Harpist Valérie Milot and cellist Stéphane Tétreault resume Thursday, November 10, at the Théâtre Maisonneuve, their immersive show Transfiguration, which seduced us when it premiered last May at Bourgie Hall. The challenge for the two young artists is to rethink the ritual of the classical concert through a cinematic digital environment, while facing the new reality of classical musicians.
“Stéphane and I function a lot like artist entrepreneurs,” says Valérie Milot, who attributes the success of Transfiguration to this dynamic.
“Even before the premiere of the show, we had a dozen dates for a Quebec tour this summer. That was our goal: Quebec for the first season, then the Canadian and international market,” says Stéphane Tétreault, pleased with the confidence of Quebec broadcasters.
Between the idea and the creation of the show, there were three years, including a year and a half of intense production work. “We were lucky to have public and private funding, but for two artists like us, it’s colossal to embark on such a project”, sums up Valérie Milot. “There aren’t many people with whom I would have shared this adventure: it’s a lot of organization and stress, but we managed to achieve what we wanted to do,” she says, delighted.
The new status of the artist
Transfiguration answers many questions that affect the world of classical music. One of the perspectives addressed by Valérie Milot is this: what should an artist be today? “The artist who can simply play his instrument and give concerts will become a very rare commodity, believes the harpist. There has been a revolution on many levels. Not so long ago you could make a living making records; now you have to pay to record. Not so long ago, a pianist could make a career out of playing a few concertos; today, he has to play creations and change repertoire frequently. »
Obviously, the discussion with Valérie Milot and Stéphane Tétreault also brings us to the rapid and radical changes induced by social networks. “Things are more based on the personality of the artist. We go to see such an artist out of attachment. In turn, the role of agencies and the way of managing an artist’s career have changed after the pandemic,” notes Valérie.
Stéphane Tétreault observes with bitterness the challenge of developing a career abroad. “I saw the momentum before 2020 and then the pandemic put a stop to that. It is a challenge to restart the machine. »
“Those who stayed are those who were well organized, notes Valérie Milot. Stéphane and I work together, produce things together, move forward. It saved us. We have designed projects, adapted them. It has become almost essential to get involved in its development, its brand image. These things that may seem superficial determine whether we will last or not, leave a mark or not. »
In this analysis, Valérie Milot places herself not only as an artist in a competitive market, but also in a proposition, classical music, which, within the cultural offer, is struggling to hold its own. Once again, the question of education emerges, generating the future audience: “If the general culture drops, this will have an impact on the attendance of concert halls. »
Musical courage and new tool
To bring people together, there is a solution as simple as it is disastrous: artistic compromise. Because, when we serve soup, we always find people to tend the bowl. But we are here in the register of courage and integrity. “Our approach was from the start not to distort the classical music concert. We didn’t want to go into the crossover. Even with regard to the sound approach: we worked on the level of the microphones, the preamplifiers, to reproduce as best as possible in a multidisciplinary room what one could hear in a very good acoustic room”, underlines Valérie Milot.
The moral rigor of this choice is all the more salutary Transfiguration is based on music by living Canadian and Quebec composers. Stéphane Tétreault is well aware of this: “People who are used to coming to classical music concerts were struck by this new way of doing things and people less used to it appreciated the experience. What we are proud of is presenting Canadian and Quebec music. It could have been intimidating, but in this setting, we observe the opposite effect, even if Double-monologue of François Vallières, at the beginning, can seize. »
Valérie and Stéphane also wanted to develop a tool in parallel, an interactive program that can be consulted on cell phones. “The idea is not to have a paper program, but an ecological program that follows the course of the show live, explains Stéphane Tétreault. There is a pre-concert section, a comments section at the end of the show, where you can leave your impressions, and, throughout the show, there are photos, information, quotes, biographical notes. In short, we can get additional information about the show. »
The cellist adds that the tool is not necessary to understand Transfigurationbut that it can be interesting to see it in another light a second time, “in an immersive way”.
Valérie Milot is aware that the tool is more promising in itself than necessarily adapted to this project. “Our show is a bit visually charged for this type of technology. But we worked on it and it can develop for more traditional gigs. »
Export objective
Valérie Milot takes the example of a symphony by Mahler where such a quotation from a melody in the work could be signaled live on the telephone: “This can be done behind the scenes by someone who changes the sentences and the images . A sort of remote PowerPoint where phones would be the monitors of interested listeners. In the eyes of the harpist, one could thus compensate “a little for the lack of education in the arts”. “Organizations should increasingly offer material, not necessarily ‘educational’, but at the very least constructive,” she suggests. His musical partner is however aware that “it will be necessary to get rid of the screens lit during the show, a difficult thing in North American society”.
Valérie Milot admits that “the classical music market in Quebec — innervated by a circuit of multidisciplinary venues with significant technical potential — is simpler than that of the rest of Canada and the world”. To survey Quebec during the summer of 2022, his production company has hired a third technician to relieve the two initially planned and overloaded. “One of our values is that people have fun working. We decided to lighten the workload. Of course it costs more, but the important thing is the result,” says the harpist.
The next challenge of Transfiguration is now that of export. “An English version has already been recorded and will be presented in the summer of 2023,” says Stéphane Tétreault. Technically, everything has been thought out from the start so that the project travels well. “It had to be assembled in one day. These are big days, but building, dismantling and performing in one day is done. »
The next phase requires prospecting. “My company’s agent went to Seoul for a convention and he’s going to New York in January. We are present at showcase events and, from next year, we will start self-produced shows internationally. In this environment, post-pandemic, you have to go meet people, be seen, go meet agents, producers, ”says Valérie Milot.
Transfiguration is intended as an answer to a set of challenges summed up very simply by Valérie Milot: “How can you stand out from the fact that Stéphane plays the cello and I play the harp? What do we have to offer? I have always seen things like this. To offer an interesting and borderless total experience. »