OSM and Khachatryan | Music, Politics and The Human Condition

by Hélène Archambault

There are moments when you feel privileged to be where you are. Such was the case on Wednesday evening at the Maison symphonique. I think the feeling was mutual, at least if I’m to judge by the encore given by violinist Sergey Khachatryan, who gave a superb performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35.

The orchestra provided a setting in which he could express his sincerity, as when the flutes pick up at the end of his very personal cadenza, or again in the opening bars, as the strings introduce the solo violin.

The reminder is a piece by Grigor Narekatsi, a 10th-century Armenian mystic poet and saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2015, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, Pope Francis declared St. Gregory of Narek (Frenchized name), Doctor of the Church, the 36th, for his timeless writings. Timeless, Havoun, havoun is. More than 1,000 years apart, his play resonates.

After intermission, Payare and the OSM attack Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, Op. 103 “The Year 1905”. 11 young instrumentalists from Montreal’s Conservatory, McGill, and Université de Montréal music schools join the orchestra for the occasion. Knowing the history of this symphony is the key to fully appreciating it because it’s not the kind of piece you listen to while preparing a chickpea salad on Monday morning before catching the metro. The program notes are illuminating. Symphony No. 11 is intimately linked to the history of Russia, and later the Soviet Union, both in its writing and its reception by the regime. With the USSR having decreed Shostakovich’s music an enemy of the workers in the aftermath of the Second World War, new compositions had to wait until the 1950s. Composed at the beginning of 1957, Shostakovich recounts in music the popular uprising of 1905 against the Russian Empire.

The first movement, “Palace Square”, opens with a hostile winter scene, where bloody repression soon unfolds. Military snare drums, bugles, and folk song illustrations are all sound manifestations of the violence of the repression. The second movement evokes Red Sunday, and here again, Shostakovich uses musical material to depict the horror of the massacre and the desolation of death. The third movement, “Eternal Memory”, is reminiscent of the Revolutionaries’ Funeral March. As for the Finale, “Tocsin”, this is revolutionary fervor, characterized by trumpets and low strings, interrupted by an English horn melody, and ending with the sounds of cymbals and bells. When the music stops, you wonder what you’ve just experienced. I was moved, disturbed, and thrown to the ground. This concert embodies the human condition in all its fragility.

Photo Credit: Antoine Saito

Baroque / classique

Les Violons du Roy : Bach, les premières cantates et Bernard Labadie

by Sami Rixhon

On s’imagine facilement et même presque exclusivement le grand Johann Sebastian Bach en homme âgé, pétri des plus grands savoirs musicaux que seuls l’expérience et le temps apportent. C’est pourtant un tout jeune homme, au début de la vingtaine, qui nous lègue les puissants et parfaits chefs-d’œuvre que sont ses toutes premières cantates. Des œuvres qui ouvrent l’une des plus importantes sommes musicales de tout l’Occident, livrées ici avec La Chapelle de Québec, dans toute leur splendeur.
Bernard Labadie, chef
Myriam Leblanc, soprano
Daniel Moody, contre-ténor
Hugo Hymas, ténor
Stephen Hegedus, baryton-basse
Avec La Chapelle de Québec

It is easy to imagine the great Johann Sebastian Bach almost exclusively as an elderlyman, steeped in the greatest musical knowledge that only time and experience can bring. Yet it was a young man in his early twenties who handed down to us the powerful, true masterpieces that comprise his very first sacred cantatas. These works are the first of one of the most important musical collections in the whole of the western world, delivered in all their splendour here with La Chapelle de Québec.
Bernard Labadie, conductor
Myriam Leblanc, soprano
Daniel Moody, countertenor
Hugo Hymas, tenor
Stephen Hegedus, bass-baritone
With La Chapelle de Québec

Programme

J.S. BACH
Cantate Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4
Cantate Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
Cantate Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131
Cantate Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150

Program

J.S. BACH
Cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4
Cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
Cantata Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131
Cantata Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150

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Ce contenu provient des Violons du Roy et est adapté par PAN M 360

Choral Music / Classical / Classical Period / Renaissance music

Beethoven’s 9th, Montreal, 200 Years Ago…

by Alexis Desrosiers-Michaud

On this Valentine’s Day, we were treated to a premiere at the concert by Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble ArtChoral: Beethoven’s 9ᵉ symphony on early instruments, conducted by Matthias Maute.

