Maurice Steger, A Baroque Banquet

by Sarah-Ann Larouche

Internationally renowned flautist Maurice Steger is back in Montreal and conducts Les Violons du Roy’s first concert of 2020, the theme of which is England. Among the works on the program are Henry Purcell’s Chaconne in G Minor and Curtain Tune on a Ground, from his opera Timon of Athens. In their own way, these two works are marked by a certain tragic anguish, a restlessness tempered by the sweetness and lightness of Georg Friedrich Handel’s recorder concerto in F major, after HWV 369, or Gottfried Finger’s A Ground. The ensemble also presents excerpts from Handel’s dance suites HWV 1, 287 and 399, William Babell’s recorder concerto in D major, Op. 3 No. 1, and the recorder concerto in G major after Francesco Geminiani’s Sonata Op. 5 No. 11.

PROGRAM

Les Violons du Roy

Maurice Steger: conductor and recorder player

Handel: Dance Suite, from HWV 1, 287 and 399

Handel: Concerto for Recorder in F major, after Sonata HWV 369

Purcell: Curtain Tune on a Ground

Purcell: Chaconne in G minor

Finger: A Ground

Babell: Concerto for Recorder in D major, Op. 3 No. 1

Avison: Concerto grosso No. 3 for Two Violins and Cello

Geminiani: Concerto for Recorder in G major after Sonata Op. 5 No. 11

MORE INFORMATION

https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/shop-online/concerts/maurice-steger-a-baroque-banquet/8286/

Classical / Gospel / Modern Classical

Poems, Prayers and Bliss – Marie-Josée Lord and Hugues Cloutier

by Alexandre Villemaire

Henri Duparc and Ernest Chausson have this in common – they both left their mark on the French musical repertoire through melody, just as their comrades George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein left their mark on the American songbook through their melodies and the syncretism of their music, combining classical forms and elements of jazz. In a concert bringing together a repertoire she masters, soprano Marie-Josée Lord brings these two contrasting worlds together. Intimate and melancholic in nature, Duparc’s refined melodies complete the cycle Poème de l’amour et de la mer, dedicated by Chausson to Duparc. Irreverent, energetic and sentimental at the same time, Bernstein’s melodies complement those of Gershwin, which echo the resilient and poignant African-American spirituals.

ARTISTS AND PROGRAM

Marie-Josée Lord, soprano

Hugues Cloutier, piano

Henri Duparc : Chanson triste

L’invitation au voyage

La vie antérieure

Ernest Chausson: Poème de l’amour et de la mer, op. 19

Leonard Bernstein: Five Kids Songs

I Feel Pretty, from West Side Story

George Gershwin: Summertime from Porgy and Bess

Leonard Bernstein: Somewhere from West Side Story

George Gershwin: My Man’s Gone Now, from Porgy and Bess

Spirituals: Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child

Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand

Amazing Grace

Ride On King Jesus

MORE INFORMATION

Classical / Contemporary / Minimalist / Neoclassical

Trio Fibonacci: « The Giants of Minimalism »

by Michel Rondeau

The Fibonacci trio – named after the Italian mathematician who created a series of numbers closely related to the golden ratio, symbol of harmony, balance and beauty, whose perfect proportions are found in nature as well as in artistic creations – is one of the rare chamber-music trios combining piano and strings. After the success of its concert Les Géants du minimalisme last year, the ensemble is back with a program featuring more or less the same composers, namely: Arvo Pärt, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Keiko Delvaux, Michael Nyman and Brian Eno. As long as one is open to it, their music acts as a true balm for the soul.

