturday and Sunday, the OSJM presented Dvořák’s 8th Symphony to the public and passers-by at Complexe Desjardins. A work reminiscent of Mozart passages, aspects of Beethoven and the folk tunes of the composer’s native Bohemia, it got young and old dancing and marked the end of the Virée classique in style on Sunday afternoon.
Better suited to wind orchestras or harmonies, the Complexe was not very conducive to the symphony’s subtleties and nuances, especially during the second movement, with its slightly too voluminous acoustics and ambient noise. On the other hand, we admire the energy with which the orchestra overcame these obstacles in the first and last movements. The dancing rhythms of the third and fourth movements were perfect for the situation.

The orchestra takes us on an epic journey through the countryside, from sunrise to the celebrations that stretch into the night. We hear the birds and cicadas singing and imagine the forests and pastoral landscapes that lulled Dvořák throughout his life. We seem to share with him the pleasure of hearing the popular tunes and joys of his childhood.
The OSJM enchants with its precision and ardour. A fine showcase for the next generation of musicians, it offers an encouraging and hopeful vision of the future of symphonic music in Montérégie and Quebec.

Alexis Ruel

Sortie 210: Destination Big Band for Destination Fun

The final performance on the quiet Esplanade of the tenth edition of Virée classique concluded with the brassy sounds of Big Band Sortie 210. Founded in 1992, this ensemble brings together “professional musicians, music teachers, college and university music students and serious amateurs” from Victoriaville and the surrounding Bois-Francs region. Accustomed to musical events and several international festivals, the twenty or so musicians gathered on stage, directed by Guillaume Allard, delivered a thoroughly enjoyable performance in which everyone had a chance to shine. The program was eclectic. Not a string of great jazz standards, but a mix of genres and styles consisting mainly of hits from the classical and popular music repertoires, arranged for big band. So, for the opener, we were treated to a Toccata and Fudge (arranged around Bach’s Toccata in D minor); a Blues for Elise and a jazzy version of Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5. Interspersed between these arrangements are pieces with different expressions. These include John Coltrane’s Central Park West, the only piece to be taken from jazz standards, with its muted colours and timbres, and Bar Talk, a wildly energetic piece which, contrary to its name, is not at all suited to “melancholy contemplation of a glass of alcohol”. As for the soloists, Dominique Rancourt’s performance on violin and Yvon Tardif’s on saxophone in the original composition Hot and Blues were particularly noteworthy for their rapport and complicity. Judging by the number of people tapping their feet and swaying their hips, Sortie 210 was a great success.

Alexandre Villemaire

The PAN M 360 team is very present at the Virée classique, presented by the MSO. Our contributors report daily on what they have seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until August 20.

Payare Conducts Carmina Burana: A Powerful Evening

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

The Maison symphonique was packed to the rafters last night to hear the OSM and its choir perform Carl Orff’s celebrated Carmina Burana. The Petits chanteurs du Mont-Royal and three soloists, soprano Sarah Dufresne, baritone Elliot Madore and countertenor Nicholas Burns, also joined the orchestra to perform the work. The octobasse was also used in the first and last movements.

When the Wheel of Fortune begins to turn, it doesn’t stop. The same can be said of the OSM’s interpretation: once the famous “O Fortuna” has been intoned (at a tempo that’s almost too fast), the following movements follow one another with no time for breath. The orchestra, especially Payare, has energy to spare. The conductor literally danced on the podium. The percussion and brass are powerful, and the rest of the orchestra is solid. The chorus, for its part, enunciates the texts with remarkable clarity. The singers are precise, delivering a performance of exceptional quality. The soloists shone on stage not only with their great vocal qualities, but also with their stage presence and acting. Indeed, the soloists acted out the poems they were singing, sometimes giving rise to quite comical moments (think of the swan’s lament, performed by the countertenor).

The evening unfolds under the sign of power, strength and emotion. Listening to this Carmina Burana is like discovering it for the first time, so bold and solid is the interpretation. Time seemed to stand still for the duration of the concert, and we witnessed a great moment of music. The audience, who reserved their applause for the very end of the concert, cheered the orchestra at the end of the evening for several minutes. This afternoon’s performance is already sold out, which just goes to show how popular this concert is!

Elena Mandolini

Wynton Marsalis’ Trumpet Concerto

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

Although recognized as a pillar of co-contemporary jazz for almost half a century, Wynton Marsalis has always been associated with the classical world. The supravirtuoso has mastered the repertoire and codes since childhood, and his post-graduate studies at Juilliard propelled him into the ranks of the great classical interpreters, before he became an uncontested leader of acoustic jazz in the early ’80s. At the time, many disparaged his desire to link jazz with the world of “great music”, attributing to him instead a conservative approach. Four decades later, time has proven the director of the famous Jazz At Lincoln Center program, of which he is still artistic director, right: Wynton Marsalis has done far more than simply resurrect the hardbop and modal jazz of the 50s and 60s, and his career has involved a clear appropriation of modern and contemporary forms of Western classical music. This is what we were able to appreciate on Saturday in the Canadian premiere of his Trumpet Concerto, played by OSM principal trumpeter Paul Merkelo.

