Cultural return | Make way for the classic

Like every new season, we present a selection of the most promising classical music concerts in the metropolis. Between keyboard giants and choral and lyrical masterpieces, Montreal music lovers will not miss shivers during the winter and spring.

A hot start at Pro Musica

Montreal’s musical winter is off to a flying start with the return of Sergei Babayan, who brought us some of the finest piano moments of recent years. A big blow from Pro Musica, which makes it its first international guest since the pandemic. The Armenian musician will play some of his favorite composers, Bach, Schubert, Schumann (Kreisleriana) Liszt and Rachmaninov at the Salle Pierre-Mercure on January 15 at 3 p.m. For those who haven’t had enough, the pianist living in the United States will cross the border again at the end of May to play the Concerto for two pianos and percussion of Bartók at the OSM with his former student Daniil Trifonov.

Spells and bewitchments at the Violons du Roy

The witch Alcina invites you to her magical island on February 11. Handel’s opera of the same name will be given in concert version by Les Violons du Roy and their conductor Jonathan Cohen at the Maison symphonique, two days after its presentation at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City. This lyrical jewel inspired byOrlando furious from Ariosto will feature soprano Karina Gauvin in the title role, alongside remarkable soprano Lucy Crowe as Morgana. Other soloists include contralto Avery Amereau and bass Nathan Berg, heard on the same stage last December, respectively at the Violons du Roy and the Orchester Métropolitain.

A great piano rendezvous at Ladies’ Morning

The pun is easy, but the Russian-Lithuanian pianist Lukas Geniušas wears the first four letters of his surname wonderfully, although being the son and grandson of pianists (his mother is even a professor at the Moscow Conservatory) helps a little things… Silver medalist at the legendary Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015, the 32-year-old musician has since conquered the most prestigious venues on the planet (Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, etc.). He is the guest of the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club on February 12 (3:30 p.m., Pollack room) in a Schubert-Rachmaninov program.

THE duo of the season at Bourgie Hall

Pianist Alexandre Tharaud and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras… We couldn’t dream of a better poster for a chamber music concert. The two Frenchmen are both champions of their instrument, which they magnify with high-flying technique and rare eloquence. They can be found at the Club musical de Québec on March 28 (7:30 p.m.) and at Bourgie Hall on March 1.^er April (8 p.m.) in a program that goes off the beaten track: excerpts from viol parts by Marin Marais and sonatas by Schubert and Poulenc. The pianist will be back in the room on rue Sherbrooke on May 5 for a “Carte blanche to Alexandre Tharaud” day.

Creation according to Labadie

The Orchester symphonique de Montréal continues its tradition of inviting early music specialists to give a large-scale choral work. After the Passion According to Matthew of Bach under the direction of the Briton Paul McCreesh last April, it is Bernard Labadie who will temporarily take charge of the orchestra and its choir for Creation by Haydn. With soloists Miah Persson (soprano), Andrew Haji (tenor) and Matthew Brook (bass), they will move stars, seas and mountains in this essential fresco. See you at the Maison symphonique on April 7 and 8.

A new Butterfly at the Opéra de Montréal

Madame Butterfly by Puccini returns on average every seven years to the Opéra de Montréal. The tragic story of the rejected geisha whose child is taken away will however take on different guises from those of the last production in 2015, with sets loaned this time by the Utah Opera. The almost entirely Canadian cast will revolve around soprano Joyce El-Khoury (of Lebanese origin, but having grown up in Ottawa) in the title role. She will be surrounded by tenor (and surfer!) Matthew White (Pinkerton), baritone Hugo Laporte (Sharpless) and mezzo-soprano LaurenSegal (Suzuki). The management will be entirely female, with American Stephanie Havey directing and Manitoban Keri-Lynn Wilson in the pit.

A telluric end to the season at the OSM

The OSM ends the year as it began: with Mahler. Instead of the Ninth Symphony by Beethoven, who had closed the 2021-2022 season, music lovers will hear this year the monumental Third symphony, the longest of the Austrian composer. For this metaphysical ode to nature, conductor Rafael Payare will be joined on stage by the OSM Choir, a children’s choir and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, one of late conductor Pierre Boulez’s favorite Mahlerians. There will be three performances: May 31 (7:30 p.m.), June 2 (7:30 p.m.) and June 3 (2:30 p.m.).

Women in the spotlight at the Metropolitan

The Orchester Métropolitain puts an end to its season with a tone quite different from that of the OSM. His concert on June 11 (3 p.m.), entitled Symphonic Explorers, honors American music and the work of female composers. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, whose recording of Symphonies n^bone 1 and 3 of Florence Price with the Philadelphia Orchestra won a Grammy and a Diapason d’or, will lead the Symphony n^oh 3 by the African-American composer, in addition to a creation by Montrealer Keiko Devaux, the latest “composer of the year” at the Opus awards. The fabulous soprano Angel Blue will also sing Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the Death of Cleopatra by Samuel Barber.