Bernard Labadie conducted La Chapelle de Québec and Les Violons du Roy in a generous and brilliant Handel program, one that is not often heard and which deserves a larger audience.
There is once again a problem with the marketing of Les Violons du Roy in Montreal that takes us back more than 10 years. Disappointing assistance fromAlcina was therefore not due to Jonathan Cohen, since food shortages also struck Bernard Labadie on Friday evening at the Maison symphonique for a program that was very timely when it had been developed and planned nearly two years ago: a evening around hymns of Händel composed for the coronation of King George II.
In a very witty preamble, the conductor warned the audience that above all in this music of circumstance and ceremonial music, it was necessary to hear not some political ideology, but works bubbling with life, reflecting the talent of the composer, whose vast knowledge of the Bible led him to refer above all to King Solomon and King David!
Brass in verve
A welcome orchestral parenthesis, Bernard Labadie conducted the Music for the Royal Fireworks in the version adapted after the premiere, with strings and organ. Nevertheless, it was the trio of trumpeters Benjamin Raymond, Simon Tremblay and Antoine Mailloux who particularly stood out for their brilliance and the clarity of their interventions. Admirable oboe desk, too, and, on the part of the conductor, a pure jewel of Sicilian swinging in the “La Paix” movement.
In the choir part, Bernard Labadie marked his territory from the start with a Zadok the Priest (Coronation Anthem #1) sumptuous, from the sound textures of the introduction, then by the choral shock of entry, which was exactly what we expected in “Und es war Licht” (the appearance of light) in Creation of Haydn under the direction of the same conductor at the OSM and which we had not had.
Zadok the Priest is the hymn played during the coronation at the moment of the anointing, this moment when the king hides behind a screen. The genius of this score has allowed him to cross the centuries and accompany various monarchs at this time.
There was no real musical reason for the dearth of spectators, because concerts with the Chapelle de Québec almost always guarantee a very remarkable quality, which was again the case on Friday evening. It is worth remembering these choral assets: homogeneity inside the desks, equality between them, ability to adapt to almost instantaneous changes in nuance, accuracy of intonation, nobility of nuances fortissimofor example in the hymn My Heart is Inventingsubstance of pianissimosattack unit, etc.
The treat of the evening was however theOde for Queen Anne’s birthday, a work with three soloists perfectly distributed to Magali Simard-Galdès, bass Neal Davies and, above all, countertenor Tim Mead. The latter has, in this score, a major role, and he confirmed “in real life” the dazzling felt listening to his first two vocal recitals recently published by Alpha and Pentatone.
During all these works (and not only the Royal Fireworks), the trumpets led by Benjamin Raymond were exceptional. And even if we remember the conductor, the choir and Tim Mead, the general brilliance of this Händel evening will remain the dominant feature of the concert.