Divided into 6 movements, the work begins with a march built on modern harmonic frameworks and involving advanced techniques for the solo instrument, all based on a groove uncommon to symphony orchestras, interspersed with non-binary rhythmic sequences. It is clear that Maestro Rafael Payare and his musicians have perfectly grasped the orchestral challenges of exploring these intersecting universes and adopting greater flexibility in their execution. Ballad, the work’s second movement, is a rich evocation of the great jazz orchestras at the heart of the previous century, from George Gershwin and Duke Ellington to the great Broadway musicals. Dedicated to the legacy of the Latin trumpet, the 3rd movement is the most demanding of the Concerto, both in terms of instructions for the soloist and the orchestra. We continue with Blues, a slow movement that explores African-American sensibility in a symphonic context, followed by French pastoral with its impressionist allegiances, and concluding with Harlequin, which integrates all the colors put forward in the five preceding movements.

Paul Merkelo acquits himself extremely well, the advanced techniques provided for the soloist are equal to the composer’s demands, and the OSM’s support proves to be perfectly balanced, except for a few insignificant details in the interpretation. In short, a successful Canadian premiere! Now let’s hope that time will do its work and that the classical public will appropriate this new facet of serious music, as did this thousand or so music lovers, including jazzophiles obviously unfamiliar with classical forms. This Canadian premiere was preceded by a magnificent work by the late Montreal composer José Evangelista, inspired by the 50th anniversary of our metro in 2016.

Alain Brunet

Fiddler’s Tale: Wynton Marsalis, Take 2

A little later, on the reconfigured Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier stage, a second work by Wynton Marsalis was presented on Saturday. Fiddler’s Tale is an African-American adaptation of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale), whose narrative is an encounter between a violinist and the devil. Set in modern America, Wynton Marsalis’s adaptation is entirely written out, but plunges its performers into a contemporary sound universe even closer to jazz than the composer intended in his Trumpet Concerto. Elements of primitive, swing, modern and contemporary jazz are interwoven with orchestral devices typical of contemporary chamber music. For this Stravinskian evocation, Marsalis used the same instrumentation as for L’Histoire du soldat: violin (Marianne Dugal), double bass (Eric Chappell), clarinet (Alain Desgagnés), bassoon (Mathieu Harel), trumpet (Stéphane Beaulac), trombone (James Box), percussion (Joshn Wink). Conducted by conductor Dina Gilbert, this work is accompanied by a real-time narration between the 9 tableaux, provided beautifully in English by Nantali Indongo. Interesting, but sometimes a little long-winded. Classical musicians are now better suited to jazz, but such a work requires a better mastery of its expressive codes, which was not always the case. Or one could question the integration of jazz and blues in this score. But all in all, Dina Gilbert’s direction gave this performance the unity and cohesion necessary for successful concerts, despite our reservations.

Alain Brunet

Soothing Follies

There was a special calm and serenity in the Piano Nobile to hear the performance of Sylvain Bergeron on archlute and Margaret Little on viola da gamba. The underlying theme was madness, and more specifically folia, the famous musical theme of the eponymous dance that first appeared in 15th-century Europe. Like the Dies Irae, folia has been reclaimed and used by composers of every era, from Antonio Vivaldi to Sergei Rachmaninov. The two comparses have thus put together a program in which each piece highlights the joint interaction of their instruments, as well as its individual value. Of particular interest was the solo viol piece A Soldiers Resolution by the English composer Tobias Hume (1569-1645), himself a soldier in the service of the King of Sweden, where each movement idiomatically translates an element of soldierly life (march, battle drum, retreat), or the multi-character Faronells divisions upon a ground by Michel Farinel (1649-1726). The folies d’Espagne by Marin Marais (1656-1728) concluded this musical journey, so typical of Renaissance music, which makes time stand still, transporting us to another era and another almost mystical experience.

Pedagogical, the two instrumentalists took the time on several occasions to explain a few facts about their respective instruments, such as how they work and how they differ from modern instruments, even inviting the audience to come and see them once the performance was over, bringing this crazy morning to a close in the most convivial of ways.

Alexandre Villemaire

Schubert and Brahms: Shadows and Light

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

The premise of the short chamber music concert presented on the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier stage was very sombre. Indeed, the program spoke of resignation in the face of death, a resignation sometimes tinged with anxiety. However, the musical selections were full of light and moments of hope. No tears of sadness on this Saturday morning (but tears of emotion, perhaps…).

