After two canceled or slowed-down summer seasons, the Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM) announced on Tuesday the return of the Classical Spree and a busy summer for the orchestra, with new conductor Rafael Payare at its helm for the first time. .
Posted yesterday at 9:00 a.m.
It was very ironic to speak of summer on Tuesday, when this spring snow did not suggest the arrival of good weather soon. Rafael Payare, he saw no problem. “It’s really pretty! This morning, my little girl was saying, ‘Oh, Frozen !” he says, smiling.
But the chef is above all excited about the idea of enjoying the Montreal summer. “I came during the summer of 2019 for concerts, he says in very fluent French. I remember the atmosphere, but I hadn’t seen anything, because I had to rehearse. This time, I will have the chance to play music, but also to enjoy the city. I can’t wait to experience it. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Rafael Payare
The OSM has a big menu for the summer, a real summer season that heralds a sort of return to normal: three concerts at the Festival de Lanaudière – the program of which will be unveiled next week –, a tour of South Korea in July 5 to 8, two big shows in the marquee at Poly-Aréna Park in Brossard and Angrignon Park in Montreal, the return for the third year of Summer Quarters, i.e. 16 chamber music concerts in parks in different Montreal neighborhoods .
And of course there will also be the Classical Spree, which will be in its ninth edition, with 24 low-cost concerts that will be presented from August 10 to 14 in four venues at Place des Arts. The kick-off will take place on August 10 on the Esplanade of the Olympic Park, with a large free concert which usually attracts tens of thousands of spectators.
The program for the evening will be very eclectic, with the New World Symphony by Dvořák, a native song, West Side Story, the trumpet concerto by the Cuban Paquito D’Rivera, works by Prévin and the Venezuelan Castellanos. On stage, we will also find author Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, singer Jeremy Dutcher, soprano Jeanine De Bique and trumpeter Pacho Flores.
From one style to another
“It will be a fiesta”, announced Rafael Payare at a press conference, which also provides a lot of “spark”. This year, the theme of the Classic Spree is the Americas, which went without saying for the Venezuelan-born maestro. A choice that necessarily brings diversity to all the programming, from jazz to Cuban music.
There are a lot of things you can introduce, and I think that’s really cool. Me, I’m talking about music for music’s sake, there’s not classical music on one side, jazz on the other… It’s everywhere and we can share it in any way.
Rafael Payare, conductor and musical director of the OSM
This return of the Classical Spree after two years of pandemic, which coincides with the arrival of the new conductor, is very symbolic for Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, who is the OSM’s summer spokesperson and who will host certain concerts. , including that of the Esplanade.
“It seems that we want to believe in all this renewal, in all spheres of our lives, says the actress. As the maestro described the program, I have the impression that there will be this festive side not to be missed. And we really need it these days. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Conductor Rafael Payare and Magalie Lépine-Blondeau at the unveiling of the OSM’s summer season, Tuesday
Rafael Payare has already conducted a few OSM concerts since September, but this summer 2022 season is his first as music director. He also feels as if this was the real beginning of his association with the orchestra.
“It really is like that. It’s OK, I’m here, and we’re going to start this good trip together, with Lanaudière, with the tour, with the classic Spree, and the season that will start next. »
The OSM’s 2022-2023 season will be unveiled on May 31.