This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
Pentaèdre’s 38th season continues triumphantly with two of its most eagerly-awaited events.
On Jan. 28 the wind quintet comprising Ariane Brisson, Élise Poulin, Martin Carpentier, Louis-Philippe Marsolais and Mathieu Lussier began 2024 with a tribute concert for György Ligeti. Marking the centenary of the birth of the Hungarian-born composer, now a naturalized Austrian, it revisited 20th-century music including the Six Bagatelles, a flagship work by Ligeti which the ensemble has played before. The flutist and artistic director Ariane Brisson, who joined in 2016, also recalls the Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet that Pentaèdre added to its repertoire in 2000. “It was a different version of Pentaèdre. Since then the group’s lineup has changed significantly.”
Despite comings and goings, she says there has always been one constant. “For 38 years, Pentaèdre has been doing a bit of everything. The repertoire for woodwind quintet is relatively young. Only a few works date from before the 20th century and 80 per cent of the repertoire was written after 1900. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t play pieces from previous centuries. We do, using original arrangements. Over half of our most recent record devoted to Bach uses original arrangements, whether it’s works for solo violin, organ toccatas and fugues, or chorals. They’ve all been arranged by our horn player Louis-Philippe Marsolais and our bassoonist Mathieu Lussier.”
Pentaèdre’s fourth concert of the season, on March 2 at Bourgie Hall, will be an arrangement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 for soprano and chamber ensemble, with Magali Simard-Galdès and the Penderecki Quartet. The arrangement isn’t by Pentaèdre, but by the German Klaus Simon, done in 2007. “It’s an ambitious concert, the first time Pentaèdre has ever played the music of Mahler in this way. There’ll be a première for strings, wind and soprano by the brilliant Quebec composer Julien Bilodeau.”
It won’t be the first time Pentaèdre has tackled symphonic music. The bicentenary of César Franck in 2022 provided an opportunity to do so, thanks to the possibilities of arrangements. “Pentaèdre is about renewal, exploration, surprise and innovation, as well as deep respect for music composed in the past, for the tradition woven into the group thanks to previous generations. These include the oboist and founding member Normand Forget, who has also written outstanding arrangements for wind quintet.”
To see its upcoming shows, visit Penaèdre’s website: www.pentaedre.com.
Playlist
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