The concert opened with Jeremy Denk at the piano, playing Franz Schubert’s peaceful Impromptu no. 3 in G flat major. The introspective, meditative and melancholy character of this piece lent itself perfectly to the intimate ambience of the concert. Through light, calm arpeggios, a deep, tormented melody emerges. The pianist portrayed all these emotions brilliantly and clearly.

Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60 then completely changed the tone of the concert. The atmosphere of contemplation was quickly transformed into a moment of musical frenzy. The energy and precision of the performers (Jeremy Denk on piano, Alexander Read on violin, Victor Fournelle-Blain on viola and Nicolas Alstaedt on cello) are to be commended. This quartet offers many technical challenges, with instruments exchanging melodies, great contrasts in nuance and rhythmic passages. Their performance is breathtaking. We hear all the drama, all the power and all the ardor of Brahms’ compositions.

The audience is clearly captivated by the music: the quality of listening is exceptional, and long moments of contemplative silence separate the end of the works from the beginning of the applause.

Elena Mandolini

Dutilleux, Bach and Kodály by Nicolas Altstaedt

Unquestionably a master of his instrument, not only for its exceptional technical level but also for its expressiveness, German cellist Nicolas Altstaedt invited music lovers to the Piano Nobile for a performance of three works requiring the re-tuning of his instrument in order to extend its timbral and harmonic spectra. Like many of today’s classical artists, he bridged the gap between the Baroque period and contemporary music, wrapping an almost rigorist version of JS Bach’s Cello Suite no. 5 in C minor BWV 1011 in a work by Henri Dutilleux commissioned in 1976 by Rostropovich, Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher (a great Swiss conductor dedicated to contemporary music) and the superb Sonata for solo cello, Op. 8 by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály.

The advanced techniques required for this immense sonata, now considered one of the great masterpieces for solo cello, are brought to the fore here by the soloist, whose playing is outstanding. A captivating concert from start to finish, with a few birds chirping – given the imperfect soundproofing of the PdA’s bay window. Totally tolerable under the circumstances!

Alain Brunet

La Virée Makes a Stop in Bali!

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

La Virée classique was enlivened on Saturday by the intriguing and harmonically rich sounds of the Indonesian gamelan. The Giri Kedaton ensemble offered a fascinating concert on the stage of Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, but there was also a series of activities throughout the day that allowed the public to learn more about this lesser-known musical art form.

Firstly, Virée visitors had the chance to become part of the gamelan at an outdoor workshop. Participants of all ages were invited to try out the richly decorated percussion instruments, a gift from the Indonesian government in 1986, and create basic arrangements under the guidance of ensemble members. This was followed by a talk on the origins of gamelan and the different styles that exist, providing a clearer picture of what this music represents. Although of noble origin, it is nevertheless designed to be easily accessible, while allowing for virtuosity through different instrumentation and instrumentation.

This virtuosity was evident throughout the concert. The research behind Giri Kedaton is colossal, and the result of decades of experience with Balinese masters. You can feel how at ease the musicians are in front of their respective instruments. And not just one! Between each piece, the musicians reorganized themselves, settling behind new instruments or simply in a different section. Although the orchestra is organized in much the same way as the classical tradition, with a conductor, soloist and sections, there is no real hierarchy of roles. The musicians form a single whole, offering the audience a true spectacle.

The ensemble’s showmanship was on full display. The musicians, dressed in traditional garb, were having fun and it showed. Dancing also had its place during the concert, with two traditional performances by members of the ensemble. The female dancer simply stole the show, with a mystifying choreography based on intense yet elegant poses and expressions. The mask dance was equally intriguing, with its wordless story, but we regret that the stage layout was not adapted to the needs of the staging. A large part of the audience on the sides were unable to observe the entire choreography. But this did not detract from the quality of the music. Alternating between more traditional music and more contemporary works, the entire concert is marbled with rhythms that are both complex and accessible. Of particular note is O Bali by José Evangelista, founder of the gamelan workshop at the Université de Montréal and a leading figure in Balinese music in Montreal, who passed away earlier this year. A beautiful tribute.

Alexis Ruel

George Sand and Frédéric Chopin’s Epistolary Relationship Accompanied by His Music

Under the title Un hiver à Majorque : correspondances entre George Sand et Frédéric Chopin, BAnQ librarian Esther Laforce and pianist Jean-Christophe Melançon, winner of the Étoiles Stingray – Choix du public and Prix du jeune public at the OSM 2022 Competition, offered a reading, both textual and musical, with the question: “What did an author and a composer write about each other? Although this question was answered, the musical content was well constructed, but left us a little disappointed.

