Orchestral - my/maSCENA

Photo: Michel Dubreuil

Walter Boudreau: 33 years with the SMCQ

By Justin Bernard on 7 October 2021 Contemporary, Interviews, Orchestral

A major page is about to turn. The Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) in September announced the retirement of its artistic director Walter Boudreau. “The challenges ahead for the SMCQ, as well as for music and the arts in the post-pandemic world, will be unprecedented, demanding and exhilarating,” Anik Schooner, chairman of the board of the new-music society, said in a statement. “That’s why I think it’s the right time to pass the torch.” 33 Eager to ensure a smooth transition, this man with no inhibitions and a head brimming with ideas had already informed the board, near…

Bangkok Opera's 2006 production of Wagner's Das Rheingold

Did you know that…

By Robert Markow on 7 October 2021 Arts Industry, Opera, Orchestral

There are at least three other composers name “Tchaikovsky” besides the famous one? In addition to Piotr Ilyich there are Alexander (b. 1946), his uncle Boris (1925-1996), and André (1935-1982), who was Polish. None of them were related to Piotr Ilyich. Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the animals was neither performed in public nor published during the composer’s lifetime? It went on to become one of the most popular works in the entire repertory of classical music, yet the composer himself forbade all performances beyond a single private one given for his friends during Carnival season (late winter) in 1886. (Saint-Saëns died…

Concert reviews (October 2021)

By La Scena Musicale Team on 6 October 2021 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Orchestral

Opéra de Montréal Riders to the Sea/Le Flambeau de la nuit What you missed A dark double bill (Sept. 25) linking one-act operas by Vaughan Williams (1927) and Hubert Tanguay-Labrosse (premiere). Both deal earnestly with tragedy at sea and the loss of family. The strong cast led by the deep-toned mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy included some good Atelier prospects. Tanguay-Labrosse proved an effective conductor of both the moody music of Riders and his own more eclectic score. I Musici de Montréal sounded vibrant in the pit of the Théâtre Maisonneuve. Director Édith Patenaude managed the quiet entry of the chorus (the…

Photo: Minnesota Orchestra

The Minnesota Orchestra Named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year 2021

By Newswire on 5 October 2021 Newswire, Orchestral

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA (OCTOBER 5, 2021) — The Minnesota Orchestra was named 2021 Orchestra of the Year during the international Gramophone Classical Music Awards earlier today. The awards, which were distributed in a livestreamed ceremony by the U.K.-based classical music magazine Gramophone, are considered among the highest honors in the classical music industry. The Orchestra of the Year prize is the only one of the Gramophone Awards decided by public vote with voters choosing from a pool of 10 world-renowned orchestras, selected by the magazine’s editors. The votes for the Minnesota Orchestra amounted to nearly a third of the 31,000 total votes cast.…

Crédit photo: François Goupil

Moments of Gratitude with the Orchestre Métropolitain

By Newswire on 21 September 2021 Newswire, Orchestral

Montreal, September 21, 2021 – The Orchestre Métropolitain (OM) and Sophie Desmarais, honorary patron of both the Fondation Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais and the OM, are joining together to produce a tribute concert for health care workers. The concert will be performed on Saturday, September 25, at 7:30 p.m. at the Maison symphonique de Montréal. Taking “caring” as its theme, the event spotlights the unflagging commitment and dedication of the health care and social services personnel who, for more than 18 months now, have worked so hard and provided so much assistance to Quebecers dealing with an unprecedented health crisis. In recent…

photo : orchestremetropolitain.com

The OM’s Orchestral Conducting Academy welcomes six young Canadian talents

By Newswire on 15 September 2021 Employment, Music Competition, Newswire, Orchestral

Montreal, September 15, 2021 – The Orchestre Métropolitain (OM) and its artistic director and principal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin today introduced the next-generation conductors who will take part in the first edition of the Academy of Orchestral Conducting. Selected after a call for applications launched earlier this summer, six young talents were chosen from a field of 32. They are: Monica Chen (British Columbia); Marie-Claire Cardinal (Quebec); Benoît Gauthier (Quebec); Félix Ste-Marie (Quebec); Trevor Wilson (Ontario); Naomi Woo (Manitoba). The young conductors will be immersed in the symphonic milieu and enjoy backstage access to rehearsals and concerts of the OM’s 2021-2022…

Les musiciens de l'OSD sous la direction de Julien Proulx

Orchestre de Drummondville: A season full of novelty

By Newswire on 14 September 2021 Orchestral

During the pandemic, instead of putting up a fight, I preferred to set aside our big concerts and try to develop things we wanted to try for years, but never could,” says Julien Proulx, artistic director and conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville. “The pandemic gave us some freedom.” And it is exactly under the aegis of freedom and novelty that the OSD is announcing its 2021-22 season. The Grands Concerts return but with two new more intimate series inspired by the pandemic: Beethoven au salon and the Causeries musicales. While Beethoven au salon takes up…

Photo: OSM

Rafael Payare – A New Era for the OSM

By Arthur Kaptainis on 10 September 2021 Arts Industry, Orchestral

“It makes things a little bit easier if you think about it,” Rafael Payare said about the travel implications of his new position as music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. “Now instead of eight weeks in San Diego plus 35 in other cities, I will have my eight in San Diego and 14 weeks in Montreal.” To be clear: the Venezuelan conductor – also music director of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra – will be in Montreal for seven weeks in 2021-22 and will double his commitment in 2022-23. At which point, with any luck, COVID-19 will be…

Jonathan Cohen. Photo: Marco Borggreve

Fall 2021 Highlights: Orchestra, chamber and solo

By Arthur Kaptainis on 10 September 2021 Chamber Music, Orchestral, Strings

Every concert can be deemed a highlight after a season like 2020-21. While the 2021-22 schedule is not quite as packed as it was in pre-pandemic days – and the crowds, by provincial decree, can be only partial – there are plenty of options for the long-suffering Montreal music fan. Orchestre symphonique  de Montréal Interest is obviously keen in Rafael Payare, the incoming OSM music director. He starts the Maison symphonique season on Sept. 14 (repeats on Sept. 16 and 18) with Shostakovich’s foolproof Fifth Symphony and Ravel’s La Valse, which some of the musicians could probably play by heart.…

Orchestre FILMharmonique – Lights, Camera, Action!

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 9 September 2021 Movie soundtrack music, Orchestral

The 2021-22 season of the Orchestre FILMharmonique, under the direction of Francis Choinière, opens on Oct. 2 at the Maison symphonique. The orchestra, the first in Canada entirely dedicated to film music, will perform for L’Univers symphonique du cinéma, a program drawn from some of the greatest soundtracks in the repertoire: Cinema Paradiso, Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulin and Schindler’s List, among others. “Film music, for us, has an important place in the classical repertoire,” Choinière explains. “It’s a repertoire that reaches a large audience, especially young people. With this music, usually quite virtuosic, we attract an audience that often…

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