The original program was to have opened with the little-known cantata Hiob by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel. Instead, we were treated to two Yiddish pieces, Ernst Bloch’s Yih’yu L’ratzon and a traditional aria calledOy dortn, as well as Gregorio Allegri’s famous Miserere.

The two Jewish pieces feature soprano Sharon Azrieli and her imposing vibrato. Acting as cantor, she announces psalmodies and the choir responds. We don’t know if it’s a microphone or projection problem, but she was barely audible from the back of the audience. All the same, it’s very pretty, and reminds us that this Jewish and Hebrew music is too rarely performed in our concert halls.

The Miserere is a jewel of musical genius that leaves no room for error. Unfortunately, there were mistakes. Firstly, the voices of the quartet perched high up in the Maison symphonique are not homogeneous; those of the men do not vibrate, whereas those of the women do. What’s more, it’s not always right. Then, there’s no change in volume throughout the piece, and as this piece is often repeated, it becomes redundant and loses all its intimacy. Then, in the psalmodies, different notes are accentuated by the choristers, instead of being lightly pressed, and it’s sometimes unclear in the cuts and consonants. In short, this is a fine work, but it would have deserved a more consistent rendering.

The real treat of the first half is Höre auf meine Stimme, written by William Kraushaar, also a chorister in the bass section. Maute warned us that the melody would stick in our heads, and for good reason. Simple without being kitschy, repeated often enough without our noticing it too much, it is supple and expressive. The accompaniment doesn’t impose itself, leaving the choir to sing along, acting as a harmonic carpet. Were it not for a few dissonant chords from the language of Morten Lauridsen and his contemporaries in the a cappella passages, we would have placed this work between the styles of Mendelssohn and Schubert, and on our first listen, this piece seems accessible to most amateur choirs. When will it be published?

According to conductor Maute, this is the first time in Montreal that Beethoven’s Ninth has been played on period instruments. It takes a few minutes to adapt to the new sound, but it’s very pleasant and successful, despite a few lapses in accuracy and precision. The sound isn’t fat, and the loud passages don’t give the impression that Obelix is lifting the Sphinx, but the tension is there. In the first movement, which Maute conducts at breakneck speed, you can hear all the elements of the musical dialogue, and the second really has the feel of a dance, something you don’t get from many other conductors. However, the middle section of this movement is too fast, and the winds don’t keep up. The third movement is certainly not adagio, but very cantabile. One enjoys the phrases without lingering or falling into the moon.

The last movement opens smoothly and lightly. Finally, the cello/bass recitatives are not too heavy! And all is exalted before the entrance of the chorus, with the recitative of bass Dominique Côté. But as soon as the chorus begins, something annoys us: a soprano pierces more than the rest of her section, especially in the high register, which is like saying almost all the time in Beethoven. Once this is targeted by the ear, it’s extremely difficult to ignore. My seatmate, who was also bothered by it, confided to me at the end of the evening that it wasn’t the first time it had happened to this tandem. If you don’t want one person’s work to unbalance a rare, high-level performance, this is something to be corrected.

photos: Tam Photography

Classical / Modern Classical

OSM | Payare and Weilerstein: Passion for Two From Prokofiev to Ravel

by Alexandre Villemaire

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, February 12 and 13, the setting couldn’t have been more propitious for the pairing of Rafael Payare and Alisa Weilerstein on the Maison Symphonique stage.

If Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé can be deliberately associated with the idyll of love, both in its subject matter and in its music, Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony Concertante for Cello, with its eclecticism and biting, percussive sounds, could appear out of step with the program’s aesthetic. On the contrary, the works were highly complementary in terms of timbral language, dynamics and passionate playing.

Opening the evening, Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphonie concertante. Written between 1950 and 1952, this mature three-movement work by the Russian composer is a reworking of an earlier cello concerto that was roundly criticized. Prokofiev’s language is textured and composite, drawing on the full range of the cello’s sound, as well as orchestral and rhythmic sonorities and passages reminiscent of jazz. At the podium, Payare was as fiery as ever, but more restrained than usual in his gestures for this complex score, where the orchestral interventions are velocity-laden in terms of texture and technique. Payare’s direction was precise and the orchestra of great intensity.