Opening the session, Esther Laforce reminded us that the epistolary exchanges presented were not the intimate correspondence between the two lovers, which had been destroyed, but rather letters sent to their friends in which they talked about each other. The relationship between George Sand – Aurore Dupin, Baroness Dudevant by her real name – and Chopin takes shape in letters addressed to Eugène Delacroix and Polish politician Albert Grzymala, among others. The pieces chosen serve as musical illustrations to the text of the letters read out by the speaker. But which pieces? We had no idea. No program, no visual aids to help us find our way around. Connoisseurs will no doubt have recognized the Prelude no. 15 in D flat major, known as “Raindrop”, but the other excerpts, performed with great accuracy by Melançon, are not. One would have expected to know the names of the pieces performed by the pianist.

We can certainly applaud Esther Laforce’s research, excellent contextualization and narrative, but we’d have liked to have more to sink our teeth into. In the end, we’ve learned about both, but we’d have liked to hear more about the famous stay in Mallorca and the move to the Carthusian monastery in Valldemossa, which comes at the end of the activity and is so intrinsically linked to the development and writing of the preludes. The vein is good, but would benefit from being widened.

Alexandre Villemaire

A UFO at Virée classique: humor and energy at Complexe Desjardins

The Complexe Desjardins stage is a fantastic idea. What could be better than listening to a concert while dining or shopping? The installation during the Virée classique was a great opportunity to hear talented orchestras in the background. But it was impossible to ignore the energy of Saturday’s lunchtime concert.

L’OVNI (Orchestre à vent non identifié) filled the Complexe space with their expansive sounds and eclectic repertoire. The musical setting of tales and stories that make no secret of their absurd humor was a success, thanks in particular to the variety of styles chosen and a solid brass section that gave the orchestra power. Full of contrasts, the works were delightfully frivolous at times, then imposing and weighty at others. It was hard not to notice the famous Dies Irae in the score.

Alexis Ruel

Journey Through Europe and Styles on the Harp

Matt Dupont introduced the audience to the fascinating and varied repertoire for harp. The Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme was perhaps not the best place to present a recital for solo harp, even if amplified. Indeed, the Espace culturel happens to be a very busy and noisy crossroads, so that the softer, lower passages were almost inaudible. Despite this, Matt Dupont’s presence on stage drew the listener in: after just a few notes, an attentive silence settled over the audience.

The program featured works from the 19th and 20th centuries, combining grand cascades of notes, virtuoso passages and humorous melodies. Dupont’s interpretation is fluid, graceful, assured and powerful. We are captivated and even hypnotized by the beauty of the music. Between each piece, the musician briefly introduced the work and its composer, a welcome addition to this short performance. Despite the inconveniences of the concert venue, the works and their interpretations were nonetheless appreciated.

Elena Mandolini

The “Little” Great Music of Obiora and Payare

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

The Ensemble Obiora, founded in 2021 by Allison Migeon, is Canada’s first music ensemble made up largely of professional musicians from diverse backgrounds, and took to the Maison symphonique stage to conclude its second year of participation in Virée classique. There has undoubtedly been a shift in the vision and scope of Virée classique over the past year. The fact that a young ensemble like Obiora is part of the programming, and that the conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal comes to conduct them to help them grow, testifies to Payare’s interest in giving visibility to other ensembles.

For the occasion, the conductor had chosen short pieces, but no less devoid of effects. It could be easy to fall into the easy way out with a universally recognizable piece like Mozart’s Little Night Music. Not so with Rafael Payare. Like a master goldsmith, he searches for precise nuances and dynamics, inviting the musicians to go right to the end of the musical lines to give complexity to this most famous work. The concert’s highlight, the Symphonie concertante pour deux violons no. 2 in G major by composer Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-Georges, born the son of a slave in 1745, saw OSM concertmaster Andrew Wan join Obiora concertmaster Tanya Charles Iveniuk in a most dynamic and electrifying performance. In a form inspired by the concerto grosso of the Baroque era, the two soloists engaged in a vibrant instrumental dialogue supported by the members of the orchestra, particularly in the cadenza of the second movement, in which all the freshness and vitality of the Chevalier’s music is expressed. The concert concluded with the romantic musical language of the Holberg Suite in classical style. In fact, after at least half an hour of bouncy, joyous music, we were treated to the most introspective moment of the concert in this suite, with a maudlin, pious Air. The evening ended on a festive note, to rapturous applause and a sense of pride both in the audience and on stage.

Alexandre Villemaire

Lightning Talk with Nantali Indongo

Nantali Indongo is the host of CBC Radio’s The Bridge. She is also known on the Montreal music scene for her 17 years with the hip-hop group Nomadic Massive. But for Virée classique, it’s her talents as a storyteller that will be put to good use. She will be narrating Wynton Marsalis’s Fiddler’s Tale, a tale of a talented violinist’s pact with the devil.