Trio Fibonacci
Julie-Anne Derome, violon
Gabriel Pym, violoncelle
Steven Massicotte, piano

PROGRAMME
Arvo Pärt : Spiegel im Spiegel (1978)
Ludovico Einaudi : Primavera, I Giorni, Petricor
Max Richter : On the Nature of Daylight, Dona Nobis Pacem 2
Keiko Devaux : Efflorescence (2020; création)
Michael Nyman : Time Lapse
Brian Eno : By This River
Philip Glass : Metamorphosis Two, The Hours

FIND OUT MORE

Baroque / Classical / Classical Period / Contemporary

Gemma New conducts I Musici de Montréal

by François Vallières

I Musici de Montréal, under the direction of the New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New, presents a string program dedicated to three major composers of their respective eras. First, an adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fantasy and Fugue BWV 542, originally for organ. Next, the ensemble tackles Shaker Loops, by the American John Adams, a minimalist work in four linked sections. To close the concert, Felix Mendelssohn’s 7th of 12 symphonies for strings, in D minor, composed when the German was only a teenager. As part of the I Concertini Series, this concert, which lasts approximately 60 minutes without a break, will be presented twice, at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. The musicians are seated in the middle of the hall, not on the stage, so this series of concerts creates an intimacy with the audience.

PROGRAMME

I Musici de Montréal

Gemma New: conductor

J. S. Bach: Fantasy and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542

John Adams: Shaker Loops

Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony for Strings in D minor No. 7

PLUS D’INFORMATIONS

Baroque / Classical

Les Violons du Roy and Bach cantatas

by François Vallières

For this concert, part of the series organized by Arte Musica of the complete cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, Les Violons du Roy present three of them. Under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, the Québec ensemble will open the evening with Sehet wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159 (See, we go up to Jerusalem), written for the last Sunday before Lent. The group will then play Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2 (O God of heaven, look down here below), written for the second Sunday following the feast of the Holy Trinity. The third cantata, Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiss, BWV 134 (A heart that knows that its Jesus is alive) was written for Easter Tuesday. The soloists for this concert will be countertenor Alex Potter, tenor Nick Pritchard and baritone Tyler Duncan. Please note that a rehearsal is scheduled 45 minutes before the concert to allow the audience to practice singing the final chorale of one of the cantatas.

ARTISTS AND PROGRAM:

Les Violons du Roy

Jonathan Cohen: conductor

Alex Potter: countertenor

Nick Pritchard: tenor

Tyler Duncan: baritone

J. S. Bach : Cantatas

Sehet wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159

Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2

Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134

MORE INFORMATIONS

First Nations

Constantinople: « Souffles »

by Michel Rondeau

Constantinople has been part of Quebec’s musical landscape for 10 years now, guiding its audiences on a journey through time and culture. Back from a tour of Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria and France, Kiya Tabassian and his band present Souffles, where the songs and prayers of the Mi’kmaq and Innu throat-singing mingle with the diphonic chants of Tuva, a republic in eastern Russia bordering Mongolia. Adding to the dialogue are the ensemble’s signature instruments – setar, frame drums and viola da gamba – as well as the oldest and most emblematic instrument of the Sufis and Persian music, the reed flute called the ney.

FIND OUT MORE

Contemporary Jazz / Jazz

Aaron Parks • Ben Street • Damion Reid

by Alain Brunet

Seattle native Aaron Parks has an impressive track record. The New York-based pianist demonstrates superior technique and open-mindedness, leading him to the most creative projects in new American jazz. Accustomed to Montreal stages and close to his community of musicians, this excellent instrumentalist brings on board double bassist Ben Street and drummer Damion Reid, this time around. Some of the material on the program could be from his most recent album Little Big, released on Ropadope, recorded with a different band than the one on the program at Salle Bourgie.

FIND OUT MORE

Experimental / Contemporary / Free Improvisation / Soundtrack

« Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ »

by Rupert Bottenberg

Packed with palace intrigue, pirate attacks, white-knuckle chariot races and a cameo appearance by Christ himself, the 1925 silent-film version of Ben-Hur offers plenty for musicians to play around with. Accompanying a pristine 16mm film print (care of Montreal’s Cinéclub/The Film Society) of director Fred Niblo’s epic Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ are Zoé Dumais on violin, Guillaume Bourque on clarinet, Joanie Labelle handling percussion, and at the piano, Guillaume Martineau, leader of the cinematically suggestive Lucioles collective and bearer of bona fides in both classical and jazz. Strap your sandals on tight, this promises to be a musically memorable evening worthy of the Circus Maximus.

FIND OUT MORE