The Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM) kicked off its 35th season on Monday evening. A concert that blended the diverse horizons of the ensemble, between creations, rearrangements and contemporary repertoire, all were able to find pleasure in the dazzling sonorities of these clearly talented musicians.

Among the musicians was François Vallière on viola, who arranged John Rea’s first piece for 15 instruments, and who was excellent throughout the evening. In fact, this was the motto for all the musicians: excellence. From the clarity of tone to the richness of timbre and accuracy, it’s hard to question the quality of the interpretation of the works, especially the premieres. The intensity of the percussion, performed by Julien Grégoire, is to be commended. And, of course, all was calmly and confidently conducted expertly by Lorraine Vaillancourt, the ensemble’s founding conductor, this 35th season being her last at the helm of the NEM.

Of the four pieces on the program, three were premieres, two of which were complete. John Rea’s Tableaux de La Meninas, variations on Schumann’s Kinderszenen, presented themselves as delicious musical tapas, taking the form of pastiches of various 20th-century composers. Very entertaining, and we’d love to hear more! The first of the two creations to follow, Samuel Andreyev’s Contingency Icons, effectively explores timbres and plays with extremes. The opening is reminiscent of one of the movements from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, which makes for a superb transition since the Rea ended with a pastiche of the latter. The second work, La persistance, l’éphémère by Tomás Diaz Villegas, explored the different effects and rhythms that the ensemble’s instruments could offer.

The final work, the pièce de résistance, was Harrison Birtwistle’s Secret Theatre. It was a synthesis of the other works presented that evening, with elements found at their core, but in a more structured form. There are also new elements, such as string slides that verge on the microtonal, and physical movements by the musicians, who gradually ascend a stage at the back as the piece progresses. Intriguing, the piece is warmly applauded by the audience and praised after the concert.

The Studio Théâtre at Espace Danse in the Wilder Building was pleasantly full. The presence of a large delegation in the audience testifies to the importance of the NEM for the Montreal and Quebec contemporary music scene.

A great opening to this anniversary season!

To learn more about the NEM’s next concert, click HERE.

For the Vivier’s complete programme, click HERE.

Photo credit: Philippe Latour

The Constantinople ensemble led by Kiya Tabassian invited audiences to a deeply moving and human encounter last night at Montreal’s Salle Bourgie. Bringing together musically and thematically the scores of Bach (1685-1750) and the texts of Persian poet Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), even 600 years apart, Tabassian and the musicians who accompanied him provided a vehicle for beautiful moments of communion for the large audience, diverse in age and cultural background. The choice of pieces was obviously made with great care, as the sequences between excerpts from cantatas (for example) and songs or instrumental pieces in classical Persian style flowed with great fluidity. Czech soprano Hana Blažíková has a beautiful voice, beautifully balanced and impeccably in tune.

The same concert, with the same performers, at the Abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques, on August 9:

Bach and classical Persian pieces were interwoven in a kind of inspired cohabitation in which the two giants exchanged, and sometimes even sang in a shared unison, about life, death, God and love. All this was done with great respect, leaving as much room for one as for the other, but also for closer, almost fusional interactions. It’s fascinating to note that two worlds which, 50 years ago and more, would have seemed irreconcilable to supposed musical connoisseurs and purists, now seem perfectly capable of getting along and stimulating sustained attention and enthusiastic reactions from the audience. The applause was warm indeed. It seems that music is once again a model that the human race should follow more closely!

Let’s also underline the high musical quality of the ensemble’s members, regulars like Didem Basar on kanun, Tanya LaPerrière on baroque violin, Michel Anger on theorbo and Patrick Graham on percussion (and Tabassian himself on vocals and setar), and guests like Turkish Neva Özgen on kemenche, Dutch Tineke Steenbrink on positive organ (also co-founder of Holland Baroque) and German Johanna Rose on viola da gamba.