Nantali Indongo was short of time, having only twenty minutes to devote to the interviewer before having to go to the sound check in preparation for the Marsalis piece. A short, but nonetheless highly enriching interview on the blending of musical genres was held at the Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme. Wynton Marsalis is best known for his jazz work, but he also composes for more classical contexts. In Fiddler’s Tale, the jazz idiom is subtly integrated into the traditional classical score in a manner so fine as to be self-evident. The conversation quickly moves away from jazz and classical to hip-hop and rap. It was in fact a very brief and condensed history of these styles that was presented, proving that the Virée classique is the stage for musical encounters of all kinds.

Elena Mandolini

Movie Classics by the FILMharmonique Orchestra

The FILMharmonic Orchestra, directed by Francis Choinière, is a Montreal-based string orchestra specializing in the performance of film music. We know them for their ciné-concerts at the Maison symphonique or Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, where the music is performed during the screening of a film.

As part of Virée classique, the FILMharmonique orchestra presented its favorite soundtracks. The pieces on the program are fairly expected: The Pink Panther, Cinema Paradiso, Schindler’s List and Lord of the Rings follow one another. But the orchestra also had a few surprises in store for the audience, including a medley of themes from the film Ratatouille, and La passion d’Augustine (the soundtrack for which was composed by François Dompierre).

The orchestra’s musicians put on a fine show. Their energy, and that of the conductor, is contagious. Many works end with a forest of bows suspended in the air. The evening’s soloists (an oboist, a flutist and a violinist) are excellent, interpreting the works with great sensitivity. It’s a pleasure to rediscover well-known pieces from the film music repertoire, in good spirits and good fun.

Elena Mandolini

Godwin Friesen in Recital: Delicacy, Suavity and Precision

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

For most of those present at this recital, it was the discovery of Godwin Friesen, winner of the OSM Competition 2022. What immediately strikes one about this young man is the combination of delicacy and firmness in his piano playing. This is first apparent in Joseph Haydn’s Piano Sonata in A flat major, Hob. XVI:46, velvety smooth and impeccably precise. From the classical composer, we move on to a Bach-inspired Prelude and Fugue in A major composed by the performer. This reveals the musician’s great intelligence, capable of updating the aesthetics of the German genius of the Baroque period, before serving up the main course, a very modern Sonata by Canadian composer Jean Coulthard (1908-2000). The young virtuoso concludes with Franz Liszt’s demanding Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, a must in piano music for any performer with high aspirations. Here again, Godwin Friesen’s suavity rests on both the sobriety of his playing and his precision and brilliance at opportune moments.

Alain Brunet

The PAN M 360 team is very present at the Virée classique, presented by the MSO. Our contributors report daily on what they have seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until August 20.

Virée classique 2023: A Program Full of Surprises and Discoveries!

Virée classique is now in its 10th year. The program offers a space for storytelling and unexpected encounters. Program managers Marianne Perron and Ronald Vermeulen gave us an overview of the events on offer indoors and free of charge. They promised us a diverse and excellent tour (in fact, a marathon) from start to finish, but pointed out a few must-see events: performances by the Obiora ensemble, Carmina Burana conducted by Rafael Payare, Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Virgin and the Canadian premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ trumpet concerto.

This edition of Virée classique, an urban and accessible celebration of classical music, also features forays into so-called classical music from around the world. Of particular note are the gamelan series, and performances by the Oktoecho ensemble. A special place is also reserved for amateur musical practice. Several youth ensembles and non-professional musicians will take to the stage throughout the weekend.

These three days promise to be full of (re)discoveries and wonderful musical moments!

Elena Mandolini

Installations That Bring the Orchestra to You!

La Virée classique isn’t just about concerts in the concert halls or on stage. It’s the entire Place des Arts that comes to life, brought to life by the love of classical music from here and abroad! This cultural vivarium is sustained by an almost unstoppable stream of concerts from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, as well as by activities dotted around the space.

The Salon urbain, opposite the Maison symphonique, is home to a highly interesting exhibition that is making a comeback for the 2023 edition of La Virée. “Les instruments sortent de l’orchestre” is an opportunity to learn more about the instrumentation of a symphony orchestra. The booths are staffed by experts from specialized workshops, who are able to educate visitors on the particularities of each instrument family. There’s a fine array of wind instruments and a good demonstration of the violin-making process, as well as an amusing assortment of percussion instruments. Casavant Frères organs, meanwhile, celebrate the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Pierre-Béique organ at the Maison Symphonique.

Another installation of note is its section devoted to virtual reality experiences, at Espace Sainte-Catherine just to the left of the Place des Arts entrance. Two experiences are available: Partitura, where you take on the role of an orchestra conductor, and Innere Musik, which transports you to the heart of the Maison symphonique organ. There seems to be something for everyone, children and adults alike.

