Jacques Lacombe and Orchestre classique de Montréal: Full Circle

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Although Maestro Jacques Lacombe only became the artistic director and principal conductor of the Orchestre classique de Montréal in July 2023, his history with the OCM dates back much farther. Here, he reflects on this relationship, his recent experience at the helm of the institution, succeeding the late Boris Brott, and his longer-term goal and ambitions.

“Even before I was appointed artistic director,” he recounts, “the OCM’s general director, Taras Kulish—a good friend of mine whom I’ve known for 30 or 40 years—had asked me, after Boris’s tragic death, to give him a hand in designing the season. Even before we had discussed artistic succession, I was approached as artistic advisor to develop this season. This was during the summer of 2022. Programming is something you prepare at least a year in advance, so without knowing what would happen, I had already worked on it. Last autumn, Taras approached me again. One thing led to another, and I became the OCM’s artistic director.”

The orchestra’s DNA

Photo by Julie Skarratt

To see Lacombe conduct “his” orchestra for the first time, listeners will have to wait until Oct. 17. This second event of the season, following the opening concert on Sept. 21, pays tribute to Ukrainian composers and, more broadly, to minorities that have remained in the shadows for too long—a repertoire that the conductor himself knew very little about until recently. “Paying tribute to specific communities is something the OCM has done before,” he said. “Given current events, it made sense to highlight Ukraine. What’s more, being Ukrainian himself, and a former opera singer, Taras knew this repertoire well. He was a great help, especially where vocal music was concerned. As for instrumental music, it was my own research and existing knowledge that led me to the repertoire I selected. For instance, I tracked down Nikolai Kapustin’s Fourth Concerto, a work I thought would suit my friend Serhiy Salov, also of Ukrainian origin. That’s how we came up with this program; it was a collaborative process.”

Listeners will recall that in recent seasons, the OCM has not hesitated to produce works from underrepresented groups—for example, they premièred David Bontemps’s Haitian opera La Flambeau. “It’s always been in the orchestra’s DNA,” said Lacombe. “Since my appointment, I’ve been interested in its recent and more ancient history. As you know, the OCM used to be called the McGill Chamber Orchestra, founded by Boris’s father, Alexander Brott, who was also a composer. Among other things, Brott wrote arrangements of Indigenous songs from Northern Canada, long before most people were concerned with amplifying Indigenous voices. It’s always been part of the institution’s philosophy to try to forge links and integrate diverse communities.”

While exploring the organization’s history, Lacombe has had access to the unpublished, private Brott family archives. “The orchestra’s administration has always been housed in the family home, which will soon be put up for sale,” he said. “At the end of the month, the administration will move to a new location for the first time in its existence. The orchestra is celebrating its 84th season this year, making it one of the oldest ensembles in Canada. Because of the move, we’ve had to clean the house, and have uncovered all the musical treasures that have been accumulated over the years. It was partly thanks to this coincidence, but also to my own interest and knowledge of the orchestra, that I’ve been able to learn so much about the orchestra. We’re still discovering more every day, which is really exciting.”

Photo by Steve Rosen

Reviewing these documents led Lacombe to revisit his own history with the OCM. The orchestra clearly contributed to his musical awakening. As a child, he was a member of the public. “One of the first concerts, if not the first orchestral concert I attended, was a concert by the McGill Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alexander Brott at J.-Antonio-Thompson Hall in Trois-Rivières, where I’m from. Years later, I worked in the same hall. I was the conductor and artistic director of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières for 13 seasons. To find myself at the helm of the orchestra again, 50 years later, is a great return on investment.”

Over the years, the programs have come to include more vocal music, but in the beginning, Lacombe remembers an essentially instrumental repertoire. “There were works by Bach and Vivaldi in that concert in Trois-Rivières. I also remember Alexander’s incredible sense of humour, and Boris’s as well. The concert ended with a rather fast movement, probably taken from a concerto grosso. He had the orchestra play it again as an encore, but even faster. The audience was on their feet by the end, and Alexander addressed the crowd, saying: ‘I’m sorry, we can’t play it any faster.’”

The OCM’s interest in programming vocal music is not likely to challenge Jacques Lacombe, though. He was principal conductor of the Bonn Opera in Germany from 2016 to 2018, and has worked on operatic repertoire such as Tosca and La Bohème at London’s Royal Opera House, the world première of Marius et Fanny at Opéra de Marseille, with Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu in the titular roles, and a significant number of productions at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper. More recently, he conducted in France, notably at the Opéra de Nice.

