On 7 February 2023, a very rare opera of Haitian origin was premiered in Salle Pierre-Mercure at the Centre Pierre-Péladeau in Montreal. This ATMA recording is a live recording of the event. I was there and gave it a positive review the following day. You can read it here :
So I won’t go back over the details of the work and its production by the various artists on stage: Suzanne Taffot, Catherine Daniel, Paul Williamson, Brandon Coleman and the Orchestre classique de Montréal under the attentive direction of Alain Trudel. I would just like to reiterate what a great pleasure it is to listen to this resolutely tonal opera, with its many recurring themes, like clearly identifiable leitmotifs. There is a magnificent aria, a real one, sung by Suzanne Taffot, that will melt your heart. La Flambeau is also a very welcome newcomer to the Quebec opera scene, for although the traditional tale it tells is firmly rooted in Haitian soil, its conception and birth are eminently Quebecois. Once again, the close ties that exist between the Haitian and Quebecois peoples have produced some very fine artistic results.
If you have the slightest interest in contemporary opera and its vitality, make a useful (and pleasant!) purchase: get this ATMA album to support this kind of project. Many thanks to everyone who made it possible, and to ATMA for having the courage to fund such a recording.