Alexis Ruel

Virée classique 2023 : Behind the Camera With Film Music

For those who are passionate or simply curious about the musical aspect of the 7th art, yesterday saw the presentation of a pleasant conference on the secrets (well or less well kept) of film music. Hosted by Marie-Claude Codsi, herself a composer and doctoral student on the subject, the 45-minute talk revealed a little more about the musical realm of Korngold, Herrmann (unfortunately absent from the presenter’s examples), Williams, Zimmer et al. The OSM space, located right next to the entrance to the Maison symphonique, was packed with an attentive audience. The host gave a rather succinct overview of the history of the medium. But Ms. Codsi made the most of the short time allotted to her, providing interesting anecdotes and even sharing a compendium of which I was unaware: a large book dating back a century (in truth, a copy, but still…) in which dozens of scores were listed according to mood, emotion or scenic situation (chase, fall, plane, night, etc.). It was used by the musicians who accompanied the screenings of the first silent films! Fascinating! Audiences also had the rare opportunity to see an example of an iconic film scene (here, the finale of Star Wars Episode IV) WITHOUT its music. Wow. For many, it was a revelation of the importance of this dimension of cinematic art. A few notions of Mickey-Mousing, Temp Tracks, Punch and Streamer rounded out a film music 101 course that showed viewers that this music, after more than a century of existence, has a lot of substance and deserves to be respected.

Frédéric Cardin

Melancholy Birds and Romantic Lyricism With Noémie Raymond-Friset and Zhenni-Li Cohen

Birds have made their nest at Place-des-Arts’ Espace culturel Georges-Émile Lapalme. Cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset, accompanied by pianist Zhenn-Li Cohen, introduced the first part of this hour-long concert prefiguring Rachmaninov’s Sonata for Cello and Piano. To open the concert, the two musicians performed Saint-Saëns’s Le Cygne with languorous, energetic and ethereal energy. With similar melodic lines and harmony, albeit more dramatic, they followed with Villa-Lobos’s Le Cygne noir, before concluding the first part of the concert with Pablo Casals’s Le chant des oiseaux, an arrangement of a Catalan folk song: a nostalgic lullaby. The pièce de résistance of the performance, Rachmaninov’s Sonata, contemporary with his famous piano concerto, was composed, as presented by Noémie Raymond-Friset, in the wake of a depression following the disastrous reception his first symphony had received. Sadness, anger, joy – all these raw emotions were put into the score by the composer, and were aptly translated by the duo of musicians through a rigorous, supple touch on the piano and expressive, energetic lines on the cello. We must salute Noémie Raymond-Fiset’s concentration in a performance setting less formal than that of concert halls, where the open aspect of the stage offers a slight distraction from the surrounding noise. At times, the setting made it difficult to appreciate the character of the piece, and we felt that the performers had to adjust the volume a few times. These minor details aside, the fine performance by Noémie Raymond-Friset and Zhenn-Li Cohen caught the eyes and ears of a hundred passers-by.

Alexandre Villemaire

A Musical Incursion Into the World of Words

Photo credit: Laurence Labat

Music and literature go hand in hand, and sometimes more often than you think. This is what Katerine Verebely, host and cultural columnist for Radio-Canada radio, points out in her listening club. Since two other sessions of this listening club will take place over the weekend, we won’t spill the beans to our readers who wish to participate in the near future. We’ll just say this: there are some great musical discoveries to be made at this listening club! Thanks to Katerine Verebely’s obvious passion for the subject, we’re discovering rare gems and well-kept secrets from the classical repertoire, past and present. Literature also takes pride of place. We (re)learn poems, stories and literary forms.

As the host so aptly puts it, the links between music and literature are like a thread that can be pulled endlessly, without ever running out. Come and discover this richness at Virée classique!

Elena Mandolini

Les Petits chanteurs du Mont-Royal Take Us on a Journey!

A procession of some forty youngsters, ranging in age from eight to seventeen, offered spectators at the Esplanade Tranquille on Friday evening a truly remarkable experience. The Petits chanteurs du Mont-Royal, a youth education program offering advanced musical training to young people from all walks of life, explored South American choral repertoire with unity and cohesion that was out of this world, echoing their tour there earlier this year.

Their liturgical experience was immediately apparent, particularly in the precision of the melodic lines and the complex polyphony present in many of the works. The younger members shared the soprano and alto lines, while the older ones filled out the tenor lines. In addition to the predominantly religious repertoire, some of the popular tunes were performed to great effect, with some amusing surprises such as the imitation of instruments, accompanied by mimed gestures!

The relatively low volume of the voices created an atmosphere of contemplation for a varied audience, ranging from young families to more seasoned ears. It’s certain that the audience as a whole appreciated these angelic voices, which more than once impressed and even thrilled!