Photo credit: Constantinople

It may not have been the opening night that Ensemble Obiora had originally envisioned, but it was nonetheless a remarkable evening of double premieres. For the opening concert of its 2023-2024 season, “Canada’s first classical music ensemble composed essentially of professional musicians from culturally diverse backgrounds” was to welcome Venezuelan Glass Marcano as guest conductor. Noted for her spirit and energy at the La Maestra Competition in Paris in 2020 – where she was awarded the orchestra’s Special Prize – the young conductor was due to give her first North American concert with the Montreal ensemble. Unfortunately, for health reasons, she had to cancel her participation in the concert. French conductor Samy Rachid stepped up to the podium at the last minute to replace her. A former cellist with the Quatuor Arod, this young man in his thirties, who has just been appointed assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has already worked at the Opéra National du Rhin and the Verbier Festival, was also making his North American debut.

The evening’s program featured both romantic and modern repertoire. Opening with Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, with its particularly colourful timbres, inspired by the dance suites of the Baroque period and paying homage to 18th-century French music. Originally written for piano, Ravel extracted four of the six movements (Prelude; Forlane; Menuet; Rigaudon) for orchestration. Rachid’s clear conducting, with its airy, energetic gestures full of meaning, brings out the nuanced sonorities of the orchestra and the intrinsic character of each dance.

The centrepiece of the concert, Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, performed for the first time in Canada, was a wonderful discovery. Classically structured in three movements (Tempo moderato, Andante, Allegro), it clearly bears the mark of its composer’s origins. Carried by Obiora Tanya Charles Iveniuk’s violin solo, the first movement in particular evokes many of the characteristics of Afro-American music, such as gospel inflections, call-and-response orchestral interplay and even blues. Offering several solo moments, it showcased the soloist’s technique in lines of great virtuosity. The second movement, more lyrical, was marked by melancholic flights of fancy, while the last movement returned to festive, joyous virtuosity, with the orchestra accompanying the soloist with rhythmic accents and an enveloping carpet of notes, ending in a dazzling finale. The concert concluded with Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn, a contrasting work in which the composer’s variations on a chorale theme from the Feldpartie in B-flat major range from low drama to dance-like lyricism, culminating in a victorious, trumpet-like finale.

As impressive as Tanya Charles Iveniuk’s playing was Samy Rachid’s direction. With careful direction and simple yet immensely meaningful gestures, he communicates a palette of dynamics and colours with ease. His energy is playful yet restrained, never excessive, and his direction highlights the architecture of the pieces, finely shaping the sound of the orchestra. A conductor to follow and, above all, to invite back!

Only two years after its creation, and having grown from an orchestra of 25 musicians to more than twice that number, Ensemble Obiora can certainly say that, with the lively and original program offered on Saturday evening, and the interest and diversity of the audience in attendance, it is more than ever a fixture on the Montreal musical scene.

Photo credits: Tam Lan Truong (Tanya Charles Iveniuk) et Therera Pewal (Samy Rachid)

Ukrainian-born Montreal saxophonist Bogdan Gumenyuk gave a concert last night in which he introduced traditional wind instruments from his native country into his music. The announcement promised a journey through a repertoire inspired by traditional Ukrainian pieces and unusual sounds. The result was much more conventional than expected. The sonic incongruities of instruments such as the rig (a cow’s horn) and the double sopilka (a flute) were occasionally present, but no more. That said, some of them did have a spectacular effect, such as the trembika, a large flute (enormous!, about 3 metres long!) that protruded well beyond the stage and was almost in the audience when Gumenyuk played it. With the sound of a wooden hunting horn, more or less, it thundered quite loudly in the little Dièse Onze club.

The music itself navigated fairly classic jazz waters: ballads that would not have been disowned by the West Coast tenors of a certain era (Getz, Gordon), feverish bop, swaying blues, and so on. We enjoyed a melody that came from the popular Ukrainian repertoire, of course, and also a few more modern incursions like La Terre en soi, released as an EP not long ago (and which I invite you to read my review of). On the whole, though, we were treated to a more careful product than his 2022 album Love Letters to the Other Side (despite the presence of two tracks from the album in question), which handled hard bop of the highest quality with conformity but plenty of fire and sincerity. The touches of unusual instrumentation gave more the impression of a sprinkling than a real conceptual basis.

Nevertheless, and more importantly, there were some fine, inspiring solos from all members of the quartet: Paul Shrofel on piano, Sandy Eldred on double bass, John Hollenbeck on drums and, of course, Bogdan himself on tenor (and a sturdy blower at that). In fact, the packed audience often applauded warmly.

