It was much more, in the hearts of the protagonists, than a concert at the start of the season at the Bourgie Hall. The Violons du Roy celebrated their 40th anniversary on Friday, under the direction of their founder, Bernard Labadie, in a program bringing together the two pillars of their repertoire, Bach and Händel. It was, obviously, a demonstration of know-how, which will be repeated this Saturday in Quebec, at the Palais Montcalm, for an even more fervent occasion.
We know some people who make tons of it for much less than that. Forty years of an elite ensemble from Quebec that makes us internationally famous, with a conductor that the greatest American and European orchestras crave when they want to return to Bach, Mozart or Haydn: we imagined the great pomp, it was noble modesty. We understand and welcome this responsible attitude, of a good father of a family, dictated, to the Violins as to so many others, by a cultural policy on the balance and the common and strategic sense to which it will be appropriate to return one day soon.
A soul
There was an “event within an event” on Friday: the retirement of founding concertmaster Nicole Trottier, now a member of the second violin section. Bernard Labadie’s speech, who highlighted the musician’s contribution to the “sound, way of being and way of playing” of the Violons du Roy, was moving. This emotion will be multiplied this Saturday at the Palais Montcalm, because it will then be, for real, the musician’s very last concert as a member of the Violons.
The criticism could almost end there, because the concert was, around vocal works by Bach and instrumental works by Handel (which are, according to the conductor, for baroque orchestras, in terms of training, what the symphonies of Haydn are to symphony orchestras), a perfect demonstration of “the sound, the way of being and the way of playing” of the Violons du Roy. This art is built around Bernard Labadie, founder, Nicole Trottier, Pascale Giguère, who succeeded him, and all these links which make up the personality of the ensemble, such as, for example, this cello tandem Benoit Loiiselle-Raphael Dubé, framework which includes Mélisande McNabney, very much in demand on the organ for this program.
The organ in the Concerto opening the Cantata BWV 35 will undoubtedly be better blended in Quebec this Saturday, but everywhere else, notably in the second alto aria of the 1D part, or the Sinfonia opening the 2e part, everything was well integrated.
The choice of Hugh Cutting is also a rich idea. We had never heard this young artist. He came very prepared, singing everything by heart. As is often the case with German, a few soft consonants, especially in the middle of sentences, on slightly less important words, but a level above average. What struck you first was the expressive firmness and strength of the voice. Often we have the impression that the countertenors “decorate the text”, coating it with beautiful sounds. Cutting grabs him, with real dramatic potential (Cantata BWV 170) and a strong presence.
But ultimately it is only fair if we have retained above all else from the 40th anniversary concert of the Violons du Roy, the expression of the expertise of the Violons du Roy in their raw material: the Concertos grossos op. 6 no. 7 And 11 by Handel. The feline flexibility of the Andante 7eits magnificent dynamic gradations, the absence of aridity, even at the peak of tension and rebound, this way of swelling the sound like musical leaven which prevents the music from drying out, and finally the tonicity (and the endurance in tone) of L’Allegro du 11e : it was all great art.
Well done everyone. There is a part of the Montreal public to rebuild. It seemed to be on very good track yesterday. Hopefully it lasts.