Return to the Violons du Roy In March Bernard Labadie will conduct the St. Matthew Passion, a major work of the Baroque and a pinnacle in western music. The score is monumental and will take 2 hours 45 minutes to perform. Soloists: John Mark Ainsley, tenor, Neal Davies, baritone, Karina Gauvin, soprano, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto, Andrew Staples, tenor and Andrew Foster-Williams, bass-baritone. With the Chapelle de Québec. Maison symphonique, March 12, 7:30 pm. www.violonsduroy.com Masterpieces at Maison Symphonique In March, Montréalers have the opportunity to hear Kent Nagano and the OSM play Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring: not only one of the most…
Browsing: Orchestral
Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s interpretation of Mahler’s first symphony is beautifully played by Munich’s (some say Germany’s) best orchestra and thoughtfully structured by an impressive guest conductor. I think I am safe in saying that it is conceptually different from any of the 120 Mahler Firsts on record, stretching all the way back to Dmitri Mitropolous’s towering Minnesota performance for Columbia in April 1940. And that’s no small distinction in a much-repeated piece. Where Yannick differs from all others is in atmospherics. The opening four and a half minutes of ambient sound, where the ear searches for a clue to what’s going…
The lights come up, and you’re on stage at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica. Every seat is filled: 2700 people. Nervousness increases if your orchestra is called I Medici di McGill. You may tell yourself, as an amateur, “Well, let’s be professional.” But the question is, what is expected of amateur ensembles? “I don’t like the word ‘amateur’,” says Maestro Gilles Auger, I Medici di McGill’s conductor. “I prefer to say non-professional.” And indeed, almost half of I Medici’s members study or work in health sciences, far from the music jungle. Amateur ensembles are common: in Montreal, some amateur choirs allow people…
Musique / MusicPro Musica : Quatuor Zemlinsky QuartetFondé en 1994, le Quatuor Zemlinsky est reconnu comme un exemple de la grande tradition tchèque de la musique de chambre. Récipiendaire de prix prestigieux, l’ensemble possède un répertoire de plus de 200 œuvres. Au programme : Dvořák, Gemrot, Beethoven. Théâtre Maisonneuve, lundi 2, 20 h. http://promusica.qc.ca/The Zemlinsky Quartet, created in 1994, is an example of the great Czech tradition of chamber music. Winner of prestigious awards, the ensemble has a repertoire of over 200 pieces. The program includes Dvořák, Gemrot, and Beethoven. At Théâtre Maisonneuve, Nov. 2, 8 pm. http://promusica.qc.ca/en/Kaléidoscope : les années 1920…
Musique/MusicAlban Gerhardt au LMMC – un retour attenduLe Ladies’ Morning Musical Club recevra l’un des grands violoncellistes de notre époque, Alban Gerhardt, qui a joué à l’âge de 21 ans avec l’Orchestre philharmonique de Berlin sous la direction de Semyon Bychkov. Au programme : Barber, Britten, Beethoven, Brahms (dimanche 4).Nommé en hommage au compositeur tchèque emprisonné à Theresienstadt en 1941, le quatuor Pavel Haas est devenu l’un des plus importants ensembles de chambre. Il fait ses débuts au LMMC le 25 octobre. Les concerts ont lieu à la salle Pollack à 15 h 30. www.lmmc.caAlban Gerhardt et chatCrédit photo: Kaupo…
Marianne Fiset (Photo: Maxime Tremblay)This Week in Montreal: August 3 to 9Carmen at OSM’s Classical Spree A must-see event at the end of the summer, the 4th Classical Spree will begin on August 5 with a free outdoors concert conducted by Kent Nagano. This year, a shortened version of Bizet’s Carmen will be presented at the Olympic Park, featuring Michèle Losier, Joseph Kaiser and Marianne Fiset. As in previous years, 30 low-price 45-minute concerts and a variety of free activities will take place on August 7 and 8, to present the beauties of classical music to the public. In a…
Marc Hervieux (Photo: Maryse Gagné)This Week in Montreal: July 27 to August 2Orchestre Métropolitain in the ParkThis summer, the OM is playing in the park. Catch the July 24 concert at Vancouver Park in l’Île-des-Sœurs, featuring the great classics from Mozart and Schubert directed by Andrei Fehrer. Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin will direct the Fantasy-Overture from Romeo and Juliet and Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 on two occasions – July 29 at the park on l’Île Lebel de Repentigny and July 30at the Chalet de la Montagne as part of the Campbell Concerts series. www.orchestremetropolitain.comConcerts Populaires de MontrealThe Orchestre Métropolitain and maestro…
Andrei Feher (Photo: Pierre-Etienne Bergeron)This Week in Montreal: July 20 to 26Concerts Populaires de MontrealThe Orchestre Métropolitain and maestro Julian Kuerti will open the Concerts Populaires series on June 25 with young Canadian violinist Kerson Leong, Radio-Canada’s Discovery of the Year in 2014-2015. The OM is back on July 23, under the baton of young conductor Andrei Feher, recently named Discovery of the Year at the 2015 Prix Opus gala. Audiences will hear Gianna Corbisiero in a program of Gershwin (July 9) and Marc Hervieux singing musicals (July 30) conducted by Stéphane Larforest. A concert-show with Richard Desjardins, Alexandre Da…
Alexandre Da Costa (Photo: Bo Huang)This Week in Montreal: July 13 to 19Concerts Populaires de MontrealThe Orchestre Métropolitain and maestro Julian Kuerti will open the Concerts Populaires series on June 25 with young Canadian violinist Kerson Leong, Radio-Canada’s Discovery of the Year in 2014-2015. The OM is back on July 23, under the baton of young conductor Andrei Feher, recently named Discovery of the Year at the 2015 Prix Opus gala. Audiences will hear Gianna Corbisiero in a program of Gershwin (July 9) and Marc Hervieux singing musicals (July 30) conducted by Stéphane Laforest. A concert-show with Richard Desjardins, Alexandre…
Andrei Feher (Photo: Pierre-Etienne Bergeron)This Week in Montreal: July 6 to 12Concerts Populaires de MontrealThe Orchestre Métropolitain and maestro Julian Kuerti will open the Concerts Populaires series on June 25 with young Canadian violinist Kerson Leong, Radio-Canada’s Discovery of the Year in 2014-2015. The OM is back on July 23, under the baton of young conductor Andrei Feher, recently named Discovery of the Year at the 2015 Prix Opus gala. Audiences will hear Gianna Corbisiero in a program of Gershwin (July 9) and Marc Hervieux singing musicals (July 30) conducted by Stéphane Laforest. A concert-show with Richard Desjardins, Alexandre Da…