The second and third movements (Allegro giusto and Andante con moto) particularly appealed to us, respectively for their virtuosity, their use of dynamic orchestral effects and their folk accent in the cadenza of the second movement, where Alisa Weilerstein demonstrates the full range of her technique and the possible interplay of her instrument with evocative ease. Even if what sounds false to the ear is in fact well calculated, written and conveyed with naturalness. The cello lines are as swift as the orchestral lines, blending with the different sections in a rich, inventive orchestration. On stage, Alisa Weilerstein transports us into a world of her own, where she doesn’t just play the music. She is the music. She embodies a character like an actress on a stage, where her facial expressions and gestures are as significant as the accompanying music. The audience gave her a standing ovation for several minutes.

The second part, dedicated to the music of the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, plunged us into a dreamlike, colorful world. Here, Payare becomes a painter before a blank canvas which he paints with precision. Even if we’re dealing with repertoire that’s all too familiar, it’s always a delight to see the dynamics and colors imagined by Ravel unfold. The arrangement of the choir, which was installed higher than usual due to the recording, was also interesting. It’s a nice touch, too, to have the rows of choristers enter successively during the introduction, to simulate the effect of voices arriving from afar and gaining in power. A minor criticism: the processional effect would have had even greater impact if this entrance had been sung without a score! For the rest, the choir’s interventions were excellent, delivered with fine control of nuances and dynamics. In the orchestra, Rafael Payare danced across the stage, instilling vigor and character into the various orchestral forces, both in the more diaphanous moments and in the thunderous, brassy passages reminiscent of the language of George Gershwin. The astonishingly complementary and passionate interpretation of the evening’s two works richly deserved the thunderous applause of a packed Maison symphonique, and gave the orchestra great material for their forthcoming album releases, which we look forward to discovering.

Photo Credit: Antoine Saito

Classical

The symphonic magic of age-old tales

by Frédéric Cardin

While Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier next door shook to the metal-symphonic sound waves of Voivod and the OSM, the Maison symphonique, the usual refuge of Rafael Payare’s musicians, vibrated to the thousand and one colours of musical tales from China and Russia.

At the start of the programme, the Orchestre FILMharmonique, conducted by Francis Choinière, welcomed soloist Liu Fang, master of the Chinese pipa, an instrument in the lute family, in the creation of a new concerto for her instrument by Quebecer Christian Thomas. In 2023, Thomas gave us his Messe solennelle pour une pleine lune d’été (Solemn Mass for a Full-Moon Night), an opera based on the work of Quebec author Michel Tremblay, which was well received by audiences and critics alike. Much more romantic in its idiom than the Mass, the Pipa Concerto, nicknamed Dragon, allowed Ms Liu to show the full extent of her technical talent, despite some occasional hiccups in the first movement. I wrote about this concerto in a review elsewhere on the site (read it HERE), so I won’t go into that again, but I will say that the four-movement piece struck me as even more accomplished than when I first listened to it on digital files. This is a sign that listening to it is enough to sustain prolonged and repeated attention. In any case, the largely East Asian audience that packed the hall seemed to appreciate and enjoy the performance. It is to be hoped that other Quebec orchestras will programme this concert, giving fellow Quebecer (Chinese born) Liu the chance to tour as much in Quebec as she does internationally, hopefully.

The second piece on the programme was the Butterfly Lovers violin concerto with soloist and Opus Prize 2023 Discovery of the Year Guillaume Villeneuve. Villeneuve’s twirling, scintillating performance gave a superb breath of life to this Chinese Romeo and Juliet, whose original title is the Romance of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The concerto, written in 1959 by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, is one of the first works of its kind in Chinese musical literature. The style and language are hyper-romantic, as if Tchaikovsky had lived in Beijing rather than St Petersburg, but the soloist has to achieve several effects that are clearly inspired by the traditional techniques of the erhu, a Chinese instrument that is similar to the Western violin. It’s a musical bonanza, with endearing, memorable melodies and abundant colour, especially in the woodwinds.

