Arion Orchester Baroque and its conductor Mathieu Lussier have concocted a menu of choice with “Les Soupers du Roy”, a jubilant concert offered Friday evening and repeated this Saturday and Sunday at Bourgie Hall.
The demonstration of the great French Baroque as one can imagine it and associate it with the splendor of Versailles, this will not happen in Lanaudière with William Christie on August 1st. It’s on our doorstep this weekend with local musicians and it’s absolutely wonderful!
If you can clearly see the Charpentier — Te Deum — William Christie poster in the festival program, you have to be careful not to get carried away. It is the intimate Te Deum H. 147 and not the famous H.146 with its trumpets and timpani that will be presented.
Many European ensembles have already done it for us; they travel under their flattering name and reputation, but in reduced numbers. We have seen this in recent years, with Les talens lyriques and Christophe Rousset, La Risonanza and Fabio Bonizzoni and with Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew in 2017.
Crescendo program
To hear sumptuous French Baroque, there is no point in waiting, you have to choose just right. And this choice is all found! The “Les Soupers du Roy” program does not only present “food” music, but includes composers who have composed such works. The program goes crescendo in complexity, splendor and brilliance, until the Symphonie du festin royal de Monseigneur le comte d’Artois by François Francœur which pecks at his contemporaries and perfectly communicates these ideas of grandeur enhanced by the remarkable playing of brass instruments. Arion.
In this regard, we will focus on the consistency of the quality of execution, the general care given to accuracy and the overall cohesion. All of this has nothing to do with Arion of 4 or 5 years ago: we are really witnessing a musical consolidation, all the more interesting on the Canadian market as Tafelmusik is once again weakened by the loss of its solo violin, Elisa Citterio.
Among the satisfactions of the concert, we will once again note the skill of its composition, with, not only the gradation, but also a distinct second part (Rameau, Francœur) and very well chosen original works (seating and efficiency by François Colin of Blamont).
Added to this is a strong, very judicious workforce. On paper the French orchestras of the time were even more provided, but in fact, in Bourgie, the sound output of this ensemble is perfect. Moreover, the projection of the oboes placed along the side wall is excellent.
Two last words. The first to say that Arion has published its program for next season: 5 concerts conducted by Andrew McAnerney, Peter Whelan, Julien Chauvin and Mathieu Lussier twice. The second to mention that Claire Guimond was elevated to the rank of Companion of the Order of Arts & Letters of Quebec during a small ceremony before the concert.