Photo by Julie Skarratt

His passion for opera stems from his childhood, growing up in Trois-Rivières. “I started playing music seriously quite late, at the age of 11, when my family moved into a house that had a piano in the basement. “I started playing, took lessons, and then met a priest who was touring schools and recruiting for what was then called the Notre-Dame-du-Cap choir school. I started singing in the choir. The human voice has stayed with me ever since. At 18, I became the choir director, and accompanied them on the organ, or piano, which I had studied at the conservatory. I’ve always loved being in contact with the voice. I still believe it to be the most beautiful instrument. It has stayed with me such that my career has led me in the directions of both orchestral and opera conducting. I didn’t want to confine myself to opera—it was important to continue working in both professional areas. I find that they feed off each other.”

Choral music is certainly an excellent context in which to learn to conduct. This is the story of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who started out as a choral conductor. Jacques Lacombe’s case is somewhat different. “I had an easy time in school, and believed myself to be destined for the sciences,” Lacombe said. “When I was a kid, I wanted to work for NASA or something. It was actually my second organ teacher, Raymond Daveluy, who opened my eyes to conducting. He believed I had the right mentality and personality to be a conductor. I’d never considered it before. In my community, people didn’t think that you could earn a living that way. I wanted to go into the sciences, but Mr. Daveluy said something to me that I will never forget: ‘You can always start in the sciences at 25 or 30,’ he said, ‘but music requires physical and mental aptitudes that have to be developed at an early age.’ So, as a teenager, I decided to give music a chance, and here we are 50 years later. I haven’t regretted it yet!”

Lacombe’s only real frustration is that he only has 24 hours in a day. “I’m interested in all kinds of repertoires, but there is so much music—I can’t cover it all! I’ve started writing again, and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve written arrangements for the OCM previously, and am in the process of doing others for the coming season: two suites, based on the film scores of Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone. I believe these to be among the greatest works composed in the 20th century.”

Translation by Eva Stone-Barney

2023-24 PROGRAM

Through the Americas with Marc Djokic
September 21, 2023
Works by Hatzis, Corigliano, Price, Piazzolla and Glass
Artists: Marc Djokic, violin solo; Julien LeBlanc, piano; OCM string quartet: Marc Djokic, Marianne Di Tomaso, Annie Parent and Marieve Bock

Slava Ukraïni
October 17, 2023
Works by Lyatoshynsky, Storoschuk, Kapoustine, Lysenko, Bortnianski, Havryletz, Hulak-Artemovsky
Artists: Anna Pompeieva, soprano; Martina Myskohlid, mezzo-soprano; Yuriy Konevych, tenor; Ihor Mostovoi, bass; Serhiy Salov, piano; Les Rugissants choir, Xavier Brossard-Ménard, choir director; Jacques Lacombe, conductor

María de Buenos Aires
November 23, 2023
Works by Piazzolla and Ferrer
Artists: Julie Nesrallah, mezzo-soprano; Clarence Frazer, baritone; Denis Plante, bandoneon; Jacques Lacombe, conductor

Handel’s Messiah
December 13 and 14, 2023
Artists: Sydney Baedke, soprano; Lauren Segal, mezzo-soprano; Antoine Bélanger, tenor; Greg Dahl, bass-baritone; Filles de l’île women’s choir and Chantres musiciens men’s choir; Jacques Lacombe, conductor

Phœnix
February 27, 2024
Works by Schoenberg, Pépin, Babin and Janáček
Artists: Tara-Louise Montour, violin; Jacques Lacombe, conductor

Musica Da Cinema: Morricone and Rota
March 14, 2024
Works by Rota and Morricone
Artists: Giuliano Rizzotto, trombone; Jacques Lacombe, conductor and arrangements

Between Heaven and Hell
April 11, 2024
Works by Ricketts, Boccherini, Alexander Brott, Bach and Mozart
Artists: Tim Mead, countertenor; Vincent Boilard, oboe; Jean-Claude Picard, guest conductor

Mozart’s Requiem
May 5, 2024
Works by Boulogne and Mozart
Artists: Emma Fekete, soprano; Ian Sabourin, countertenor; Matthew Dalen, tenor; Matthew Li, bass; Les Petits-Chanteurs du Mont-Royal boys’ choir, Andrew Gray, choir director; Jacques Lacombe, conductor

An Operatic Life: A Tribute to Joseph Rouleau
June 18, 2024
Works by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, Delibes, Offenbach and Leclerc
Artists: Aline Kutan, soprano; Mireille Lebel, mezzo-soprano; Éric Laporte, tenor; Philippe Sly, bass-baritone; Jacques Lacombe, conductor