Une soirée son et image où sont jumelé·e·s des compositeur·trice·s à des vidéastes invité·e·s par le collectif Kohlenstoff.
An evening of sound and image, pairing composers with video artists invited by the Kohlenstoff collective.
POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient du Centre Phi et est adapté par PAN M 360.
Émile Bourgault turned 21! This very evening, November 27. Instead of treating himself to a night out with friends, the young musician from Montreal’s South Shore treated himself to a show at the Sala Rossa. The gang probably went out to celebrate Bourgault with a few drinks afterwards, in fact, but let’s start with the essentials: the music…
I’ve been following Émile Bourgault for a long time. I got to know him over three years ago as an undecided student at Cégep du Vieux Montréal. Then I appreciated his performance at the Francouvertes 2022, and a few months later I saw him play at Osheaga, on the Arbres stage, in front of a small crowd of a hundred people. He even gave a performance in my father’s garden, that’s saying something!
And each time, it gets better and better. You can see that he’s gaining experience and confidence. It’s not the first time I’ve written about him, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be treading the boards at Club Soda for his solo project very soon.
In two years, big max.
Bourgault opens his show with the title track from his, so far, only album, Tant mieux, then continues with Nœud coulant. He has a touch of Pierre Lapointe about him on these sad songs, a touch magnified by the invaluable help of melancholic par excellence Félix Dyotte, who produced his long project. The more Émile Bourgault matures, the more sorrow he experiences, and the more beautiful things he has to say (which we, as an audience, will feel even more) in tracks where spleen is so much in the foreground.
For the moment, it’s on the more pop songs that Bourgault excels, in my opinion, such as Juillet or Les aiguilles, which gives the impression of listening to a Thierry Larose who’s just discovered the saxophone – excellent lines from Florence Beauquier-Léger on sax, by the way, probably the most outstanding accompanying musician of the evening. As for Monique, she’s more into rock, and very well at that, which tells us that Émile Bourgault should perhaps explore this avenue a little more, to get a more eclectic sound.
“I know I still have a crowd at the end of the session, so thank you all for being here,” he breathes before performing Ma dépendance.
Throughout his show, Émile Bourgault will be performing duets with various emerging artists, including Sofia Duhaime (on Nos amours cimetières), his girlfriend Sam Tanguay (on L’oreiller) and Otto (on Si tu pars). But it was the performance of Ailleurs, with Louis-Julien Durso, that stole the show during the evening. The two young men have known each other for years, and you can feel it. You can feel the chemistry, the extra something when they take the mic together. In fact, it was Durso who was responsible for staging the show.
Bourgault will not be performing any songs from his first two EPs. He’ll prefer covers, new material… not even Pauvre & malheureux, which was a big hit with the music-loving student community of Old Montreal (and other CEGEPs in town). We understand that Émile is looking ahead, he’s determined and will most likely succeed.
The project hasn’t reached its final stage, and Émile is still trying to find his feet, but when he does, he’ll have to be prepared. It’s going to happen fast.
Just before the encore, Bourgault performs Les aiguilles. The audience sings along to the chorus, perfectly. There’s no better gift. Especially for his birthday.
Les dauphins et les licornes céréales
Céréales Dauphin. Funny name. The Sainte-Thérèse troupe opened the ball before Émile took to the stage later in the evening. I left with a certain preconceived notion that I hadn’t been charmed by their only song released on platforms, Lucky Charms. But live, it’s something else.
The quintet do very well on stage, and the technical level, for the age of the members (in their early twenties), is excellent. There’s a touch of The Strokes in the sound, combined with a high-school style of dress. Now we’ll have to make more material appear, but the potential is there.
A name that could, I’m not surprised to say, find its way into the Francouvertes 21 in a few years’ time.
LIST OF SONGS ON THE PROGRAM (ÉMILE BOURGAULT)
1. Tant mieux
2. Nœud coulant
3. Juillet
4. Ma dépendance
5. Nos amours cimetières (avec Sofia Duhaime)
6. Les souvenirs heureux
7. Ailleurs (avec Louis-Julien Durso)
8. L’oreiller (avec Sam Tanguay)
9. Always on my mind (avec Norah Lapointe)
10. Monique
11. J’imagine
12. Si tu pars (avec Otto)
13. Marcher, passer, partir
14. Les aiguilles
ENCORE
1. Vivre enfin
2. L’alinéa
Photo Credit : Charles-Antoine Marcotte
The Maison Symphonique vibrated this Sunday afternoon under the bows, mouthpieces and voices of the students of the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the Schulich Chamber Choir and the McGill University Choir. No fewer than 230 musicians took to the stage to honour this remarkable music on an impressive program spanning the 20th-century and diverse aesthetics.
