The Vibrations Festival is in full swing at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music. Several concerts are offered to the public, covering a wide range of musical styles, and sharing the stage with UdeM students and professors.

On November 30, a concert by the newly-formed Ensemble de musique du monde took place at Salle Serge-Garant. The ensemble’s director, Juliàn Gutiérrez, was delighted to see the creation of such an ensemble at the University, as it demonstrates a real interest in music from all over the world. The evening’s repertoire was devoted to Latin American music and dance but also included a few arrangements of well-known songs in other languages, translated into Spanish.

The mood was festive, and the intimate format of the concert gave us the feeling that we were all invited. The repertoire performed is fairly standard, but the students put a lot of energy and musicality into it. The percussionists carry and support the pieces, and the rest of the rhythm section is impeccably precise. The uncluttered instrumental section of trombone, trumpet, tenor and soprano saxophones is equally precise and unique. Each instrumentalist also delivers solid solos, both rhythmic and lyrical. However, the sound is poorly calibrated, making it rather difficult to hear this quartet’s accompaniments clearly.

Each work features a vocal part accompanied by beautiful harmonies. Throughout the evening, the conductor is also a singer, resulting in rich three-part harmonies. Here too, the voices are sometimes a little buried by the accompaniment.

The audience is often invited to join in the festivities. Simple melodic lines are sung in question-and-answer mode, but above all, there’s a lot of dancing. The evening ends with a very pleasant I Will Survive translated into Spanish and transcribed in bachata style, giving a new dimension to Gloria Gaynor’s famous song. The evening once again demonstrated the great talent of Montreal’s up-and-coming musical talent.

The Vibrations Festival continues until December 2. Many events are free! INFO AND TICKETS HERE!

It was in the serene setting of a virtually full Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours that the Ensemble Diderot performed, a music ensemble recognized among other things “for its vocation to rediscover and interpret on period instruments the repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, and to reveal the links forged between performers, composers, courts and schools of a Baroque musical Europe without frontiers”.

Having already appeared at the Bach Festival a few years ago, violinist and artistic director Johannes Pramsohler this time brought his friends Roldán Bernabé and Simone Pirri (violins), Eric Tinkerhess (cello) and Philippe Grisvard (harpsichord and organ) to Montreal to present a program centred around works from the generation preceding that of the Leipzig Kantor. The evening’s repertoire was quite unique and relatively mysterious, in that it consisted of a string of sonatas for three violins, defined by their “use of three voices in the high register of the violin, supported by a bass voice, allowing for the expression of more personal virtuoso playing and more complex musical writing”, not to be confused with the trio sonata – an emblematic genre very much in evidence in the Baroque period, and governed by different rules. The sonata for three violins was such a unique and experimental genre that the composers who tackled it often composed only one. So, as Johannes Pramsohler and Philippe Grisvard humorously pointed out in their remarks to the audience, we were hearing the bulk of the sonata catalogue. For its first appearance in the metropolis, the Ensemble Diderot delivered a performance marked by subtlety and marked dynamism. A dynamism that was not without its difficulties, as the string players had to deal with instruments whose temperature fluctuations forced them to retune almost systematically between each piece.

The first part set the table in a balanced and honest manner. The sonatas by Gabrielli and Fontana gave rise to some fine exchanges of violin passages, supported by a round, sonorous continuo and melodic outbursts from the organ. Schmelzer’s Sonata a 3 violini was imagined by Diderot’s musicians as an evocation of the Judgment of Paris, an important episode in Greek mythology pitting the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite against each other. The Prince of Troy, Paris, must present an apple to the fairest of them all. The musical dialogues here are highly idiomatic, moving from a tender, lyrical movement to a more animated, energetic theme, and ending with a page of almost contemplative supplication. Johann Fux’s Sonata for 3 violins, without continuo, is a strange interweaving of varied contrapuntal musical lines, which leaves us with an impression of harmonic clutter, despite subtle, perfectly executed nuances and dynamics.

