The Orchester Classique de Montréal put an end to its season on Tuesday, not with Jacques Lacombe, its new musical director, but Alain Trudel, who conducted at the Maison symphonique the Symphony “From the Ice Storm” by Maxime Goulet and Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. All of this testifies to a happy storm that is shaking this institution, despite the loss of its legendary musical director Boris Brott 14 months ago.
It will be interesting to see in five years where the Orchester Classique de Montréal (OCM) will be. Two or three years ago the question did not arise. Among the medium-caliber orchestras, Les Violons du Roy reigned supreme, followed by I Musici and Arion, each in their own way. The McGill Chamber Orchestra had just saved its skin, we went to concerts a bit out of politeness and because we liked Boris.
While I Musici chose the pure and hard “string orchestra” repertoire, the administration being fortunate to have got rid of the ambitions of Jean-Marie Zeitouni in favor of transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies for occupants of minibuses and rooms filled accordingly, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, now OCM, has been rebuilt around projects that flatter communities, sponsors and funders but create an image, a spirit that Jacques Lacombe will be able to develop in terms of musical quality.
On this account and at this rate, the well-established hierarchies of Montreal non-baroque chamber orchestras risk being shaken up (or at least more blurred) shortly, especially since it is in the very nature of orchestras to chamber from time to time to develop ambitious projects that go beyond their usual framework and, thereby, draw wider attention to their activities and their existence. Taras Kulish, the OSM’s impeccable director understood this well and Tuesday’s concert bore witness to this.
Heritage
Maxime Goulet came to present with simplicity and eloquence his 1st Symphony“From the Ice Storm”, and its 4 movements depicting phases or atmospheres of this historic event.
The music cuts to the chase with eloquence in the sound effects and hits in the melodies. The 2nd movement “Chaleur”, which deals with the generosity of the Quebec people, with its folk rhythms, was spontaneously applauded. We underlined the quality of the work which somehow takes over from Jacques Hétu in our constitution of heritage music, when the CD was released by ATMA. The world creation in concert has been a great success and, yes, this symphony has entered directly into our heritage. Others will no doubt take care of it when they have understood that the priority is not in their functions, here, to explore relentlessly that of our neighbors to the south.
In Carmina Burana, Alain Trudel went straight with dynamism, supported by an excellent Aline Kutan and impeccable children’s choirs. Antoine Bélanger was accurate and vocally adequate as the roast swan and Hugo Laporte was excellent from the start but a little less at ease in “Cour d’amours”. Honorable mention for the Choeur de Laval in a score that would have required more men and a vocal technique mobilizing more muscular support to ensure more tone and presence in the less loud passages.
It is the “contained force” and the restraint (nothing should give the feeling of pressing) that make all the salt of this work. But what we heard was very presentable.