The last day of the Fête de la Musique de Tremblant (in fact, half a day), Monday 2 September 2024 saw the festival’s Quebecor stage give pride of place to one of the most delicate instruments there is: the harpsichord. A delicacy put to the test by the weather: it was chilly! A mere 8 degrees in the morning, and barely 12 by midday, by the time of the concert. In the end, the instrument held up very well. Perhaps that’s because the harpsichordist, Mélisande McNabney, knows it so well and can reassure it with her precise touch. Mélisande gave a top-class performance, despite the circumstances (you can guess that frozen fingers have to move more slowly), accentuated by beautiful introductions that told us some of the stories of women musicians at the Court of Versailles. An hour of serious but extremely enjoyable harpsichord playing (Mélisande’s smiling animation was a great help), which has certainly done much to democratise this instrument among a large audience. So hats off to the organisers of the Fête de la Musique, who dared to ignore prejudices (difficult instrument to approach, arid repertoire, etc.) by offering a public platform to this often ill-considered member of the keyboard family.

The morning drizzle had just ended when Ensemble Caprice began playing on the Québecor stage at the Fête de la Musique de Tremblant. The sun wasn’t out, far from it, but it was already more pleasant, especially as the Montreal ensemble had brought some light with them. Twice, in fact. First there was the presence of director Mathias Maute, who provided some amusing entertainment. I knew Maute was a nice guy, but I didn’t remember him being so funny with the audience. Perhaps I hadn’t been paying close enough attention… The conductor’s comments had the particular advantage of supporting a sparkling programme devoted to Vivaldi and the ‘nomads’ of Baroque Europe. Vivaldian concertos that were as twirling as one could wish sat happily alongside anonymous works by little-known composers with a strong folkloric flavour from various corners of the continent, particularly from Eastern Europe. I’d like to highlight the sound quality provided by the festival’s sound technicians. Classical music suffers from outdoor performance and amplification is often not up to scratch. What I heard yesterday was of a quality you’d have heard from the Montreal Symphony or the Orchestre Métropolitain with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, for example. Very good point for the organisation.