It was particularly in the second half of the concert that the inventiveness and aesthetics of the type of sonatas represented by the Ensemble Diderot really shone through. Opening the second half, Marini’s Sonata in Eco allowed us to appreciate Pramsohler’s virtuoso vocal playing, to which his comrades Bernabé and Pirri responded from behind the chapel choir, amplifying the echo effect that the piece calls for through the use of repetition of the last segments of the violins’ musical lines. Giovanni Buonamente’s Sonata Seconda evokes for the musicians the mythological figure of the Fates, the beings who weave the destiny of every individual. The musical lines, typical of a canzone inspiration, are carried by an effect imitating a spinning wheel in the violins, which concludes with a dry, sonorous bow stroke in the cello, symbolizing a life that has just been cut short. The Sonata decima by Dutch composer Carolus Hacquart is an exceptionally constructed four-movement synthesis of sonata form, frivolous, agile and stylistically varied. Considered the inventor of the concerto, Torelli’s sonata bears the mark of this influence, with its sonorous, clarion tutti. The finale, a sonata by Antoine Dornel, was warmly applauded. As an encore, the musicians offered a nuptial gift in the form of Pachelbel’s famous Canon: a work that may have been overplayed but was treated with good taste and vivacity. So there’s no need to sulk, especially when accompanied by the imagination and rigour of the Ensemble Diderot.

The Bach Festival continues until Saturday, December 2. To see the detailed program, visit the official festival website.

Also check out the Off-Festival Bach program, which offers a series of free concerts and activities every day from November 22 to 29, starting at 12 noon.

Photo credit: Antoine Saito

Le Vivier and l’Orchestre de l’Agora joined forces last night to fulfill one of their primary missions: to promote and present contemporary music in all its forms. The program offered, which included a number of commissions by the Orchestre de l’Agora, demonstrated the wide range of possibilities in contemporary composition. Indeed, the three works presented, each featuring a different soloist, all used a distinct musical language. A highly successful evening, full of nuance and energy!

The first part featured percussionist David Therrien Brongo, premiering composer Nicolas Gilbert’s percussion concerto Jeux de pouvoir. The work takes the form of several small tableaux, with the percussion soloist moving around the foreground of the hall. David Therrien Brongo demonstrates great virtuosity in a complex score, and the accompanying orchestra is precise, leaving plenty of room for the soloist. The concerto has a great deal of humour, which all the performers convey with brio: conductor Nicolas Ellis is asked to leave the podium for a few bars to play the triangle, and then a few famous excerpts from orchestral works (including Ravel’s Bolero) follow in quick succession towards the end of the work. The Orchestre de l’Agora’s performance of this work strikes the perfect balance between virtuosity, humour and musical enjoyment.

The second work is a complete change of register. We leave the overflowing energy and enter the dark world of Émile Nelligan’s poetry. What remains, however, is the virtuosity. Le récital des anges, a cycle for voice composed by Ian Cusson, is performed by soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais. This cycle, originally for piano and voice, but orchestrated by Cusson for the Orchestre de l’Agora, is composed of six poems selected by Cusson to tell a dark story, whose common thread is regret. The work is troubling, and so is St-Gelais’ perfect interpretation of it. You can feel the hall holding its breath. The balance between soloist and orchestra is excellent, the instruments perfectly illustrating the regret and doubts tugging at the protagonist. The stage presence of Elisabeth St-Gelais is convincing, transporting us into the world of the Quebec poet.

The last work on the program, once again, offers a striking contrast to the previous one. Wlat Marhulets’ Concerto for klezmer clarinet offers everything you’d expect from a work for klezmer clarinet, and more! Soloist Victor Alibert demonstrates impeccable mastery of his instrument. The score calls for frequent use of the high register most of the time, which Alibert does with ease and flexibility. Klezmer music is known for being rhythmic and celebratory, and that’s exactly what the audience was treated to in this final piece. The orchestra still had energy to spare and gave their all for this final work. Klezmer music is unmistakable, but this concerto also goes elsewhere, borrowing heavily from the purely orchestral tradition, and at times recalling the musical language of the great jazz orchestras, with its extensive use of drums and electric bass lines.

This concert demonstrated the great variety that exists in today’s repertoire. Although the works presented used a fairly conventional musical language, there was no denying that they were rooted in the 21st century. This celebration of creativity achieved its goal, thanks to the musical rigour of Nicolas Ellis and the Orchestre de l’Agora, as well as to the high-calibre soloists.

It was one of the most beautiful evenings of music I’ve heard this year. If an Opus Prize could be awarded to the best concert in Montreal by a foreign organization, I Gemelli at Salle Bourgie last Wednesday evening (November 22) would be among the few finalists. I Gemelli is an ensemble led by Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, a tenor with a wide range (a barytenor, in fact) and a stage presence that is easy, dynamic and more than likeable. On stage, another tenor, Zachary Wilder, is lighter and brighter, but just as technically and expressively impressive. For this concert of Italian baroque arias (essentially, the programme from their album A Room of Mirrors), they were accompanied by a baroque cello, a viola da gamba, two violins, a harpsichord, a harp, a theorbo or a baroque guitar (the musician changed depending on the piece) and an archlute, the ensemble I Gemelli.