Francis Choinière had chosen to conclude the evening with another evocative piece of music, Stravinsky’s The Firebird. A judicious choice, which allowed us to return to the more usual Western repertoire while remaining true to the enchanting spirit of the evening. The orchestra, made up of many young musicians, probably fresh out of Quebec schools, performed well, and the conductor’s direction was committed. A few technical imperfections in Kastchei’s dance did not detract from the energy that Choinière wished to infuse into the ensemble, which ended in a successful climax.

An evening that clearly delighted a very mixed and diverse audience. If that was one of the objectives, it was achieved.

Classical / période romantique

OSM | Between Icelandic Basses and Bruch’s “Unforgettable” Concerto

by Judith Hamel

The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM), under the direction of conductor Dalia Stasevska and violin virtuoso Randall Goosby, presented a program on Wednesday evening featuring composers Thorvaldsdottir and Price, as well as Bruch and Dvořák.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Archora, commissioned by several major orchestras and premiered in 2022, opened the concert with a spellbinding 20-minute soundscape. Designed to evoke a textured universe, the work transports the audience into an exploration of the ensemble’s sonic and energetic potential.

From the very first notes, the hypergraves invade the space, creating an imposing, palpable sound mass. The screeching cymbals add an organic dimension, while the winds click their keys and use their breath to amplify the work’s mystical atmosphere. All this adds up to an almost living narrative. Then the organ, with its imposing presence, amplifies the impression of immensity, of a room larger than ourselves. The twenty minutes passed with great fluidity, like a single wave that sweeps over us. The apparent stability of the sounds, achieved by the interweaving of the musicians’ breaths, gave a superhuman impression.

American soloist Randall Goosby then took to the stage to deliver a straightforward performance, carried with finesse by his great mastery of the instrument. Max Bruch’s “unforgettable” Violin Concerto No. 1, though somewhat frustrating for the composer in its eclipsing power over his other concertos, remains a landmark work in the German Romantic repertoire. Tonight, in the “Adagio”, Goosby was able to express the full intensity of this inner romance. It was in the third movement, however, that the soloist really came into his own. He unfurled himself in the passionate, dancing themes that hint at Bruch’s Hungarian origins, as well as in the final, technical passages. These playful accents resonated particularly well with his light, easy-going playing. A young virtuoso who didn’t overwhelm us with his musicality, but whose technique and ease are impressive.

Florence Price’s Adoration opened the second half in an orchestrated version for violin and orchestra by J. Gray, putting a second female composer in the spotlight. This short piece was particularly well suited to Randall Goosby, who effectively conveyed the emotional charge through his straight but honest playing. However, an OSM concert is no exception: just as he was about to raise his bow, Goosby was interrupted by the telephone of an audience member who was listening to the recording of his performance of the first part at full volume. With humor and patience, he lowered his bow and said: “You can play it again if you want”. But no sooner had he started to play than a cricket buzzer sounded in the hall. Fortunately, the crickets were out of place, but they gave the audience a good laugh.

Although the concertante gave the evening its title, it was Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, fiercely conducted by Dalia Stasevska, that stood out as the highlight. Dalia Stasevska’s conducting was particularly noteworthy for its emphasis on drastic contrasts of nuance and the exaggeration of certain rhythmic passages. This symphony, with its bucolic atmosphere, was thus deployed through moments of lightness, straight trumpet lines and the exaggerated popular character of certain dancing themes. The fourth movement, which opens with a flamboyant trumpet call and ends with groovy chromatic passages, ended the concert on a welcome note of youthfulness.

Photo credit: Randall Goosby – Kaupo Kicks ; Dalia Stasevska – Antoine Saito

Classical / Classical Singing / orchestre / période moderne / période romantique

OSM | Mahler, Payare and The OSM: Between Inner Turmoil, Light and Fatality, a Powerful Evening.

by Hélène Archambault

The OSM has made an enlightened choice to present the works of Alma Mahler and those of her husband, Gustav, in the same concert to inaugurate 2025. The performance of Alma’s works alongside those of her illustrious husband is a contemporary nod to a time when many female musicians are giving up their careers to support those of their husbands.