Photo credit: V. Yanuk

As part of the Apéroffs series at OFF Jazz 2023, Ruiqi Wang, a fresh young singer and McGill graduate, gave a concert yesterday. Now pursuing her studies in Bern, Switzerland, she is keeping in touch with Montreal (both professionally and emotionally), notably by returning to present material from her forthcoming album, Subduing the Silence, due out on 27 October.

In a chamber format with seven musicians (eight including her), a piano-bass-drums trio (very good Stéphanie Urquhart, Summer KoDama and Mili Hong) enhanced by a string quartet, Ruiqi Wang dazzles or lulls the audience, depending, with vocal elaborations that are either traditional Chinese litany (but revisited), contemporary onomatopoeia (influences from Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros and pages of Ligeti are detectable), spoken word or even more classical jazz singing. The voice lacks breath in the upper register, but it’s not devoid of pretty timbres in the lower. In any case, it’s beautiful and tonally accurate, and pleasant to listen to. The chromatic modernism, sometimes atonal, in the harmonies is generally the order of the day, although at times we find ourselves tenderly reminded of Evans or even Strayhorn. It’s a mix that marks out the learned and artistically elite well-sourced inspirations of the young composer.

The structure of the pieces, and more broadly that of the programme as a whole, is rigorously structured and guided. Improvisation is liberated under precise conditions, at chosen moments. In my opinion, Ruiqi Wang’s music is mainly conceived as a written structure onto which improvisation can later be docked under well-defined parameters. These are well rendered and brought to life by the three musicians in the basic trio accompanying Ruiqi. Urquhart, KoDama and Hong are truly solid. Montreal’s up-and-coming female jazz musicians are impressive and point to an exciting future.

For these structural reasons, the concert resembled, with some inevitable accommodations because, after all, this is jazz, the forthcoming album. In other words, listening to the album (already available to listen to on Bandcamp) and the concert are very much the same experience. Which in no way diminishes its quality, don’t get me wrong.

The concert took place at Montreal Improv, a great little space on Notre-Dame Street West in Griffintown. Even if it is focused primarily on theatrical improv, we’d like to see the place get a proper, regular jazz programme in the not-too-distant future. There’s so much musical talent in this city that new venues and opportunities to play in front of an audience are urgently needed.

The OSM welcomed some distinguished guests last night. Conductor Roderick Cox and violinist Blake Pouliot delivered solid performances that lived up to expectations and their respective reputations, in a powerful evening of vitality and virtuosity.

The concert opened with Tchaikovsky’s symphonic fantasy The Tempest. The work was inspired by Shakespeare’s play of the same title. It is a highly evocative work, constructed in several tableaux describing the play’s events in music. We could hear the waves, illustrated by the string section, and all the drama of the play, evoked by powerful brass instruments. The performance of this work is remarkable: the orchestra plays perfectly together, even in the fastest, most charged passages. Cox’s precise, sweeping and evocative gestures guide the orchestra brilliantly through the work. The interpretation is rich in contrast and nuance, and all performed with great success.

In the second half, the most eagerly awaited work of the evening: Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. Soloist Blake Pouliot shines on stage. The solo violin can be heard very well, even when the orchestra is playing with more power. Pouliot’s interpretation is solid and convincing, and the themes are interpreted in a very singable way. The higher passages are clear and assertive. Pouliot seems at ease on stage, relaxed as he plays, smiling during the orchestral passages alone. The third movement, the concerto’s most virtuosic, is surprisingly short. But Pouliot and the OSM put so much energy into it that the finale is unforgettable. This is a performance of the highest order, amply justifying all the praise received by both Cox and Pouliot.

Crédit photo : Antoine Saito

After intermission, Roderick Cox conducts the Negro Folk Symphony, composed by African-American composer William Levi Dawson. The work presents a fairly standard musical language as far as symphonic orchestral composition is concerned, but the score nevertheless contains some nice surprises that are a pleasure to hear. The symphony is strongly inspired by spirituals, and this influence is clearly audible. In each of the three movements, a lilting, sometimes syncopated melody is first introduced by a solo instrument, then taken up by the orchestra. Once again, Cox and the OSM offer a performance rich in contrasting nuances and moods. The tone is sometimes luminous and playful, sometimes grave and solemn. The work of the percussion section is also noteworthy, particularly in the second movement.