Alexis Ruel

5ilience: A Wind Quintet Against the Wind

Quebec’s first reed quintet, the ensemble 5ilience inaugurated its participation in Virée classique with a modern and contemporary repertoire… in the wind! While there was no reason to fear that rain would be a spoilsport on the first day of Virée’s free outdoor programming, this was not the case as we passed through Sainte-Catherine at 7 pm. Instead, some nasty squalls got in the way, causing a few problems with instrument amplification and on-stage logistics. Hats off to Léanne Teran-Paul (oboe) and Mary Chalk (bassoon), who were solid despite the fact that their scores were somewhat disturbed, despite the ties that had been attached to their lecterns! Notwithstanding this untimely breeze, the musicians of 5ilience presented with conviction and aplomb five works offering a diverse panorama of the timbral palette that the ensemble can offer. Presenting new music, often contemporary, in a free program is quite daring, and the ensemble has succeeded in building a program that is both accessible, with pieces such as Danses galactiques (2022) by Simon Bourget, with its film-music-like language, or “Le pin” extracted from Marc Mellits’ Splinter cycle (2014), with its groovy character, which counterbalanced more cutting-edge pieces such as “Goat Rodeo” from David Biedenbender’s Refraction suite (2015), described by clarinettist Mariane Pellerin as “a mix of funk, dubstep and pointillism, dubstep and musical pointillism”. Her contributions, and those of Thomas Gauthier-Lang, saxophonist and artistic director of the group, were highly relevant and playful in presenting the various pieces. Definitely an ensemble to keep an eye on in Quebec’s musical landscape.

Alexandre Villemaire

Contrast and Light at the Maison symphonique

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

The first Virée 2023 concert at the Maison symphonique, Fairytale and Mozartian Poetry, featured two stylistically contrasting works whose orchestral refinement brought out the full acoustic and sonic splendour of the Montreal venue. The opener was Fairytale Poem, a symphonic poem by Russian composer Sofia Goubaïdoulina, which combines quivering textures with sparkling sparkles and dynamic contrasts ranging from barely perceptible murmurs (is there such a thing as 18 pianissimos?) to effusive fortissimos that remain reasonable, but impressive nonetheless. The Maison symphonique was made for this kind of music: you hear everything, everything, everything. And it’s spellbinding. Goubaïdoulina’s music delighted the audience with its prismatic play on light and, above all, its flourishing woodwind lines (a specialty of the composer born in 1931).

The main course was of a completely different stylistic order: Mozart’s solar Piano Concerto No. 25, K 503, in C major. Pianist Jeremy Denk came bouncing onto the stage, looking genuinely happy to be there. So much the better. If the opening bars seemed to lack a little clarity and reveal one or two doughy digital passages, the sunshine inherent in this work regained its dominance from the four-note motif exchanged between soloist and orchestra, a motif – the detail is worth knowing – that some say anticipates that of Beethoven’s 5th symphony. From that point on, the terrain was clear. The central andante, imbued with solemnity, created a scene of a sun star gradually revealing itself and offering the prospect of a future filled with promise. The final Allegretto enshrined this optimistic vision, drawing us into a radiant harvest where the fruits of previous promises could be fully reaped. Denk played with joy and spontaneity, characters to which an attentive OSM and a complicit Rafael Payare added their technically applied participation.

Frédéric Cardin

Dramatic Stories and Captivating Music

Part of the charm of La Virée classique is that the programs are short and sweet, but tonight I wished the show kept going. It was a truly enchanting evening of chamber music at the Piano Nobile thanks to the exquisite musicianship of Olivier Thouin, Todd Cope, and François Zeitouni, on violin, clarinet, and piano respectively. Together they navigated a captivating repertoire, weaving together the rich narratives of Milhaud, Stravinsky, and Srul Irving Glick.

With his warm demeanour, Olivier explained the selections and gave us a sense of what to listen for in the movements. The repertoire was very accessible, and the band did well to bring out the playful folk-like aspects of Milhaud and Stravinsky’s compositions while also showcasing their virtuosic prowess, bordering on devilish at times. The highlight of the evening was of course Stravinky’s Histoire du Soldat. This timeless tale of a soldier’s Faustian bargain was brought to life so vividly that perhaps the actors would have been superfluous. The only frustration there was that each movement ended so dramatically it was hard to contain our applause. Glick’s vibrant The Klezmer’s Wedding saw Todd Cope taking more of the lead. The mood was dramatic and thoroughly festive, much like a wedding, and it was a fitting tribute to a Canadian icon of classical music.