At the age of twenty-three, Alma, née Schindler, frequented the Viennese artistic scene, composing lieder and insisting on her artistic and intellectual independence. She met Gustav Mahler in November 1901. Twenty years her senior, he made a deal with her: to become his wife, she had to give up her aspirations as a composer. Passionately in love, she accepted, and the marriage was celebrated on March 9, 1902.

Despite this “ban” on composing, Gustav suggested that Alma rework the lieder and have them published (in the program notes, Catherine Harrison-Boisvert notes that “Gustav seems to have wanted to make amends”). It is fortunate that Alma’s Lieder have been rescued from anonymity in this way. Their performance is a first for the OSM. With these 5 lieder, the orchestra offers a sensitive listening experience, and, in my case, one of discovery. In meins Vaters Garten (In my father’s garden) is particularly touching. Mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor’s deep, radiant voice is enhanced by the composer’s expressive writing. My only downside? The orchestration by Colin and David Matthews. A slight mismatch between the two scores is unfortunately to the detriment of the voice.

Of the Sixth Symphony, called “Tragic”, Alma writes that it is her husband’s most personal work, the one that sprang most directly from his heart. She also reports that in writing the Sixth Symphony, Gustav anticipated his own life in music. Three blows of fate, symbolized by as many hammer blows in the finale – only two of which are retained – also befell him: the loss of their daughter Maria to scarlet fever, a diagnosis of incurable heart disease, and the loss of his position at the Vienna Opera. As Mahler’s Sixth was written before these events, this interpretation is debatable. But the story is worth telling, if only to stir the imagination! And perhaps also a little to allow ordinary people to become a little more attached to the composer?

Speaking of attachment, the OSM and Payare, in their interpretation, go the right way. From the very first bar, the tempo is energetic without being frantic. The tone is set. The first movement unfolds between the military and the evocation of Alma, embodied by the strings. The orchestra alternates between rumble and light. Payare seems to play with rhythm. Though regulated like a metronome, time with him seems more supple, more alive. The beautiful pages of the second movement feature a dialogue between woodwinds and brass, in which the orchestra’s playing is limpid. The third movement, almost dreamlike, and the finale follow one another without a break. This sequence seems to allow the orchestra to bewitch us, before plunging us into an emotional stampede in the style of “being Gustav Mahler” right to the end. Just writing it makes me breathless – the energy deployed by the conductor must be the envy of the greatest sportsmen and women. Tragic” symphony, you say? Between enchantment, sweetness and tragedy, one does not leave the symphonic house completely unscathed.

Photo Credit: Gabriel Fournier

Baroque / classique

Les Violons du Roy : Gauvin, Lemieux – divin Handel

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Karina Gauvin et Marie-Nicole Lemieux occupent une place à part dans notre vie musicale en général et chez Les Violons du Roy en particulier! Depuis le tout début de leurs carrières respectives, elles font toutes deux partie des artistes invités préférés du public et des musiciens des Violons du Roy. Quelle chance de pouvoir les réunir avec nos musiciens et Jonathan Cohen pour marquer notre 40^e anniversaire de façon exceptionnelle!

Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux hold a special place in our music community, and even more so at Les Violons du Roy! Since the very beginning of their respective careers, they have both ranked among the favourite guest artists of the public and the orchestra. It’s a real privilege to bring them together with Jonathan Cohen and our musicians to celebrate our 40th anniversary with a truly exceptional concert!

Programme

Ouverture (Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63)
From this dread scene (Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63)
Sinfonia (Alexander Balus, HWV 65)
Fury, with red sparkling eyes (Alexander Balus, HWV 65)
Our limpid streams (Joshua, HWV 64)
Ouverture (Solomon, HWV 67)
Will the sun forget to streak (Solomon, HWV 67)
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Solomon, HWV 67)
Thou fair inhabitant – Welcome as the Dawn of Day (Solomon, HWV 67)
Ouverture (Belshazzar, HWV 61)
Great victor, at your feet I bow (Belshazzar, HWV 61)
Ouverture (Theodora, HWV 68)
Fly, fly, my brethren – As with rosy steps the morn (Theodora, HWV 68)
But why art thou disquieted, my soul – Oh! that I on wings could rise (Theodora, HWV 68)
To thee, thou glorious son of worth (Theodora, HWV 68)
Streams of pleasure ever flowing (Theodora, HWV 68)

