(CANCELLED) Christian Blackshaw, Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas – Concert IV

by Alain Brunet

Considered one of the great Mozartians of our time, the English gentleman and virtuoso Christian Blackshaw returns to Montreal for a series of four concerts featuring all of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Sonatas. The deep understanding of these works and the virtuoso elegance of this delightful performer are arguments to assert that this series is a must for lovers of the classical period, starting with Mozart fans, of course.

PROGRAM

Christian Blackshaw, piano

Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309

Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331

Sonata No. 15 in F major, K. 533/494

Sonata No. 18 in D major, K. 576

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Classical

Christian Blackshaw, concert III of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas

by Alain Brunet

PROGRAM

Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas – Concert III

Sonata No. 6 in B major, K. 284

Sonata No. 12 in F major, K. 332

Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545

Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457

Fantasia in C minor, K. 475

MORE INFORMATION

Mozart Piano Sonatas by Christian Blackshaw on Spotify

Baroque / Celtic

La Nef

by Alain Brunet

This programme sheds particular light on the nyckelharpa, a traditional Swedish instrument through which one can discover the kinship between Irish and Swedish traditional music, as well as the music of the Baroque period. Original arrangements of works by the Irish composer Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738) and traditional Swedish music will be performed. La Nef’s approach, which has been in play since the 1990s, is based on the blending of cultures, styles and periods. It draws its inspiration from early, antique and oral-tradition music, but it also makes room for more recent or downright contemporary music.

PROGRAM:

Alex Kehler, musical direction, nyckelharpa, violin

Sylvain Bergeron, artistic direction, archlute, baroque guitar

Antoine Malette-Chénier, Gaelic harp, baroque harp

Kirsty Money, nyckelharpa, viola, violin

Tina Bergmann, hammered dulcimer

Works by Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738) and traditional music from Ireland and Sweden

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Balkan music / Tango

Jerez Le Cam Quartet: tango nuevo and more

by Alain Brunet

Photo fournie par la Salle Bourgie

Arriving in France in the ’90s, Argentine composer and pianist Gerardo Jerez Le Cam has seven albums under his belt, and collaborations including Gotan Project, Juan Jose Mosalini and Osvaldo Calo, among others. While remaining faithful to the modern tango, the master of which remains the late Astor Piazzolla, Le Cam (also) strives to integrate traditional classical music, modern jazz, and also gypsy music from Eastern Europe, even some traditional African music. That being said, the Argentine leader generally remains in the territory of tango nuevo, where he continues the work of his contemporaries and predecessors.

ARTISTS

PERSONNEL

Gerardo Jerez Le Cam, piano and composition (tango and Romani)

Iacob Maciuca, violin

Manu Comté, bandoneon

Mihai Trestian, cymbalom

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Classical / Minimalist / Modern Classical / Renaissance

(CANCELLED) Hélène Dorion with les Violons du Roy

by Michel Rondeau

An interesting proposal, this literary concert – the prolific writer Hélène Dorion will read excerpts from her most recent collection of poems, Comme résonne la vie, accompanied the music of Les Violons du Roy, or in alternation with it. The musical palette will be varied: from the very Italian Renaissance madrigals of Gesualdo to a hypnotic piece by Estonia’s Arvo Pärt, as well as selected movements from string quartets by Schubert and Janacek, not to mention the premiere of a custom-made piece by Quebec composer Simon Bertrand.

PROGRAM

Gesualdo: Madrigals from libro quinto and libro sesto (Simon Bertrand, transcription)

Simon Bertrand: Creation pour des poèmes d’Hélène Dorion

Arvo Pärt: Summa

Janacek: String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, 1^st movement

Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, Death and the Maiden, 2^nd movement (arr. for string orchestra)

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Baroque / Classical / Classical Period / Contemporary

French horn to french horn: Louis-Philippe Marsolais and Louis-Pierre Bergeron

by Alain Brunet

It’s the middle of winter… so what? Isn’t it better to talk about it than to wallow in denial and impatience? That’s exactly why I Musici de Montréal will feature horn players Louis-Philippe Marsolais and Louis-Pierre Bergeron with a promise of nothing less than a “hike from the Prussian forest to the Rocky Mountains”! This trek also promises to be through time, as we plunge in turn into the Baroque period with Jean-Philippe Rameau, the Classical period with Ludwig van Beethoven and Ferdinand Ries, and the contemporary era with Alberta composer John McPherson.

ARTISTS AND PROGRAM :

I Musici de Montréal

Jean-Marie Zeitouni: conductor

Louis-Philippe Marsolais: French horn

Louis-Pierre Bergeron: French horn

Rameau, Les Boréades (excerpts)

Beethoven, Sextet in E-Flat major, Op. 81B

McPherson, In the Land of Pidge

Ries, Concerto for Two Horns

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Baroque / Classical

Bach : Shadows and Light

by Laurence Gauvin

Arion Baroque Orchestra’s Bach: Light and Shadow programme is composed exclusively of works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Under the baton of Hank Knox, harpsichordist and founding member of Arion, the Orchestral Suite in B minor (BWV 1067) will be performed, followed by the aria Zerfliesse, mein Herze, from the St. John Passion (BWV 245). The famous Orchestral Suite is the second of four and was composed for flute, strings and basso continuo. Written between 1738 and 1739, this work is one of Bach’s last compositions for orchestra. It has seven movements, two of which showcase the talents of flutist Claire Guimond, Arion’s artistic director since 1981. An important figure in early music in Canada, Claire Guimond will be heard as soloist in two movements of the suite, the Polonaise, as well as in the well-known Badinerie. The concert will close with the aria Zerfliesse, mein Herze from the St. John Passion, the first large-scale choral work composed by the master. Given its many existing versions, it is difficult to establish precisely the year in which this passion was composed, but it is estimated that it was in 1724. Meaning “Flee, my heart,” Zerfliesse, mein Herze is a sweet tune of deep melancholy. Its refined texture allows a complete appreciation of the vocal part, which translates into a touching lyricism. The aria will be performed by the Spanish soprano Nuria Rial, a singer who works with several European opera houses.

PROGRAM:

Hank Knox: conductor

Nuria Rial: soprano

Claire Guimond: flute

JS Bach:

Orchestral Suite No. 2 for flute, strings and basso continuo, BWV 1067

(Ouverture, Rondeau, Sarabande, Bourrée l and ll, Polonaise, Menuet, Badinerie [flute, strings and harpsichord])

Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 42Aria Zerfliesse, mein Herze, from St. John Passion, BWV 245

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Afro-Antillean

Patrimoine musical des îles créoles

by Sarah-Ann Larouche

Lecturer and cultural advisor in music for the Conseil des arts de Montréal, ethnomusicologist Marie-Christine Parent offers a reflection on the transmission and development of the arts of oral tradition, and more specifically the music and dance of the Creole islands. At her side will be percussionist Daniel Bellegarde and the musicians of the Anba Tonèl ensemble. On their eponymous album, they present us with an eclectic instrumentation reflecting, on the one hand, the Caribbean tradition and, on the other hand, the European influence. Beyond the instrumentation, this influence is particularly noticable on the musical level, and eloquently illustrates the various processes of transformation and development that have brought this music to us.

PROGRAM

Speaker: Marie-Christine Parent, ethnomusicologist

Daniel Bellegarde, percussion

Musicians of the Anba Tonèl ensemble

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Classical

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

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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

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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