The classical season opened this week in style with the 350 musicians of the Gurre-Lieder Schoenberg at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM). While everyone dreams big, few have the means. The combination of declining audiences and the announcement of new multi-year allocations from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) is leading some institutions to operate with caution.
The headliners
At the OSM, autumn leads to the European tour from November 19 to 30. It is being tested this week with the concert of the Fantastic Symphony welcoming Daniil Trifonov. There Alpine Symphony will be on November 13 and 14. The other concert not to be missed is the arrival of the conductor Osmo Vanska in the 2e Symphony by Rachmaninov on October 16 and 19. For Christmas, Kent Nagano will conduct a concert on December 10 with Marie-Nicole Lemieux.
European tour, also, for the Orchestre Métropolitain, but in June 2025, with as flagship work the Pathetic Symphony by Tchaikovsky. Like the OSM, the OM will open in style on September 22, with the 9e Symphony Bruckner to which, according to an ancient tradition, Yannick Nézet-Séguin will chain the monumental Te Deum. Nézet-Séguin is fully committed to OM this fall, with a complete Beethoven symphonies (October 17 to 20) and Christmas concerts, Holiday tunes (December 5 and 6) and the Messiah by Handel at the Notre-Dame Basilica on December 9 and 11.
Sparingly
As we reported recently, I Musici, after the cut in its subsidies, has to reduce its sails. Revised programming and two dates in this part of the season: “Kozhukhin and Mozart” (November 28) and the Christmas concert on December 22.
Regulars at Arion’s Friday concerts will have to wait until Saturday or Sunday to see the violinist. Leila Schayegh November 9 and 10. We welcome, however, a major first for Arion and the Studio of Early Music: a concert, Royal splendor, at the Maison symphonique on Saturday October 12.
Les Violons du Roy, who have seen declining attendances at the Maison symphonique since the pandemic, will return with Bernard Labadie For The Messiah December 14. Only one other concert of the Violons this fall, with Bernard Labadie and the countertenor Hugh CuttingOctober 11 in Bourgie.
Caprice And Matthias Mautenow regulars at the Maison symphonique for flagship works from the baroque repertoire, will present the Brandenburg Concertos October 11 and The Messiah December 22.
Ambitions
Presenting famous works at the Maison symphonique also pleases the young conductor Francis Choiniere. He will thus associate the 5e Symphony of Beethoven and the Requiem by Mozart on November 15th!
Multiple returns to square one for the Orchestre classique de Montréal. CALQ subsidies are stagnant and a conductor must be found after the failure of the Jacques Lacombe experiment. On October 8, Simon Rivard will conduct two short operas staged by François Racine, and Andrei Feher will lead a French program with Jean-François Lapointe as a soloist, on November 20.
Same quest for a leader for the Laval Symphony Orchestra. If we add that of Melanie Leonardwe find more or less the same names (and the same financial problems), even if Adam Johnson will conduct the opening concert on October 30 and Thomas Le Duc-Moreau THE Requiem by Fauré for Christmas, December 18.
Happy Ideas, now under the leadership of Dorothea Venturaare counting on a new flight. Their concert: Chaconne and chocolate October 6, at the Bourgie Hall.
Rallying point
More than ever, the Bourgie Hall is a rallying point for music lovers, ensembles, and musical genres. 2024 marks the beginning of a multi-year complete collection of Schubert’s lieder, launched on September 25 with Ema Nikolovska and the Agora Orchestra.
This fall, Bourgie receives Louis Lortie (October 16 and 17), Leonidas Kavakos (November 7), Christophe Rousset And THE Lyrical talents (November 20), Barbara Hannigan And Bertrand Chamayou (November 26), Fretwork And Iestyn Davies (1er December) and Kirill Gerstein (December 7). Added to this fireworks display is the return in recital of Luc BeausejourOctober 9.
Among the major events in Montreal, we must add Jordi Savall at the Maison symphonique on October 8 and the guests of the Bach Festival, which will be held from November 16 to December 8, starting with Leonardo Garcia Alarcón November 23 in the Mass in B minor. Akamus, the Musicians of Saint-Julien de Francois Lazarevitch, Pavel Kolesnikov And Samson Tsoy and the choir Les Éléments are the other headliners.
Two speeds
For his 133e season, the Ladies’ Morning is holding its own and its temporary move to the Oscar Peterson Hall while the Pollack Hall is being renovated is proving to be a success. George Li, Blake Pouliot will pave the way for two prestigious events: Benjamin Grosvenor November 10 and the cellist Victor Julien-Laferriere the 1er December.
Things are not going so well for Pro Musica, one of the sacrifices of the CALQ. A season of four concerts will be rolled out in 2025; we can tell you to reserve your April 13 for Lucas Debargue…
Quietly, the Montreal Opera is only showing three shows this season at Wilfrid-Pelletier, including two this fall: The Barber of Seville led by Pedro Halffter from September 28, and Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas led by Jacques Lacombe from November 16.
The lyrical offer will not really be enriched by Opera McGill, stuck by the closure of the Pollack hall. But Ballet Opéra Pantomine will present Scènes contemporaines in December at La Chapelle Winter Talesmixing theater and music by Michael Oesterle.
Mixed bag
On October 31, Marianne Lambert will sing Vivaldi with Clavecin in concert, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Les Boréades will combine music and dance, from pavane to swing, on September 29 at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. At the same venue, Pentaèdre will give carte blanche to the flautist Ariane Brisson October 5. As for the Molinari Quartet, it will redeploy to Bourgie to celebrate, on October 22, the 20th anniversary of the death of Guido Molinari by performing works inspired by his paintings.
The Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), which pays tribute to Kaija Saariaho, Nicole Lizée and Jocelyn Morlock, will open its season with a Saariaho concert on October 3. Le Vivier will host the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet on October 24 and the Stenhammar Quartet on October 27. As for the Nouvel Ensemble moderne (NEM), it will begin its first season under the direction of Jean-Michael Lavoiea season which, like that of Obiora, remains to be published for the time being.
Finally, the two big record releases are the Requiem of Francois Dompierrereleased on September 13, and the third CD Payare-OSM (Schoenberg), coming on October 11.