Varun Swarup

A Concert for Memories: Oktoecho at Théâtre Maisonneuve

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

An ensemble with multiple influences and sources of inspiration, OktoEcho is a master in the art of surprising, moving and enchanting audiences. As soon as you entered the hall, you could feel the special touch of the music that was about to be played. The audience was on stage, almost in a circle around the musicians, creating an almost intimate atmosphere, eliminating the classic concert barriers between stage and audience. The ensemble is made up of a kanun (a Turkish plucked string instrument), a kamânche (a haunting Iranian instrument akin to the violin), an oud (origin of the guitar), two percussionists and a string section (violins, violas, cellos and double bass), was conducted by Katia-Makdissi-Warren, OktoEcho’s artistic director and founder. The orchestra was joined by two Inuit throat singers.

The concert was breathtakingly precise. Everything seemed perfect. The sounds, timbres and modes used transported the audience to the lands of the Middle East. The rhythms also contributed to this impression. Alternating between driving grooves and meditative mantras, often within the same piece. The influence of Arabic and Middle Eastern music dominates in this configuration of the ensemble. Jazz influences can also be felt in certain pieces, both in harmonics and structure. We are also witnessing a blending of origins. At several points, the instruments seem to imitate each other. This blending muddies the waters, giving way to a fascinating unity.

The most captivating aspect of the show, however, is the place that Inuit throat singing occupies in the orchestra and the score. Their incorporation into the ensemble’s music is done with an apparent respect that manifests itself in the authenticity of the contexts. To give an example, one work is devoted entirely to the fundamentally playful aspect of throat singing. The two singers and the percussionists play together, imitating each other, answering each other, exchanging and meeting for a brief moment, which ends in an endearing laugh. The third work presented, devoted to singing, remains the most gripping of the concert, demonstrating all the virtuosity of the singers and the orchestra around them. An unforgettable concert!

Alexis Ruel

The Schumanns’ Music in the Spotlight

The stage of Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts was transformed into a small, intimate room to accommodate a short chamber music recital. Bleachers were set up on the stage for the occasion. Charles Richard-Hamelin on piano, Bomsori on violin and Dominique Beauséjour-Ostiguy performed Three Romances for violin and piano and Trio for piano and strings, no. 3, by Clara and Robert Schumann respectively. The audience is transported to 1850, as Robert becomes increasingly ill and Clara ends her career as a composer. Despite this tragic premise, there is much light, tenderness and life in the pieces on the program.

Unfortunately, the acoustics were not optimal, so the sounds were somewhat muffled. However, nuances were not lost: the softest passages and most subtle pizzicati still reached the audience’s ears. The pieces performed are already well known, but the interpretation by the three musicians was so breathtaking and sensitive that we listened to them as if for the first time. The Romances and Trio are musically complex pieces, and the performers were able to illustrate all the changes of tone, all the energy and all the colours concealed in these works. The musicians are exceptionally talented, and listening to them is particularly captivating.

Elena Mandolini

A Dazzling Payare Accompanies an Introspective Alstaedt

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

Rafael Payare had a practically packed Maison symphonique to conduct Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with cellist Nicolas Alstaedt and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 “Italian”. And this just hours after conducting a concert with pianist Francesco Piemontesi.

For the Variations on a Rococo Theme, guest soloist Nicolas Alstaedt delivered a performance of great virtuosity and velocity, giving each of the seven variations a different, nuanced character. Where we were taken aback – apart from the occasional ringing cell phone – was in the profound interiority of Alstaedt’s playing. When he plays, he enters a world of his own where he physically breathes and exults in the music: this is a quality in itself, provided you keep it under control. Indeed, at one point we had the impression that the soloist had forgotten that there was an orchestra with him.

In contrast to Tchaikovsky’s lyricism, this was followed by a dazzling symphony by Mendelssohn, in which Payare brought to life the characters and images of Italy that the composer painted in his music. The Tuscan sun, the joviality and good humour of the Italians and their great religious faith, the village festivities – all these elements were transposed onto the stage by a Payare who almost danced on the podium! More than the music itself and the Venezuelan conductor’s direction, what was beautiful to watch was the look and smile on the musicians’ faces as Payare took each section and drew them into the story and its energy: an energy that doesn’t go unnoticed, and which shone through in the audience, judging by the thunderous applause that followed.

Alexandre Villemaire

Matthias Maute, flutist, artistic director, conductor and founder of Ensemble Caprice, performed at the Esplanade Tranquille in front of an attentive crowd in a themed concert with a reduced formation: ancient flutes and strings, frame drum and darbouka. The oriental influence on European music at the time of the Renaissance was clearly felt, as Europe became the center of musical creation, and it was an opportunity to immerse oneself in this blend of a distant era, a blend perfectly mastered to the delight of the music lovers present, most of whom were attentive.

Alain Brunet

For the indoor concerts, click HERE.

For the free programming, click HERE.