To say it was good is too generic. Call it what you will, the mayo that catches, the current that flows, a home run on almost every ”tune”, in short, it was memorable. Firstly, because the musicians are all good, very good. The two tenors stand out, as they are often in the spotlight in this predominantly vocal repertoire. Like the mirrors in the title of the eponymous album, they are both capable of the most exquisite subtlety in triple pianissimo (in the treble, please (!), but they still surprise in their complementarity, thus avoiding duplication. The instrumentalists are at the pinnacle of an art that is now well mastered, the historical baroque, but they seem to have taken it to a new level in terms of technical perfection and authentic affect. The overall sound of these Gemelli is finely graduated and balanced, demonstrating a remarkably coherent collective listening.

And then there’s the programme. I’ve said a little bit about it, but it’s worth highlighting the audacity of coming to a city for the first time with a line-up that doesn’t have any real ‘selling’ names! No Vivaldi, no Bach, not even Corelli. No, just Falconieri, d’India, Marini, Castellani, and the other greats of their time, now retreating into obscurity. And yet, I don’t think any other meeting with more eminent ‘celebrities’ would have been more satisfying. What we heard was beautifully inspired, with strong melodies and fine compositions that were by turns invigorating or poignant. A feast from start to finish.

But the real soul of this memorable concert came from the musicians themselves. Artists who enjoy playing together and show it clearly – isn’t that, in the final analysis, an excellent sign? Then there was Toro himself (ably assisted by Wilder), who dared to do something that few Europeans still do, especially those of such high calibre as these: address the audience directly, throughout the concert. The communication is fluid, friendly but not overdramatic, and informative but in no way academic. It’s fun but with a clear respect for the audience’s intelligence.

And believe me, the audience really appreciated it. After the concert, the musicians rushed into the lobby of the venue to talk to the public and sell a few albums. There was a big crowd around the table and, if I’m not mistaken, the well-stocked box was emptied in no time. Even the beautiful box set of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, which was recently released and cost $60, was gone. I got a copy, signed and kindly given to me by Toro himself. The man is happy.

These people know how to make friends, and they’ve given us good reason to invite them back.

The year 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of Ensemble SuperMusique, whose mission is to dedicate itself to the performance of new music, as well as to written and improvised music and graphic scores. The ensemble is well-known on the Montreal music scene for its great talent, dynamism and consistently high-quality performances. Last night’s concert, co-broadcast with Le Vivier, proved once again that Ensemble SuperMusique always stands out in its field.

The two works on the evening’s program were premieres, conducted by the composers themselves. The first piece, Versa es in luctum cithara mea… by Vergil Sharkyaʹ brought together several elements in a single work: prepared and acoustic instruments, amplification and sound effects. As a prelude to the piece, the composer rolls metal balls over guitar strings, and strikes the strings with light brushes or a piano hammer. So many unusual playing methods create a superb sound effect, a little ethereal and almost otherworldly. This first section transports us into a world of uncluttered sonorities, in which the focus is on the different ways of producing sound.

The second section mobilizes the entire SuperMusique ensemble, giving way to some fine moments of collective improvisation, on a melodic base carried by the low instruments and percussion. Once again, we pass through several tableaux, each depicting different moods: rhythm and bass, meditation (where we see three bass flutes at work!) and a register that could almost be described as science fiction.

The second work on the program, Monnomest (“my name is”), by Joane Hétu, is a long work in three movements and several tableaux dedicated to Rémy Bélanger of Beauport, creator and cellist, who was attacked in October 2020 in Quebec City in what is now known as the “sabre attack”. The work is built around a theme that musically spells out the name of Rémy Bélanger de Beauport, a theme that metamorphoses over the course of the work but is always recognizable in the background.

As well as involving instrumental improvisation, of course, 7 performers also lend their voices to the work. This adds an extra texture to an already richly composed piece. Each instrument has the opportunity to take center stage, allowing the ensemble’s talent to shine through. Monnomest is a work guided by magnificent melodic moments and moments of introspection.

This concert was carefully constructed, with a scenography that invited total and complete listening. The two pieces blended perfectly and were a seamless continuation of each other. The moments of improvisation were breathtaking, and we admired the cohesion of the ensemble.