The audience was treated to an exhilarating evening, full of (re)discoveries and solid, precise and convincing interpretations. The program will be presented again on Saturday, October 14, and is not to be missed!

For info and tickets, click HERE.

Montreal drummer Mark Nelson wanted to musically illustrate all the “weird things” that exist beyond the earth’s atmosphere, far beyond, that is, into other solar systems and even other galaxies. It’s this idea that underpins the conceptual content of Postcards From the Cosmos, a jazz collection of impressions from far away, presented last night at Dièse Onze as part of OFF Jazz 2023. Interstellar jazz, philosophically speaking, but very little solar in its harmonic architecture. We find ourselves in a serious, complex sound universe, supported by an often insistent rhythmic drive by Nelson himself, of course, and the discreet but elaborate Levi Dover on double bass. The piano, in truth, is where it’s at. The excellent Andrew Boudreau builds a sophisticated constellation that oscillates between Webernian atonal and reasonable chromaticism.

In this journey, we land somewhere on a planet where it “snows” sunscreen (Kepler 13Ab – yes, yes, it’s true), and admire the so-called Sombrero galaxy (one of the most beautiful captured by telescopes) while trying to perceive the tenuous, highly abstract echoes of the song “Mexican Hat Dance” in the instrumental framework, and we hear a “weird blues” defining the asteroid Oumouamoua (which some have mistaken for an alien spaceship) and a vaguely Schoenbergian funk doubled by pianistic chords reminiscent of Messiaen tells us of a planet with two suns, like Tatooine in Star Wars. There’s even Pluto, nostalgically hailed as a former planet (it’s now a “dwarf planet”). Nelson obviously knows his stuff.

However, we would have liked a little more “sense of wonder” in this high-level music, to sometimes avoid the impression of cerebrality. The title track, “Postcards From the Cosmos,” arriving towards the very end, gave us a touch of that. It was a little late. Stars, galaxies, colourful nebulae, and eccentric exoplanets, were all imbued with a kind of visual and spiritual magic that we’d have hoped would be more faithfully replicated in the musical constructs. Nevertheless, the end result is ferociously intelligent, skilfully woven into several layers of harmonic and rhythmic discourse, and produced with musicians in great technical shape (once again, Boudreau, impressive. Fellow pianist Félix Stüssi was present and said the same thing). We may not have been amazed, but we were certainly impressed and jazzistically satisfied.

A confession to start with: I didn’t know Melissa Pipe before the OFF Jazz festival. Listening to her album Of What Remains totally enchanted, impressed and seduced me. And the concert on October 11th in a totally transfixed Ministère only added to my delight.

Melissa Pipe plays bassoon and baritone saxophone. But first and foremost, she’s a brilliant composer and arranger. She focuses on chamber jazz, in which brass and wind dominate, but in which each musician is in total symbiosis with his or her compatriots. Well-crafted solos to boot.

We’re in a kind of velvet halo, which doesn’t exclude occasional bursts of dissonance and explosions, but what predominates is a formidable harmonic and meditative quilt.

“As you may have noticed, I’m very fond of the low register,” Melissa Pipe tells us between two pieces. It’s true that it’s a characteristic of her musical colours. When you play bassoon and baritone saxophone, it influences the register of your compositions.

Incidentally, Melissa Pipe speaks French like a native Québécoise, and a third of the tracks on Of What Remains have French titles. This sextet once again reflects Montreal’s diversity: Philippe Coté on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Solon McDade on double bass, the formidable Mili Hong on drums, Andy King on trumpet (Lex French plays more on the album) and Jeff Johnston on piano (Geoff Lapp on the album). This band is exquisite, let’s not mince words.

Compared to some of my colleagues on this site, I don’t possess an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz. But the lover of good music of all genres that I am levitated during these eighty minutes of music.

From now on, when I hear that Melissa Pipe is giving a concert, whether with her sextet, her bassoon quartet, or in some other form – I hear she also collaborates with rock or hip-hop musicians – I’ll keep my ears open.

I end this review with Of What Remains in my headphones. What magnificent harmonies. What symbiosis. Ideal music to transcend the anxieties of the present age.