While their Pollack concert hall is closed, the ensembles take advantage of the opportunity to play in several of the city’s venues. This time, it was the Maison Symphonique. 45 minutes before the start of the concert, the audience was greeted with a musical performance by the Schulich Chamber Choir in the hall’s Foyer. Under the Christmas tree and in front of a very attentive audience, they gave us a fine introduction, led by 6 choirmasters.
As a prelude to the Requiem, the concert got off to a gentle start with the choral piece Ubi Caritas. The 90-strong orchestra, 140 choristers and Maison Symphonique Pierre-Béique organ, conducted by Jean-Sébastien Vallée, followed with a remarkable performance of Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem.
Despite some passages where a little more assurance from the choir would have been appreciated, it nonetheless stood out for its impressive solidity, alternating between melodic passages of great finesse and heart-rending fortissimos. And when choir, orchestra and organ unite, the sonic impact in the hall is staggering. The power of the ensemble literally overwhelms the audience. The fourth movement, Hosanna, stood out for its spectacular intensity, highlighting the hall’s acoustics. In the fifth movement, Pie Jesu, the orchestra showcased mezzo-soprano Javiera Zepeda magnificently, particularly in her high passages, where her vocal mastery combined perfectly with the timbre of the alti and cellos. The Requiem was a highlight of the concert.
Then, after the intermission, the performance of Schoenberg’s Theme and Variations was carried off by a remarkably solid brass section. From the very first expositions of the main theme, articulations were clean and precise, highlighting an essential feature of the work. Each section offered distinctive sonic spaces, allowing the orchestra to reveal all the finesse of the counterpoint and the elegance of the orchestration.
The concert ended with Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, taking us into a subtle and mysterious interplay. Each of the 14 variations sketches a sonorous portrait of someone close to the composer, blending tenderness, playfulness and depth, culminating in a final variation in which he reveals himself. The most striking variation was the ninth, Nimrod, in which Alexis Hauser brought a poignant intensity to the musicians. Another impressive moment was the tenth variation, named Dorabella, where strings and woodwind perfectly captured the mischievous laughter of Elgar’s friend Dora Penny, offering a moment of lightness and humor. Finally, perhaps in some passages the trombonists overdid the power of their instrument, but we forgive them.
Altogether, it was a magnificent concert, in which the musicians seemed to be fully inspired by the grandeur of the venue. Before plunging into the holiday spirit, this afternoon put a balm on our November blues.
photo : Tam Photography
The 2024-2025 season of the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music is currently in full swing. Perched on the slopes of Mont-Royal at the top of the famous Vincent-d’Indy Avenue hill, around a hundred people gathered in Salle Claude-Champagne on Saturday to hear the current crop of young singers. It was a great opportunity to discover them in preparation for their production of Hansel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921), to be presented at the end of February. The students were accompanied by pianist/conductor Robin Wheeler and Alona Milner.
A sober evening, presented in gala form without extravagant presentation or complex staging, but not lacking in quality moments. In this operatic evening, several excerpts from works covering a vast spectrum of the operatic repertoire were presented. From German Romantic opera to bel canto, operetta and Baroque opera, it was a seamless transition. This panorama allows us to see the different performers in action, in a variety of styles, lyrical expressions and character incarnations. Verdi’s Witches from Macbeth opened the evening. With piercing eyes, the sopranos and mezzos of this chorus presented a biting, menacing reading of this page of verismo. The few choral numbers that graced the program were among the evening’s most appreciated for their strength and technical precision. The overall sound was enveloping, the articulation just right and precise. A case in point was the excerpt from Mozart’s Idomeneo “Placido è il mar… Soavi Zeffrini”, where the balance of voices between the numerous women’s voices and the five men’s voices was soaring, balanced and complementary to Marie France Eba Koua’s singing.
In terms of individual voices, several performances caught our attention. Among the men’s voices, baritone Élie Lefebvre-Pellegrino stood out for his beautiful, resonant, full, round and slightly brassy low register, coupled with good stage presence. His interpretation of Nilakantha’s aria from Léo Delibes’ Lakmé was assured and committed, as was his performance as Count Almaviva in the duet “Crudel! Perche s’ignora” duet from The Marriage of Figaro with Kevisha Williams. However, his passages in the upper register still need to be stabilized. Fellow singer Théo Raffin offered some of his best stage performances in Don Giovanni’s Leporello (“Sola, sola in buio loco”) and Romeo and Juliet’s Mercutio (“Mab, la reine des mensonges”). In both cases, his interventions were both interpretative and vocal. The only bass in the cohort, Andrew Erasmus delivered the difficult aria “O du Mein Holder Abendstern” from Wagner’s Tannhäuser with finesse and sensitivity.
