The Montreal Classical Orchestra has once again succeeded, this time for the first concert of Jacques Lacombe’s mandate at its head, by organizing a concert tribute to Ukraine and the Ukrainian musical repertoire, an evening that was both interesting , dignified and moving.
The hiring of Taras Kulish in March 2018 as general director of what became the Montreal Classical Orchestra could well be described as “the idea of the century”. The McGill Chamber Orchestra was saved from collapse or economic dislocation (what wouldn’t have been done for Boris?) then skillfully renamed in 2019, a real recovery then quickly began.
Full rooms
By flattering and honoring, through targeted programs, all possible and imaginable types of communities, the OCM has attracted (in addition to subsidies gleaned for its interest in various minorities) the sympathies of all these groups. Boris Brott did this with consummate interpersonal skills and naturalness. Taras Kulish asserted himself in tandem with Boris and the tragic death of the latter was able to be overcome with real pain, but also with unrivaled mastery, marked by celerity and discernment in the choice of his successor, Jacques Lacombe .
Result: full rooms. Here for The Flambeau, Haitian opera. There for “Slava Ukaïni”, while the more than meritorious act of creation of an orchestra from diversity (Obiora), an event however, brought together 30 to 35% less audience in the same room and it is necessary at I Musici hire a soloist like Alain Lefèvre to achieve the same result.
The challenge for Jacques Lacombe will now be to solidify the musical aspect. The little tinkering in the overall playing and the intonation which gave “local color” and which we tolerated because Boris was nice, will not agree with the ambitions of the group, of the general and musical director. So the overall game of Suite on Ukrainian folk themes should already be a thing of the past. Formerly it was the violins, now more the violas and cellos. That said, we will see that diverse and community programming may work in terms of marketing, but it certainly does not replace a Symphony by Haydn to learn cohesion and accuracy on a music stand and in an orchestra.
Fortunately, after warming, the level increased. Thus the very pleasant “Cossack Dances” of the opera The Zaporozhye beyond the Danubein the second part, were better held.
Standing room
After the disappointing Lyatoshynsky, we heard a moving work for strings, recently composed by Joanna Estelle Storoschuk who introduced us to the story of her ancestors and the tragedy that inspired the beautiful melody of this Bobby’s Song. As to Concerto No. 4 by Kapoustine it is a breathtaking work, all in ebb and flow. We know that Kapoustine is the prophet of written jazz, defended by Marc-André Hamelin on several occasions. Serhiy Salov seemed to delight in these profuse ecstasies which culminate in an irresistible coda. The pianist played the Ukrainian anthem as an encore to a standing room only crowd.
The public adopted the same posture at the request of Xavier Brossard Ménard, conductor of the Les Rugissants choir for the a cappella choir Almighty God by Lysenko, a vibrant and fervent work, sung with a great sense of support for the vocal line and the interweaving of phrases. The Rugissants lacked a real deep “bass II” voice to round out the harmonic foundations in the manner of a Slavic choir, but the performance was very beautiful. She was once again overtaken in the dreaded I will light a candle by Havryletz, score of great subtlety and difficulty of intonation on a mezzo solo, magnificently sung by Martina Myskohlid. This singer was at the Opera Workshop from 2021 to July 2023 and we completely missed her there, to our great regret.
The opera The Zaporozhye beyond the Danube by Hulak-Artemovsky (1813-1873) is a bit reminiscent of Eastern Lortzing. It is not impossible that works of the type Zar and Zimmermann Or Der Wildschütz were known in Kiev and the dates can stick: Lortzing was born in 1801 and died in 1851. The melodic ease of Hulak-Artemovsky is admirable and, at the very least, the soprano aria, the first soprano-tenor duet and the Cossack dances deserve to be known. It was soprano Anna Pompeeva who made the strongest impression and presented a significant challenge to the more narrow tenor Yuriy Konevych.
At the end of the concert, the Cantata “The Dnieper Rapids Roar” was a nationalist work full of pomp and circumstance. Not of great musical quality but a composition which converged on a tirelessly repeated “Glory to Ukraine”. This obviously raised a wondrous crowd, which included 40 refugees newly arrived here.