Les Idées heureuses’ Jan. 16th concert took the notion of historical performance to new heights. Musique et danse en Nouvelle-France was not only performed with period instruments from the 18th century such as viols and harpsichords but also featured dance and costumes from the era.
The letters of Élisabeth Bégon were the main historical material. A diplomat’s wife in the early days of New France, Bégon’s letters provide a window into the experience of the colony’s elite. One letter makes light of a priest’s sermonizing against balls, another laments the harsh winters in her new home. Another yet mourns the tragic loss of her son. Letters were read before music and dance ensued, and the audience was treated to a diverse repertoire of instrumental and vocal music.
Les Idées heureuses’ Musique et danse en Nouvelle-France. Photo: Brenden Friesen
What you missed?
With acting, dancing and elaborate staging, this was more of an Early Music musical than a concert. Olivier Brault inhabited the character of an 18th century bon-vivant extremely convincingly. He played gigues and menuets on the Baroque violin with precision and fiery energy and sang traditional folk songs such as Le P’tit bois d’lail with inebriated passion. Even when sitting down and listening to others, Brault always maintained character.
Catherine St-Arnaud played Élisabeth Bégon. As she sat at her candle-lit desk writing letters, the audience was invited to experience this night of music and dance from her domestic point of view. Though all professionally executed, the pieces were played in the context of a sociable evening in New France. As such, the atmosphere was not as serious as formal concerts normally are. The show provided a unique and refreshing listening experience: the audience was invited not only to hear the music of 18th-century but experience it in the context in which it would have been played.
Les Idées heureuses’ Musique et danse en Nouvelle-France. Photo: Brenden Friesen
Dancer and choreographer Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière was responsible for the staging and choreography; She also performed the more complex dance numbers. A particular highlight was her masked dance to Rameau’s Danse du grand calumet de la paix, in which she darted nimbly and mysteriously about the stage. She and Dorothéa Ventura also danced several menuets, a sarabande, and a gigue, all of which were crowd-pleasers. It is very interesting to decipher the origins of ballet in the delicate and precise steps of Baroque dances.
The program was very artfully curated. It featured flashier dance and vocal numbers as well as more reserved and intricate instrumental pieces. Ventura played several pieces from Le livre d’orgue de Montréal with the same nimble precision with which she danced the sarabande and gigue. St-Arnaud sang quite a bit of melancholy repertoire. Orphée: Fidèles échos des bois addresses the echoes of the woods about the pain of lost love; Dormez, beaux yeux is a wistful lullaby. In each number, St-Arnaud was able to convey heartfelt emotion whilst retaining aristocratic manners. Her performances were elegant without being over-indulgent.
Gripes:
Brault’s passionate enthusiasm for this repertoire sometimes left his colleagues in the dust. Viola da gambist Marie-Laurence Primeau had difficulty syncing up with Brault’s quick “one, two!” tempo announcement at the beginning of Lully’s gigue. The pair did take some time to get the piece on firm footing.
While Gregory Jeay’s traverso playing was exquisite to listen to, he did seem ill at ease amidst this cast of high-octane performers. While the other performers were careful to maintain character throughout this musical play, Jeay retreated into his score and tapped his foot to keep tempo, which was rather distracting.
Les Idées heureuses continues their season with Concert de la passion on April 18. www.ideesheureuses.ca