As for the female voices, Maëlig Querré (mezzo-soprano) made a good impression in her role as Romeo from Bellini’s I Capuletti e i Montecchi. Her agile, assured voice with a sonorous low register complemented Nicole Ross’s Giulietta, who, despite great strength and agility in her high notes, reached the end of her range by the end of the aria. Cloée Morisette and Clotilde Moretti were equally sparkling in an excerpt from Carl Maria von Weber’s Freischütz. Another name to remember is mezzo-soprano Julie Boutrais. She distinguished herself in the duet from Moneverdi’s opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea, performed with Salomé Karam. Playing respectively King Nero and his lover Poppea, the two singers perfectly captured the passionate feelings and intoxication evoked in “Signor, oggi rinasco” as Nero announces to Poppea that she is to be his wife. Julie Boutrais also brought the evening to a close with her warm, embodied voice in Dido and Æneas‘ final aria “When I am laid in Earth”, followed by the final chorus from the same opera. A moment that sent shivers down our spines.
If we have to make one slight criticism of the concert, it’s the lack of detail in the program. A gala-style singing recital featuring a succession of arias, duets, trios and choruses from different periods and styles allows the singers to express themselves in a variety of roles and characters, and at the same time introduces the audience to protagonists and operas with which they may be less familiar. It would be a good idea to provide a little context for these works, to situate them for the audience. The excerpt from the trio “Je vais d’un cœur aimant” from Hector Berlioz’s opera Béatrice et Bénédict is a good example. Maëlig Querré, Maïlys Arbaoui-Westphal and Anne-Sophie Gagnon-Metellus performed this excerpt from a little-performed opus well, and would have deserved a little program note to appreciate it even more.
First MTELUS in the sights for Jonah Guimond, aka P’tit Belliveau. After four Club Soda gigs in one year, it was time to get down to business. The real deal. And as the challenge was met with flying colors by the merry Acadian troupe, oh yes.
P’tit Belliveau is now entering the big leagues, finally treading the boards of this Montreal temple. A far cry from the young, fiery Jonah Guimond of Les Grosses Coques, who confined himself to his sometimes limited country-pop sympathies. The native of Baie Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia, has reaffirmed himself all the more in this particularly audacious artist, who makes a mockery of industry codes and is devilishly entertaining.
P’tit Belliveau kicks off his show with Depuis que la neige a fondu and Moosehorn Lake, from his first two projects. Alternating throughout the show between banjo and electric guitar, he presents a majority of songs from his new album, the namesake P’tit Belliveau, exploring pop-punk corners à la Blink-182 as much as metal or rap avenues. Bold, I tell you.
“If there’s one person in the room who’s not singing, I’ll take my music off Spotify and stop the show,” he warns, before performing the gritty Mon drapeau acadjonne viens d’Taïwan. There’s everything you want in a P’tit Belliveau concert. Want a laugh? Check out the projections behind the band, featuring everything from exercising frogs to John Deere tractors. Want to be baffled? Let yourself be surprised by a baffling extramusical interlude where a wrestler, out of nowhere, comes on stage to fight the band, only to be brought down by a shirtless P’tit Belliveau – “Never fuck with P’tit Belliveau. Ever,” he adds afterwards. Prefer to move? Go to the front of the stage, among his faithful followers throwing mosh pits to absolutely anything. There’s something for everyone.
Hats off to the accompanying musicians, particularly talented and entertaining with their wacky choreography and their mandolin and fiddle solos galore. Two members of the delirious punk quartet Peanut Butter Sunday (Normand Pothier and Jacques Blinn) have been playing with P’tit Belliveau on stage for some time now, which may explain the rock bent Guimond is increasingly exploiting in his compositions.
The Acadian artist closes the regular part of his show with RRSP/Grosse pièce, from his second album, then returns to the stage for an excellent encore mixing children’s songs (L’arbre est dans ses feuilles), new material (L’église de St. Bernard) and old hits (J’aimerais d’avoir un John Deere and, of course, Income Tax). The audience wants more and more, forcing the band to come back and jam for a few minutes for a second, seemingly impromptu encore.
