{"id":166140,"date":"2026-10-02T10:35:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/gig_review\/quebec-musiques-paralleles-2026-genevieve-ackermann-rimes-defaites-par-le-sphinx-erick-dorion-mes-fantomes-concert-la-chapelle-scenes-contemporaines-montreal\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T10:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:38:16","slug":"quebec-musiques-paralleles-2026-genevieve-ackermann-rimes-defaites-par-le-sphinx-erick-dorion-mes-fantomes-concert-la-chapelle-scenes-contemporaines-montreal","status":"publish","type":"gig_review","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/gig_review\/quebec-musiques-paralleles-2026-genevieve-ackermann-rimes-defaites-par-le-sphinx-erick-dorion-mes-fantomes-concert-la-chapelle-scenes-contemporaines-montreal\/","title":{"rendered":"QMP 2026 | Ackermann and D’Orion : the Complementarity of Extremes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It would have been difficult to make a more contrasting concert program than last night at La Chapelle Sc\u00e8nes contemporaines. Qu\u00e9bec Musiques Parall\u00e8les presented a double program dedicated, in the first part, to Rimes d\u00e9faites par le Sphinx<\/em> (Rimes Defeated by the Sphinx) by Genevi\u00e8ve Ackermann, for two voices and two guitars in just intonation, and then, in the second part, to the project Mes fant\u00f4mes<\/em> (My Ghosts) by \u00c9rick D\u2019Orion, which I have mentioned in its recently released discographic version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MY REVIEW OF THE ALBUM<\/strong> MES FANT\u00d4MES<\/em><\/strong> BY \u00c9RICK D\u2019ORION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as Ackermann’s work is refined, poetic, and meticulous in its details, D’Orion’s is maximalist, fragmented, noise-driven, and profoundly enjoyable. Rimes d\u00e9faites par le Sphinx<\/em> is a cycle of songs, performed by Genevi\u00e8ve Ackermann herself and Florence Tremblay on vocals, accompanied by the classical guitars of Francis Brunet-Turcotte and Alexandre \u00c9thier. The songs, as I mentioned, are constructed according to the principle of just intonation, a scale of 22 notes (the normal scale contains 12) which therefore includes intermediate tones between the usual flats\/sharps. It is therefore a form of microtonality, but due to its structural rigour, I fancy calling it “tempered microtonality.” The result is both disconcerting (at first) and strangely pleasant. Sometimes it feels like hearing a marriage between mediaeval Ars nova and the creations of Meredith Monk. It’s beautiful and subtle, it’s very delicate, and the performers are excellent. Ackermann and Tremblay managed to adjust their sometimes (apparently) fragile harmonies with aplomb. Next to them, \u00c9thier and Brunet-Turcotte made their scores appear easy, which are, in truth, dreadfully complex to interpret, and this on guitars specially designed for the cause of perfect intonation. Yes, like for Angine de Poitrine, but with more advanced results and, curiously, not always as “weird.” The fact is that the microtonality used here is not as much cosmetic, like with the duo from Saguenay. So, there’s no need to “show” it in the same way. It is there, like an echo, or like ghosts distilled in a general factory that ultimately appears to us, strangely “normal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n