Romanticism and Exoticism with the OM Julian Kuerti offers two visions of Oriental exoticism : the delicious tales of One Thousand and One Nights with mezzo soprano Michèle Losier, and the Symphonic Suite of Rimski-Korsakov. Maison symphonique, February 5, 7:30 pm. On tour in three neighbourhoods fromFebruary 3-6. www.orchestremetropolitain.com
André Gagnon Baroque Mes Quatre saisons – Les Turluteries Jean-Willy Kunz, harpsichord Orchestre symphonique Vallée du Haut-Saint-Laurent, Daniel Constantineau ATMA Classique. 2015. ACD22715. 65 min 17 s André Gagnon’s Mes quatre saisons (1969) and Les turluteries (1972) are infused with a new breath of life with this new disc on which baroque and popular music blend joyfully. With a style approaching that of Bach and Vivaldi, Jean-Willy Kunz on harpsichord interprets and transforms the melodies of Léveillée, Vigneault, Leclerc and la Bolduc’s “turlutes”, along with the Orchestre symphonique de la Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent directed by Daniel Constantineau. Its unique character comes across…
“I am a radical free thinker, an atheist, a sex-positive person and I am against all forms of religion.” It is with these unequivocal terms that American organist Cameron Carpenter, guest performer at the Montréal Chamber Music Festival in March, opens our interview. It is soon apparent that his eccentricity, his punky hair and rocker clothes are more than a façade; they are the reflection of his original and unique personality. He is known in the organ world for his iconoclastic approach to the instrument and for his trend-bucking ideas. Carpenter’s originality begins with his instrument: the International Touring Organ,…
Bernard Labadie The Canadian Opera Company has announced that its 2016-17 season will include a new production of Harry Somers’ Louis Riel, in conjunction with the National Arts Centre. The Canadian Opera was premiered in 1967 for the Canadian centennial. Seven performances, featuring a largely Canadian cast, will take place from April 20 to May 13, 2017. The company also announced the contract extension of Music Director Johannes Debus through to the 2020-21 season. Canada’s longest running full-time classical music critic has retired. Claude Gingras, age 84, has capped a 63-year career, most of which was spent at Montréal’s French-language…
Julie Triquet Wherever she goes, Julie Triquet has the desire to meet others and to share that which animates her every day: music. A look at a journey that has been both classic and extraordinary by the woman who became concertmaster with I Musici de Montréal in 2012. A native of Québec City, Julie Triquet began studying violin at the age of 3 with teacher Claude Létourneau. “My mother had seen an interview with him on television, and she had become sort of convinced.” Triquet fell in love with the violin from the moment she started playing. She subsequently…
Known for pushing the boundaries in their music, Montréal-based classical string band collectif9 is forging into uncharted territory with the release of their debut album (see review here), featuring the world premiere recording of Volksmobiles by Canadian composer Geof Holbrook. Formed in 2011 by Thibault Bertin-Maghit, collectif9 is a group of nine classically trained string players who aren’t shy about shaking things up. The members, who met at McGill University and the Université de Montréal, are violinists Yubin Kim, Frédéric Moisan, Grégor Monlun, and Roland Arnassalon; violists Scott Chancey and Xavier Lepage-Brault; cellists Andrea Stewart and Jérémie Cloutier; and bassist…
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…
Cliquer ici pour télécharger notre page de coloriage de Pierre Boulez / Click here to download our Pierre Boulez colouring page Pierre Boulez was a brilliant, courageous and imposing visionary who changed how we think, hear and evaluate music performance. As a composer and performer, his influence and memory will outlast his own era, joining those other immortal greats of Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, Bernstein, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach… to name a few. To me personally, Pierre Boulez was a great mentor, introduced to me by my teacher, Olivier Messiaen. For a time I was lucky enough to study conducting with both…
On March 29, Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct the Glagolitic Mass by Leoš Janáček for the first time with the Orchestre Métropolitain. Very rarely played in Montréal, this impressive work will be part of the conductor’s Slavic Masterpieces concert. For the occasion, he stopped by La Scena Musicale for an interview. “I’ve never conducted the Glagolitic Mass,” Nézet-Séguin tells us. “I’m very much looking forward to doing so for the first time with my Montréal choir and orchestra. It’s going to be a great event in our musical season. I’ve long dreamed of conducting this piece.” The even is great not…
Editor’s Note: La Scena Musicale is pleased to welcome back contributor Norman Lebrecht for his weekly CD reviews, which will be posted online on Mondays and appear in the print edition. Read Norman’s regular CD reviews and columns under the Lebrecht Weekly tag. What you really need to start 2016 – what you never imagined you’d ever need – is a piano concerto by Neil Sedaka. Absolutely no irony here. Anyone who can write a novel or concerto start to finish without falling on his/her plot deserves all the credit going and a fair ride from reviewers. Sedaka, 75, made his…
