Bernard Labadie gave his first concert in Lanaudière since 2017 on Sunday. This return with Les Violons du Roy in Mozart was a pure delight.
The first Sunday concert of the Lanaudière Festival was, in essence, a reminder of a few simple lessons learned after the opening night. The most important of these was undoubtedly: “You should never apologize for who you are.” In other words, it is the height of musical integrity and quality that defines major events or institutions.
A symbol
In this respect, Bernard Labadie and his presence in these places on Sunday are symbols. Indeed, 2017 was the beginning of this period when the former management and the former board of directors of the Festival had thought it wise to entrust this emblem of music in the country to an artistic direction that only thought of distorting its mission. The siding of the Violons du Roy and their founder was one of the consequences of the “flamboyant” intuitions of said management, fortunately fleeting. If Bernard Labadie was on this stage on July 7, 2024, it is also because we have, since 2020, at the helm a tandem that knows what the essence and mission of the place are.
Compared to the moment, that is to say this Festival 2024, Sunday afternoon brought a welcome relief compared to Saturday evening. Same observation here: let us therefore let the art that brings us together express itself. Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie did it so well that this concert, of an interest in content and musical style so clearly superior to the opening concert, would undoubtedly have had its place the previous evening.
Developments
Bernard Labadie never ceases to surprise, and it is an even more enriched face that he presented to us on Sunday. His Mozart, usually tonic, has not lost precision and energy, but he has gained a lot in flexibility, relaxation and humanity. The conductor, from the 1er movement of the Little night musicdigs into the nuances with relish pianowhich allows him to sculpt the phrases with great elasticity. He is a Mozart with flowing lines. The music is epicurean, never tense or stressed.
He finds in Kerson Leong an ideal partner in the Violin Concerto No. 5The violinist from Ottawa also relies with refinement on the extended dynamic range that allows for a deeper understanding of nuances. piano And pianissimoHe embellishes the end of the movements with short, skillful cadences that seem to be his own.
In the 40e SymphonyBernard Labadie plays the game of tensions and relaxations to the full. The polyphonic readability is magnificent, and we note that the first three parts end on a balance bringing out the flute and oboe. The horns are present without being too sharp. In the structure, with the repeats, the 2e movement becomes the center of gravity of the work, in every sense of the word. All this gave us the picture of a Mozart of great humanity in a concert of remarkable quality.