La Chapelle de Québec and Les Violons du Roy presented, on Sunday, the perfect pairing of Requiem by Fauré and Duruflé, a concert patiently awaited since its postponement from spring 2020, in particular by Bernard Labadie, who cherishes these two scores. The Quebec chef had to cancel his presence and was replaced by Christine Brandes, whom we had previously known as a soprano.
Waiting four years to finally have to withdraw for health reasons must have been heartbreaking for Bernard Labadie. Her replacement, Christine Brandes, performed several times in Montreal as a soprano. We saw her with Kent Nagano in 2007 in the Symphony no 2 by Mahler, with Arion in Cantatas by Bach in 2010, in The Messiah by Handel from Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie in 2003, the conductor having conducted it in 1998 at the Montreal Opera in Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro.
Find the American musician after her reconversion to conducting, which saw her specialize more or less in baroque opera (Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck, Giulio Cesare And Alcina by Handel…) in the best conditions, with this elite choir and perfectly chosen soloists, not to mention the organist Thomas Annand, for the delicate accompaniment of Duruflé, earned us a more than honorable concert.
A journey
Putting aside a possible disappointment of not hearing the orchestral version of Duruflé is important to understand an important driving force of the afternoon: intimacy, a quiet detachment in the face of death. As such, it would be, for the performer, tempting to commit a serious error: ignoring this sort of journey towards the beyond by adopting too static tempos.
With skill, Christine Brandes did not fall into the trap. But if his tempos were correct, the pulsation and the scansion were sometimes a little static, wait-and-see in Duruflé (Requiem. Free mewith the words “movendi”, “veneris” which should be in movement), fault that was found in theOffertory by Fauré, energized by baritone Jean-François Lapointe, from his entrance. In Duruflé, Thomas Annand drew on the great resources of the Pierre-Béique organ without crushing the song and by cleverly playing with techniques allowing him to vary the intensities.
We found the Violons du Roy in the Requiem by Fauré, but not all, since, in the original orchestration, the violins are absent (except a solo violin which we hear in the “ Sanctus “). The golden color given by seven violas, five cellos and two double basses obviously adds spice to the affair, especially since the absence of some occurs without loss of the total mass. The colour De Profundis (cellos, double basses, organ) from the beginning is impressive.
“Sweet lullaby of death” is the subtitle of the Requiem by Fauré. This means, here too, no stasis. We can never repeat enough, since these works by Fauré and Duruflé have often been aesthetically disfigured by English choirs, that the issue is not a race for ethereal and soaring angelism idealized by white children’s voices. It’s about conveying a peaceful or confident serenity of soul.
It was noted, here and there, that the mezzos and tenors of La Chapelle de Québec did not have their usual homogeneity, unlike the sopranos and basses. Brandes’ choral conducting work (nature of attacks, e.g. in the Kyrie of Duruflé) seemed minimal. An alternative solution would have been to replace Bernard Labadie with a Quebec choir director, right? But the sure and consensual taste of Brandes saved a concert where Magali Simard-Galdès stood out in a perfect Fauréesque solo, Julie Boulianne, with a very well-balanced voice in Duruflé, and Jean-François Lapointe, who did wonders with its noble power very well controlled.