Virée classique de l’OSM | A Successful Trip on Mediterranean Soil for The OSJM

The PAN M 360 team is very present at the Virée classique, presented by the OSM. On the ground, in the free activities and the indoor concerts, Alain Brunet, Alexis Desrosiers-Michaud and Alexandre Villemaire report on what they saw and heard at the events presented in Montreal until August 18.

The Complexe Desjardins vibrated to the sounds of the Mediterranean with a solid and lively Montreal Youth Symphony Orchestra in a sunny program that hit the mark. The orchestra founded in 1976 and conducted by Louis Lavigueur was participating in its fourth time at the OSM Classical Spree, a beautiful symbolism and a participation that we hope to see continue between the Montreal ensemble and the young members of the orchestra, young people who, as Maestro Lavigueur rightly pointed out, will surely be among the new members of the OSM or the OM in the near future.

The program he had concocted allowed us to witness the quality of the musicians’ playing. Beginning the concert with the sparkling “Overture” from Rossini’s opera L’Italienne à Alger, the orchestra then welcomed violinist Justin Saulnier, winner of the 2nd prize at the OSM Competition in 2023, to perform the fifth movement of Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole. Saulnier demonstrated great technical agility with a clear and biting sound, despite a few minor communication challenges with the conductor, particularly for a few slowdowns. However, nothing major to spoil the performance. Certainly the most complex piece on the program, Darius Milhaud’s Suite Provençale offered a most exciting play of texture and color. The orchestra concluded its one-hour performance with a most invigorating interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, in which several instrumental sections of the orchestra were able to shine with their mastery of their instrument.

Photo credit: Gabriel Fournier