Program

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Ce contenu provient des Violons du Roy et est adapté par PAN M 360

cinéma / hommage / orchestre

Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques 2025 : Ligeti, Kubrick et la musique de film

by Rédaction PAN M 360

De l’hypnotique «2001, l’Odyssée de l’espace» à l’audacieux «Eyes Wide Shut», en passant par l’inquiétant «The Shining», les films de Stanley Kubrick font une place de choix à la musique, en particulier à celle du grand compositeur hongrois György Ligeti. Plusieurs œuvres du compositeur sont d’ailleurs présentes dans la cinématographie du réalisateur.
L’organiste Jean-Willy Kuntz, l’Orchestre symphonique de McGill et l’Ensemble à cordes de la SMCQ sous la direction de Alexis Hauser, interprèteront des pièces emblématiques de ces trois films iconiques. Également au programme, une création orchestrale du jeune compositeur Liam Ross Gibson, une voix émergente et singulière dans le paysage musical canadien (commandée par la SMCQ). Alexey Shafirov présentera quant à lui le second concerto pour piano de Prokofiev. Tandis que la spectaculaire fresque orchestrale de Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, célèbre poème symphonique de Richard Strauss, fera aussi majestueusement écho au cinéma de Kubrick. Un concert à la Maison symphonique de Montréal qui s’annonce grandiose et mémorable.

From the hypnotic “2001: a Space Odyssey” to the bold “Eyes Wide Shut” and the eerie “The Shining,” Stanley Kubrick’s films give a prominent place to the music of the great Hungarian composer György Ligeti. Several works by the composer are in fact present throughout the director’s cinematography.
Organist Jean-Willy Kuntz, the McGill Symphony Orchestra and the SMCQ String Ensemble under the direction of Alexis Hauser, will perform emblematic pieces of these three iconic films.
Also on the programme: an orchestral premiere from young composer Liam Ross Gibson, a singular emerging voice on the Canadian musical landscape (commissioned by the SMCQ). Alexey Shafirov will present Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto, while the spectacular orchestral fresco Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Richard Strauss’s famous symphonic poem, will also majestically echoes Kubrick’s cinema. A concert at the Maison symphonique de Montréal that promises to be grandiose and memorable.

POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!

Ce contenu provient de la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec et est adapté par PAN M 360

classique / Jazz / Orchestral Pop / Pop / trad québécois

The sparkling magic of Christmas, Yannick Nézet-Séguin… and Antoine Gratton!

by Frédéric Cardin

Far be it from me to diminish the quality of yesterday’s performances by the guest artists at the (now) classic eclectic Christmas concert by the Orchestre métropolitain and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Mélissa Bédard makes a strong impression in Glory Alleluia and Minuit, chrétiens (O Holy Night). Her full contralto (non operatic) voice, very accurate and free of unnecessary embellishments, stood out. Kim Richardson did the same with other classics such as White Christmas and I’ll be Home for Christmas. Then there was the lyrical sensation of the hour, Élizabeth St-Gelais, who gave us Les Anges dans nos campagnes (Angels We Have Heard On High) and a rather successful Sainte Nuit (Silent Night) sung in Innu (St-Gelais’ indigenous Nation). There was also a fine duet with Michel Rivard, with a heartfelt Gens du pays. Rivard also offered C’est dans la famille, initially a little vocally fragile, but authentic.

Taurey Butler, Mr ‘’Charlie Brown Christmas’’ at Bourgie Hall each season, with the excellent Wali Muhammad on drums and Morgan Moore on double bass, gave us some lovely jazz flights of fancy on the piano (no Charlie Brown, though. That’s reserved for the other hall) in a few traditional titles from the repertoire, and fiddler David Boulanger treated us to a very pleasant Petit concerto for Carignan and orchestra by André Gagnon, with Oleg Larshin, OM’s first violin. Well-controlled contrasts between the ‘classical’ solos of Larshin and Boulanger’s fiddlings, modern echoes of Yehudi Menuhin and Jean Carignan, for whom the work was composed. A true miniature masterpiece, it was accompanied by another of Gagnon’s must-haves: an extract from his 1992 album Noël, the warm and gently melancholy Ronde des bergers (Shepherd’s dance). I’d never paid attention to this detail before, but the horn solos are formidable! Even the ever-perfect Louis-Philippe Marsolais learned this the hard way. Of course, the finale was performed by everyone at the same time, an essential communion embodied by the Beau Dommages/Michel Rivard classic: 23 December. It was a great success, bringing people together in an ecumenical way and reflecting the image of a Quebec that is both ‘’traditional’’’ and coloured by its modern diversity. Well done.