P’tit Belliveau reiterated several times in the show how grateful he is to count on the unfailing support of his public and his chums, for so many years (something he already said in Demain). Thanks to you, P’tit Belliveau, for proposing such a singular offering in a local industry that’s often too standardized. Quite simply, one of today’s finest Franco-Canadian artists.
Ouverture des portes: 22h00
Spectacle: 23h00
Pust (23h)
Fucktoplut (Oktoplut) (23h45)
Doors: 22:00 pm
Show: 23:00 pm
Pust (11 pm)
Fucktoplut (Oktoplut) (11:45 pm)
POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de M pour Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
Portes: 18h30
Spectacle : 20h00
Karkwa
Doors: 6:30pm
Show : 8pm
Karkwa
POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de M pour Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
Portes: 19h00
Spectacle : 20h30
Malaimé Soleil (20h30)
P’tit Belliveau (21h30)
Doors: 7 pm
Show : 8:30pm
Malaimé Soleil (8:30 pm)
P’tit Belliveau (21:30 pm)
POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de M pour Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
Portes : 22h00
Spectacle: 23h00
Ogun (23h)
Jethro (23h40)
Badi (00h20)
Doors: 10 pm
Show : 11 pm
Ogun (11pm)
Jethro (11:40pm)
Badi (0:20pm)
POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de M pour Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
Portes : 19h00
Spectacle : 20h00
Goodbye Karelle (20h)
Lubalin (21h)
Charlie Houston (22h)
DJ Yuki
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Goodbye Karelle (20h)
Lubalin (21h)
Charlie Houston (22h)
DJ Yuki
POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de M pour Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
Spectacle: 00h00
Cléa Vincent
Show: 00:00am
Cléa Vincent
POUR ACHETER VOTRE PASSE, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de M pour Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
Bain Mathieu, a former public bath converted into a multi-purpose venue, is hosting Coup de Coeur Francophone shows for the first time this year. On November 13, a double album launch for women took place.
First, Gabriella Olivo, for her six-song EP, A Todos Mis Amores, released on October 25. Gabriella grew up in Stoneham, near Quebec City, with a Mexican mother and a father “blond and blue-eyed from St-Bruno”, she says on stage. Her mother always spoke to her in Spanish. She therefore grew up with two cultures, despite the ambient homogeneity of this Quebec City suburb.
Her young musical career is steeped in this bi-culturalism: she sings in French and Spanish, often in the same room. The result is ambient folk tinged with rock and seasoned with a little Mexican and Latin sound.
In this sense, it’s reminiscent of Kevin Johansen, whose mother is Argentinean and father American, and whose career in Spanish and English has been very successful in Latin America.
Gabriella Olivo lives in Quebec. But A Todos Mis Amores is her most Mexican opus, having been made in Mexico City with producer Santiago Miralles. Although still with a meditative folk-rock sound, this mini album is more sprinkled with Latin influences than her previous album, Sola. After all, Mexico City knows how to blend rock and Latin influences.
All of which is to say that this EP is a great listen, and so is the live version, enhanced by some of the earlier tracks. All the more so as Gabriella shares personal anecdotes and stories on stage that give context to the songs. “Right now, the world is really fucked-up,” she quipped, alluding to recent political news. By way of consolation, she offered us the magnificent song No te Olvides De La Luz. How to find the light in the darkness.
The young Mexican from Stoneham is one to watch. And, as she said: “Vive le Coup de Coeur Hispanophone”, although she also sings in French. And it’s going to stay that way,” she told me after her performance.
With Daria Colonna, we enter a completely different universe. Le requiem des sirènes saoules is the title of her debut album, released in May. Quite a program.
“It’s my first show,” she confesses on stage at Bain Mathieu. Daria Colonna, 35, is well known as a poet. Her latest collection, La Voleuse, earned her nominations for several poetry prizes.
So we went along to this stage premiere, six months after the release of the album. Musically, we’re in a mix of trip-hop and synthetic rock, with more acoustic episodes.
Daria Colonna opens her book on her multiple states of mind, with a focus on the “intense” woman, to whom she dedicates an ode. It’s about desires, anxieties, a dangerous life, thirsts, in every sense of the word. Clearly, Daria Colonna is not lacking in intensity. She knows how to write lyrics. On stage, I found the results less convincing than on record.
But she is a musician and singer in apprenticeship and gestation. We can perceive an original, independent trajectory, where words will always be privileged. Which is not always in the zeitgeist. And that’s good.