At the Maison symphonique on Sunday, a young conductor in his twenties, Francis Choinière, led the Arts-Québec Vocal Ensemble in the organ version of Requiem by Fauré and Duruflé, a concert whose teachings go well beyond the music heard.
The idea is perhaps a bit absurd: two Requiem on the eve of Valentine’s Day. But let’s look at this GFN Productions presentation from another angle.
GFN Productions, created by Francis and Nicolas Choinière almost out of their teens, is a “Quebec entertainment company that produces film, classical music and pop music concerts”, reads on their site.
The duty had spotted them for the quality of the film presentations with the FILMharmonic Orchestra, together ad hoc made up with great discernment of excellent Quebec musicians. This quality is attributable in particular to the fact that the person in charge of “research and development” at GFN is Denis Chabot, creator and manager for many years of the orchestra of the Festival de Lanaudière.
Powerful and necessary energy
Francis Choinière, “choral conductor and conductor, concert producer, pianist, composer and baritone”, obtained a master’s degree in orchestral conducting with Alexis Hauser at McGill University and was the assistant of Alexander Shelley with the National Arts Center Orchestra.
“To well-born souls, value does not await the number of years,” said Corneille. If we already had in Quebec the example of Nicolas Ellis and the Orchester de l’Agora or Hubert Tanguay Labrosse and Alexis Raynault (BOP) who move the lines and the routine, here is a new example of a powerful energy and necessary.
Necessary ? Yes, because while some get out their calculators and refine their rule of three to see if it wouldn’t be very profitable to cancel concerts and performances, others, much less well off, add concerts (the one -ci was not planned and fills a vacated slot) to offer music lovers and wet their shirts to work with Quebec artists.
So yes, this music review will tell you that 12 singers, even seasoned professionals, to sing the Requiem of Fauré and Duruflé it is thin. But, as it stands, it’s twelve rather than zero, hired by a courageous twenty-four-year-old producer.
This dynamism should not all the same lead him to turn certain corners. Intermissions are currently tolerated under specific conditions, very well stated by the Orchester Métropolitain on Friday and totally ignored on Sunday.
The value we were talking about above is also musical: the young conductor Francis Choinière has an accurate vision of the style of the two works. They are not bombastic, not weighed down, with well-chosen tempos. The crucial problem with three singers per section is that the pianissimos often appear as “absences of sound” (Agnus Dei de Fauré), when they should be supported with even more energy. Some attacks also lack presence (sanctus of Duruflé). The Fauré is not sung in Gallican Latin (we are still before the Pius XI reform), but this has the advantage of standardizing the pronunciation between the two scores.
Special mention for the Lux Aeterna by Duruflé, admirable work in all respects between the choir and the organist, the task of which is made thankless, because the proportioning which would have been natural with a choir of 30 voices becomes perilous with 12.
The two soloists came from the excellent, fair and homogeneous vocal ensemble. The mezzo Marie-Andrée Mathieu has the voice of Pie Jesus of Duruflé, not that of Fauré where its high notes are veiled. Dominique Côté performs her role honorably, but without having the stature of a soloist in these places.
Beautiful afternoon, dominated by the beauty of the works, the intelligence and the courage of the young conductor and the quality of the collective of choristers.