Kim Richardson/Élizabeth St-Gelais/Michel Rivard/OM crédit : Denis Germain – Orchestre Métropolitain

In short, everyone rose to the occasion, and then some. Good humour reigned supreme, and the stage and the entire Maison symphonique shone with a thousand colours, in a cosy, inviting atmosphere. So hats off to them. But the reason I wanted to include Antoine Gratton’s name in my title is that the supreme link between all the pieces, all the performances, all the musical styles evoked in this secular and musical mass, the unifying factor that enabled us to spend almost two hours, without intermission and without any boredom, well hooked into the proceedings, this indispensable secret of success, is Antoine Gratton’s arrangements.

The singer-songwriter, who once called himself A Star, has also been a skilled arranger of symphonic pop concerts for some years now. Yesterday, he came up on top thanks to the originality of the scores he produced for the orchestra and choir, which provided a brilliant accompaniment to the above-mentioned performances. No matter how well-known the tunes, Gratton knows how to sprinkle his arrangements with a host of surprises for the ears, be they harmonic, colouristic or rhythmic. Here’s just one example: the counterpoint between the orchestra’s bells and the backing singers’ clapping hands in a passage from My Favourite Things. Delightful.

The arranger is too often forgotten in this kind of event, but he shouldn’t be, especially not in the case of this concert, which could have turned into a litany of syrupy melodies strung together interminably, had it been for other, less creative pens. Thousands of dinners of turkey, tourtière and cranberry sauce are the same all over Quebec during the festive season. But sometimes there’s a chef in the kitchen, hiding behind his or her pots and pans, who manages to reinvent the classics and bring them all together in a way that’s original enough to be noticed. And all this without going overboard and leaving a bitter taste in the mouth. In cases like this, let’s invite that person to the table and honour him-her (which is what happened on stage yesterday).

Let’s not doubt for a moment that there will be a 2025 edition.

chanson keb franco / classique

OSM : Charlebois symphonique, une célébration grandiose avec l’OSM – Supplémentaires

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Après l’immense succès rencontré par le concert Charlebois symphonique au mois d’août dernier, l’OSM vous propose de retrouver Robert Charlebois et ses invités pour des supplémentaires de ce concert mémorable. Charlebois, ce géant de la musique, revisitera ses plus grandes chansons en version symphonique, dont Ordinaire, Je reviendrai à Montréal et quelques trésors cachés.

After the immense success of the Charlebois symphonique concert last August, the OSM invites you to join Robert Charlebois and his guests for additional performances of this memorable concert. Charlebois, a giant in music, will revisit his greatest songs in a symphonic version, including Ordinaire, Je reviendrai à Montréal, and a few hidden gems.

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Ce contenu provient de l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360

classique

OSM : Ravel et Prokofiev par Weilerstein et Payare

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Le ballet Daphnis et Chloé est l’évocation poétique d’une nature idyllique et d’une Grèce rêvée par Ravel. Les couleurs chatoyantes de l’orchestre et la finesse de l’écriture confèrent à cette partition une délicate sensualité. Autre joyau au programme : la Sinfonia concertante de Prokofiev. Cette œuvre de caractère, teintée d’un humour sarcastique, sera servie par l’immense talent de la violoncelliste Alisa Weilerstein.

The ballet Daphnis et Chloé poetically conjures an idyllic natural setting combined with elements of Greek Antiquity as imagined by Maurice Ravel, to the orchestra’s glistening hues and subtle inflections, that endow this work with graceful sensuality. The program’s other precious gem is Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante, a colourful piece tinged with sarcasm and humour, brought to life through Alisa Weilerstein’s powerful artistry.

POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!

Ce contenu provient de l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360