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Browsing: Baroque and Early

Rose Naggar-Tremblay, contralto soloist in ArtChoral's Messiah. Photo: TamPhotography

Review | ArtChoral’s Messiah Preserves its Original Freshness

By Heather Weinreb on 24 December 2024 Baroque and Early, Choral, Concert Reviews, Montreal

Every holiday season, Handel’s Messiah comes to town. Not once, not twice, but many times. With all the options, how can an audience member decide which one to choose? On Dec. 22, ArtChoral and Ensemble Caprice delivered an inspiring performance of Handel’s Messiah. It seems that Juno award-winning conductor Matthias Maute takes avid delight in showcasing how old works can always sound new, so long as they are performed with technical precision, intentionality, and a lot of joyful energy. When Messiah season comes around next year, audiences would do well to consider ArtChoral’s version. What you missed? A Baroque oratorio,…

Orchestre classique de Montréal presents Handel's Messiah in Saint Joseph’s Oratory. Photo: Tam Photography

Review | Orchestre classique de Montréal’s Warm & Welcoming Messiah

By Amanda Wong on 15 December 2024 Baroque and Early, Choral, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Montreal, Vocal

As the holidays approach, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah begins to line concert programs around the world—and so, Orchestre classique de Montréal presents its annual performance of the great oratorio in one of the city’s most fitting venues: Saint Joseph’s Oratory. There, OCM, Filles de L’île women’s choir, Chantres Musiciens men’s choir, and four Canadian soloists presented 44 movements from the original piece under the baton of Israeli-French conductor Roï Azoulay. Though originally written for Easter, the English oratorio has become synonymous with Christmas. It details the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ despite the fact the majority of…

OM Messiah. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Anna-Sophie Neher, Emily D'Angelo. Photo: François Goupil – Orchestre Métropolitain

Review | Yannick’s Messiah Vibrates Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica

By Wah Keung Chan on 10 December 2024 Baroque and Early, Choral, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Montreal, Vocal

Performances of Handel’s Messiah at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica had been an annual tradition of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra up until about 12 years ago when its artistic director Kent Nagano did away with Handel in favour of Bach. Orchestre Métropolitain (OM)’s artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin grew up with this tradition as he announced before the concert from the stage, and this is the second year in a row that OM has presented Messiah at the Basilica to a full house. Nézet-Séguin hinted that this will become a tradition, so hopefully, it will be an annual event. What you missed? Dec.…

Les Idées heureuses at Bourgie Hall, Nov. 12 Photo: Catherine St-Arnaud

Review | Medieval meets folk with Les Idées heureuses

By Heather Weinreb on 14 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Concert Reviews, Montreal

On Nov. 12, Les Idées heureuses presented their second concert of the season at Bourgie Hall. Jamais je ne t’oublierai : échos du Moyen Âge dans nos chants du terroir consisted of a program of French and French-Canadian folk music and Medieval works. As the title suggests, the program was conceived to illustrate the echoes of Medieval music in our local folk tradition. The concert was divided into five thematic sections—May, The Mother, Flowers, Cries, Goodbyes, and Dances—each featuring one folk song, arranged by Jean-François Daignault, and various Medieval works. What you missed: From its conception through to its execution,…

Chants de Victoires: La Nef in Stormy Waters

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 11 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Classical Music

Seán Dagher is recognized as one of the most eminent specialists in early music and folk music in Quebec, and on Nov. 29 he will once more join La Nef, to perform Chants de Victoires. Composer and arranger, Dagher will accompany the audience on an unusual musical journey inspired by the famous naval victories and shipwrecks that have punctuated the history of the St. Lawrence river. Using extracts from a rediscovered manuscript from the time of New France, the show will air forgotten songs, some of which haven’t been performed in more than three centuries. Songs of New France brought…

Computing Early Music: La Scena on the Road: Report from Utrecht

By Viktor Lazarov on 11 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Classical Music

Following along the narrow streets of Utrecht’s medieval city centre, I am drawn to its charming, sinuous canals winding through bridges upon which rest innumerable bikes, like ornaments hanging over their oval arches. A city with the soul of a scholar, Utrecht hosts one of the world’s leading Early Music festivals and, this year, the Second International Conference on Cognitive and Computational Musicology. Held at Utrecht University (UU) in the Netherlands, the Oct. 17-18 conference marked the establishment of the Music Information Computing Group at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and celebrated Prof. Frans Wiering’s official retirement. A…

Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière: Baroque Dance

By Nathalie de Han on 11 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Dance, Montreal

In 2008, director, choreographer and dancer Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière founded Les Jardins Chorégraphiques, a company specializing in early dance She first performed Molière’s plays in Old Quebec with, among others, violinist Olivier Brault. “When Olivier moved to Montreal to do his master’s in Baroque music at McGill, he suggested I teach Baroque dance to a group of students,” says Lacoursière. “Dancing helps instrumentalists to feel the music so that they can physically understand its characteristics.” But how do you explain the success of these ancient dances in relation to contemporary dance? Baroque dance brings the music to life on stage—it’s a…

Mathieu Lussier: Arion Baroque Orchestra: The French Connection

By Viktor Lazarov on 11 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Classical Music, Interviews, Montreal

The Life of an Orchestra: From Embryo to Adulthood Comprising some 20 musicians playing on 18th-century instruments, more than 30 critically acclaimed recordings, adorned with numerous awards and international tours, the Arion Baroque Orchestra is a major figure in Quebec’s Early Music scene. Artistic director since 2019, bassoonist Mathieu Lussier recounts the evolution of the ensemble founded in 1981. “Arion was born at a time when many Quebec musicians were going to study Early Music in The Hague, Netherlands, to acquire experience and knowledge not existent in Quebec. Returning with precious new expertise, they founded their own ensembles to promote…

Suzie LeBlanc. Photo: Mark Mushet.

Suzie LeBlanc: Full Circle

By Holly Harris on 10 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Classical Music, Vancouver, Vocal

Life came full circle when acclaimed Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc took over the helm of Early Music Vancouver as its newly appointed Artistic and Executive Director in January 2021, returning to the province where she first launched her illustrious, 35-year international career. “Coming here felt not only like a return to the organization that gave me one of my first professional engagements outside of Montreal, but also an incredible opportunity because so much of the concert season was at a standstill due to the pandemic,” says Order of Canada member LeBlanc, of her bold leap from La Belle Province to…

Early Music & Baroque Guide

By La Scena Musicale Team on 9 November 2024 Baroque and Early, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver

MONTRÉAL BOURGIE HALL www.sallebourgie.ca Located in the heart of downtown, Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a must for Baroque music lovers. Nestled in a former heritage church, it provides exceptional acoustics as well as a splendid and intimate setting displaying some twenty Tiffany stained glass windows. In 2024-2025, Bourgie Hall is pleased to welcome the French ensembles Les Talens Lyrique and Près de votre oreille, as well as the renowned Quebec orchestra Les Violons du Roy. Vocal music will also be in the spotlight with prestigious British ensembles such as the Tallis Scholars, Stile Antico,…

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