CD Review | La Flambeau (Atma Classique, 2024)

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La Flambeau
Suzanne Taffot, soprano; Catherine Daniel, mezzo-soprano; Paul Williamson, tenor; Brandon Coleman, bass-baritone; Orchestre classique de Montréal; David Bontemps, composer
Atma Classique, April 12, 2024

Atma’s La Flambeau was recorded one day after the chamber opera’s Montreal première (Feb. 8, 2023). Composed by Haitian-born, Montreal-based David Bontemps, who also adapted fellow Haitian Flaubert Bolivar’s award-winning play, it draws its subject matter from a rich mythology based in Haitian Vodou traditions. At its centre is a dysfunctional couple (Monsieur and Madame), their servant Mademoiselle and (in a nod to Mozart’s Don Giovanni) a vengeful Commendatore-like Homme, who transforms the hypocritical Monsieur into a zombie at the opera’s conclusion.

Bontemps’s sound world is emphatically tonal, relying on a steady, ostinato string accompaniment, interestingly supplemented with percussive maracas. The vocal writing is mostly accompanied recitative, with few excursions into sustained melody. There is a tendency toward sameness when it comes to tailoring vocal lines to the drama. For example, when Mademoiselle arrives late for her first day on the job, Monsieur’s annoyance is signaled by the same, steady pulse used in the opening scene with his wife. Even there, Madame betrays little agitation as she recounts her visions of dead parents and her voodoo godfather.

Within this limiting framework, there are some distinctive performances. Canadian mezzo-soprano Catherine Daniel lends much-needed vocal colouring and booming chest tones to Madame’s haunted ravings. Soprano Suzanne Taffot offers tantalisingly-clear diction and pointed tone. As Monsieur, Canadian tenor Paul Williamson isn’t helped by the short, staccato lines that fail to capture his truly evil nature, including his rape of Mademoiselle. American bass-baritone Brandon Coleman possesses the perfect dark, ominous tone to intone Homme’s proclamations, but lacks the idiomatic French of his castmates.

Orchestre classique de Montréal plays well under Alain Trudel in the clear acoustic of Montreal’s Salle Pierre-Mercure.