The vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, revealed to Montreal music lovers by the Bach Festival in 2017, was back in the city on Thursday for a Monteverdi program. The magic always operates with supreme musicians whom we hope to see again regularly in Quebec.
In 2017, we titled “Musical levitation with Vox Luminis at the Bach Festival”. Expectations were therefore high for this delayed return due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions.
Vox Luminis has once again ticked all the boxes: intelligence of the program, beauty of the voices, cohesion of the whole, control of the dynamics, mastery of expression. To preserve the cohesion of the musical proposal and the concentration of the spectators, the ensemble led by Lionel Meunier approached its program of works taken from the great collection of the Selva moral e spirituale in one breath, without pause. A program built on two pillars: the Gloria SV 258 at the start and the Magnificat for eight voices (Where Magnificat Primo) S.V. 281 at the end, with in particular the Says Dominus Sv 264 among the “big works” on the menu. Among the more intimate scores, the Crucifixus SV 259 sung in a circle behind the instrumentalists and O bone Jesus SV 313 two women’s voices.
Nourished sounds
Major characteristic of the evening: the luminous introductions and transitions of the organist Anthony Romaniuk, who never pours out and knows how to find the perfect balance at all times. The transition between the Says dominus and the Beatus Vir, with the theorbo which was grafted onto the sonority of the organ, was exceptional. We must also salute the five instrumentalists (2 violins, a violone and a theorbo, in addition to the organ) for their refined contribution.
The major lesson of Vox Luminis is the same as that given by the Ensemble Correspondances last May in a similar context. We wrote then: “With Correspondances, this repertoire from the beginning of the 17th century is sung by “real voices”, that is to say soloists who come together and dedicate their art to the celebration of this music. This approach is totally opposed to the opposite one, which consists in promoting modest voices of choristers in small ensembles or, even worse, to see vocal profiles of choristers pushing themselves off the collar and taking themselves for soloists by approaching this “Home Depot” style voice directory. »
The observation and the spring of success are here exactly the same: it is not because the music is old that it is fragile or apologizes for existing. The tonic and nourished sound approach serves the vigor of the message. In this the beginning of the concert by the Gloria was very symbolic.
Obviously, Vox Luminis adds to this a great evocative force thanks to an extraordinary flexibility and mastery of nuances. The encore, of great meditative depth, showed it well.