Under the direction of a new conductor, the Orchestre de la francophonie (OF) will present the complete nine Beethoven symphonies at the Salle Pierre-Mercure and at the Maison symphonique in Montreal, in five concerts from Wednesday to Sunday.
In mid-June, OF co-founder Jean-Philippe Tremblay announced in a press release that he was passing the torch after 22 seasons, in order to “explore new avenues.” The chef then specified that he “will continue his collaboration as an administrator on the board of directors, in addition to supporting management to ensure a harmonious transition and plan the organization’s growth.”
Simon Rivard’s return to direct the ensemble for the 2024 season was quickly established. “I was involved with the OF since the beginning of my studies in direction,” says the chef, in an interview with Duty. “Jean-Philippe Tremblay was my second conducting teacher, alongside Raffi Armenian,” he continues. “I was assistant conductor in 2012, and also in 2016. In 2017, when I had just finished my master’s degree in conducting at McGill, I replaced Jean-Philippe for a summer and I have always been in contact with him and the OF, because I deeply believe in the mission of the organization. Jean-Philippe has always been a mentor and an ally. So I naturally agreed to replace him this summer.”
Despite a concert in Toronto, where, ironically, he will conduct the Violin Concerto by Beethoven, with Kerson Leong, and the Heroic Symphonythe young conductor, recently appointed music director of the Edmonton Opera, was able to reconcile schedules and accept the challenge.
Simon Rivard is working this summer with an orchestra of 55 instrumentalists aged 18 to 30, from eleven countries. As in previous years since the pandemic, visa issues have put a spanner in the works of the OF: “This affected five musicians this year, string players who came mostly from South America.”
Replacing them with local instrumentalists was no easy task: “Once we had the visa verdict, it was difficult to find musicians to replace them, because musical life is so abundant this summer, with projects at the Orchestre de l’Agora, or at the Orchestre Métropolitain. Performing Beethoven’s nine symphonies is a big commitment. Fortunately, we found them,” rejoices the new conductor.
The building
Simon Rivard is happy with the 2024 lineup: “We have a great woodwind section, our horn section is almost exclusively French, within a very strong brass section, and the strings come mainly from South America and Canada. We also have Germans, Hungarians and Italians.”
According to the leader, “finding the unit did not take long, because the project of the Symphonies Beethoven’s is excellent for this. He avoids being stylistically dispersed. It took a week to find an orchestral sound and a common language.”
In three weeks to a month of work, the principle was to start with sectional rehearsals (all violins, all violas, all clarinets, etc.), then to enlarge the sections (all strings, all woodwinds, etc.), which literally allows us to build a sound structure and refine the interpretation.
In rehearsal as in concert, the symphonies are approached in chronological order. The last week before the concerts was devoted to going over this patiently constructed edifice in a disordered manner in order to better assimilate it.
THE Violin Concertooriginally scheduled for Wednesday, was cancelled because violinist Patrick Paradine, winner of the concerto competition, was injured. The cycle will therefore begin at the Salle Pierre-Mercure, with the Symphonies no 1 and no 2 and the opening CoriolanIt will end on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Maison symphonique, with the Symphonies no 8 And noto 9preceded by Fragmentsby Charles Roy Dubuc.