Jean-Philippe Sylvestre fell into the “André Mathieu” pot at a very young age. We join him as he has just returned from playing it in Europe. The musician will participate in the post-fifth wave return of the Orchester Métropolitain on Friday evening with the now famous Quebec Concerto of the Quebec prodigy.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
“I came back as quickly as possible, to be sure to avoid any complications”, immediately says the pianist from Sainte-Julie, who has seen two of his three European engagements postponed due to the pandemic.
This is the case of his solo recital on January 5 at the Kammermusiksaal of the Berlin Philharmonic, but also of a series of concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra in the wake of the creation and recording for Chandos of the new piano concerto by Montreal composer Airat Ichmouratov, to which Sylvestre contributed the piano part.
Fortunately, the musician was able to perform as planned at the Jacquemart-André museum in the 8and arrondissement in Paris, a place he considers “extremely warm”, especially with its picturesque music room that can accommodate a hundred spectators, who were obviously masked for the occasion. “I couldn’t see their facial expressions at all, but I felt that it was appreciated,” underlines the pianist, who was finally able to chat with the public outside after the event.
The transcription for solo piano of the slow movement of the Concerto noh 3 said “from Quebec” by André Mathieu formed the heart of the recital, with a natural entourage: Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Ravel.
I took Mathieu’s score and enriched it by drawing inspiration from the composer’s own recordings. We are dealing with a Mathieu-Sylvestre version, so to speak.
Jean-Philippe Sylvester
“I’ve been bringing it to France for several years and really, the French people fall directly in love with this work. It’s really a must of the concert when I arrive with that,” he continues, adding that the special link between Quebec and France has a lot to do with it.
A link that comes from afar
Jean-Philippe Sylvestre’s love affair with André Mathieu goes back a long time. In 1993, at the age of 11, he stepped into the shoes of the composer in a documentary dedicated to him, signed Jean-Claude Labrecque.
His relationship with the Quebec Concerto is, however, much more recent. When he learned the work five or six years ago, he naturally set his sights on the score successively modified by two arrangers in the 1940s and 1970s. It is the one that has been immortalized on disc by Philippe Entremont then Alain Lefèvre, another notorious defender of Mathieu’s music.
Alain Lefèvre, however, re-recorded it in Buffalo five years ago following the discovery of an arrangement for two pianos by the composer, which caused a major dusting of the version known until then.
Jean-Philippe Sylvestre admits, however, never having heard – or read – this new version considered closer to the original.
The recording of the “traditional” score made in 1947 by Mathieu remains a constant inspiration for him. “I really fell in love with the tempos he chooses. What I’m looking for is to do as much justice as possible to what the composer wanted. »
The musician says he feels all the more comfortable playing Mathieu as he is, like him, a jazz improviser. “Mathieu, like Rachmaninoff, had the genius to add colors of jazz to his harmonies while remaining classical,” he explains.
Besides playing the Quebec Concerto Friday with the Orchester Métropolitain and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he will join four colleagues on March 26 at La Chapelle de Québec in a program of chamber music by André Mathieu.
Also on the program
In the two “big”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE OSM
Chinese chef Xian Zhang
After the heartbreaking cancellation of several events, the two main Montreal orchestras are back in force. As for the OSM, this Wednesday and Thursday we are hosting French conductor Louis Langrée and violinist Simone Lansma, a sold-out concert. The orchestra nevertheless offers another appointment next week (February 16-17) with the Chinese conductor Xian Zhang in a program of Slavic music. It’s also full at the Métropolitain on Friday. The concert will however be broadcast live and delayed on the web. Otherwise, we will have to wait until February 27 with the arrival of guitarist Miloš Kadaraglić, alias Miloš.
Also this week…
PHOTO PROVIDED BY I MUSICI
Cellist Stéphane Tétreault
The next few days will be decidedly busy. Thursday will be the day for I Musici, which will host cellist Stéphane Tétreault (2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) at Salle Pierre-Mercure with Haydn and Schubert. The following day, Pallade Musica will offer an Italian program at Bourgie Hall. This concert will be the last given in the hall of the Museum of Fine Arts before the arrival of pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin on March 2 and 3.
Pampered Joliette
PHOTO CLAIRE XAVIER, PROVIDED BY TRAQUEN’ART
Catalan gambist and chef Jordi Savall
A stroll in the northern crown is essential on February 26 for music lovers who will not want to miss the gambist and Catalan conductor Jordi Savall, who will perform at the cathedral of Joliette at the invitation of the Festival de Lanaudière. With his ensemble Le Concert des Nations, he will perform some gems from his repertoire, including Marin Marais, Couperin and Rameau.
Other delicacies
PHOTO ANNIE ETHIER, PROVIDED BY ANALEKTA
The director of Harpsichords in concert, Luc Beauséjour
In order to get off the beaten track, we will go to the Notre-Dame-du-Bonsecours chapel on February 25 for the concert Bach and his influencers from the organization Clavecins en concert featuring its director Luc Beauséjour alongside Nicolas Ellis and of his Orchester de l’Agora. Pro Musica is also offering to listen to violinist Jonathan Crow, concertmaster in Toronto, with pianist Philip Chiu at the Phi Center on February 13 in a program of French music. And don’t forget the historic Chapelle du Bon-Pasteur, which offers violin, cello, concert and singing recitals throughout the month.