Substitute The gallant Indies by Rameau, postponed due to the convalescence of Luc Beauséjour, the “Amoureuses de Mozart” project brought together four young singers on Thursday at the Salle Claude-Champagne in excerpts from The Clemency of Titus, The Marriage of Figaro And The Magic Flutewith the added bonus of the “Alleluia” ofExultate, jubilate.
At the end of the evening, it is easy to rave about the Élisabeth St-Gelais phenomenon. The soprano having truly emerged during the pandemic, it was, in fact, the first time that we heard her in the flesh and the least we can say is that the shock is powerful. We are very much looking forward to Wesendonck-Lieder of Wagner with the Agora Orchestra and Nicolas Ellis on June 12 at the Maison symphonique which will suit his voice even better.
Star potential
Difficult to describe this voice. It is very loose. It’s a phenomenon with incredible potential. But it is, at the same time, a fragile jewel which must be in various very good hands. On the one hand, an entourage making the right choices of repertoire so as not to “burn” it. On the other hand, vocal mentors who will lead him to continue working to refine, in particular, color details in certain attacks and the total purity of intonation. Élisabeth St-Gelais is already at a very high level. Perfectly supervised, she has the means to become a major international star.
But we should not be unfair to the sisters of Élisabeth St-Gelais who have not done anything unworthy, far from it. A singer was completely unknown to us: Michelle Bawden. She sings Queen of the Night as easily as you and I brush our teeth. There was cause for some fear after the somewhat soft vocalizations of the “Alleluia”, but the ease of the high notes and the projection in the two arias of the Queen of the Night were impressive.
Sophie Naubert and Amelia Keenan sang several times in duet but also solo. Sophie Naubert’s voice is really interesting and special. Aged 26, the young Canadian is a very precocious talent in the sense that her brassy soprano is unique for a singer of such a young age. She almost has the aura of a young forty-year-old in her vocal maturity and, moreover, this patina immediately catches the attention and gives great interest to the ensembles, since the voice is very personal. Sophie Naubert’s beautiful musical sensitivity was expressed in “Ach ich fühl’s” by The Magic Flute.
Amelia Keenan, who was at her best in a “Voi che sapete” of the Marriage of Figaro skillfully ornamented, is a good singer, but without particularities and with a somewhat dry timbre, as if the voice lacks a little resonance or harmonics. But she does what she has to sing very well.
For this evening, it is better to skim over what we heard from Arion, with the exception, just, of the opening of The Magic Flute. Being generous, we will say that (at least) one rehearsal was missing to be more or less up to the musical challenges in terms of cohesion and accuracy. It was the sloppiest thing heard since Mathieu Lussier took charge of the whole thing. I can not wait for the vacation !