Jacques Lacombe is undoubtedly the musician of the week. Not content with concocting the new era of the Montreal Classical Orchestra, formerly the McGill Chamber Orchestra, he was named last Tuesday as musical director of the Vancouver Opera. On certain points, the artistic ambitions converge.
Jacques Lacombe begins his mandate at the head of the Montreal Classical Orchestra on Tuesday with the concert Slava Ukraïni, dedicated to Ukrainian music. This is, for the occasion, a program written by four hands. “Taras Kulish, our general director, of Ukrainian origin, helped me, particularly with the second part, that of the vocal works. We will hear extracts from Zaporozhets za Dunayem (The Zaporozhye beyond Danube) by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813-1873), one of the, if not the best-known comic operas in Ukraine, and Byut’ Porohy (The Dnieper rapids roar) by Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912) to a text by Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861), a major cantata, particularly in the current context, which resonates greatly in the Ukrainian community. »
The subject of the Zaporozhye Cossacks is mentioned in a work by another famous Ukrainian musician, Glière. These Cossacks (nomadic populations) lived in a region of central Ukraine called Zaporozhye, beyond the rapids of the Dnieper. There is therefore historical-geographical concordance between the two works, which will be introduced by three sacred vocal compositions, composed by Lysenko, Bortnianski and Havrylets.
Jacques Lacombe was the mastermind of the first part of the concert. With the Suite on Ukrainian folk themes, by Borys Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968), is summoned the one called the “father of Ukrainian music”, a student of Glière, who wanted to introduce Ukrainian folk idioms into his music and was frowned upon in the USSR for this . “The suite was originally a string quartet, arranged for orchestra. I also wanted, in another universe, very jazz, to present the music of Kapoustine, his 4e Concertofor piano with Serhiy Salov, whom I met when he won the Montreal International Musical Competition,” says Jacques Lacombe.
Between these two compositions will be created Bobby’s Song, a piece for string orchestra by Joanna Estelle Storoschuk. “It is an orchestrated version of a score presented at Carnegie Hall last spring and which speaks of the assassination of the young brother of the composer’s mother; poignant, intense and interior work. »
The notable absentee is obviously Valentin Silvestrov, the great contemporary composer. But it’s more to put it aside for a later project.
Resolute ambitions
Regarding the future of the Montreal Classical Orchestra, one of the first objectives is to standardize contracts. “For the moment, the orchestra does not have a collective agreement as such. During the year, the administration’s mission is to reach an agreement as with other orchestras, such as I Musici or OM, in order to stabilize the workforce, have a working framework that serves the musicians and the artistic development of the orchestra. »
In the medium term, Jacques Lacombe wants to significantly increase the OCM’s activities: “We are at 9 or 10 programs per year. With this first season, I want to imbue the orchestra with my personality, that is to say, work on the sound, style, approach and artistic identity of the orchestra, in order to be able to aspire to shine in the Quebec, participate in a second phase in certain festivals and above all increase the number of activities of the orchestra with a privileged focus on the voice. We are currently working on partnerships. Thus, we got closer to Marc Boucher and the Classica Festival and have a certain number of joint projects. The goal is, in the medium term, to arrive at an interesting number of weeks for musicians and which can lead us to the next phase. »
In terms of staff, some of the partnerships envisaged by Mr. Lacombe call on additional musicians: “We are working over the next three or four years to look at the flexibility of the orchestra, but also to have a more extensive orchestra by including members on a more regular basis to make it a true classical orchestra with some woodwinds and a larger string complement. We currently have a program at the end of the season which integrates young musicians at the end of their training to give them professional experience. But this integration could very well develop in the form of mentoring. Thus, graduates or young graduates from music schools in Quebec could come and do a professional integration course over one or two seasons, or even a certain number of programs. »
Operetta and opera
In his ambition to increase opportunities for his musicians, Jacques Lacombe is working on a summer season “in a place other than the Pierre-Mercure room, which is in a way our main residence. My assessment is that during the regular season at Pierre-Mercure, one or two programs per month is pretty much our target. As for the direction of the programs, I have already developed a framework for the next four seasons, including a summer season, a place for young talents and a special place for vocal music.
At the crossroads of all this is the project to revalorize the Classica operetta: “It’s a wonderful aspect for young singers, it allows them to obtain stage and theatrical experience, to learn to play, to say texts. Operetta is neglected in Quebec and even in France, where there are fewer and fewer institutions presenting this repertoire which must be brought up to date. You have to make quality presentations; we can’t take shortcuts. »
With this first season, I want to imbue the orchestra with my personality, that is to say, work on the sound, style, approach and artistic identity of the orchestra, in order to be able to aspire to shine in the Quebec, participate secondly in certain festivals and above all increase the number of activities of the orchestra with a privileged focus on the voice
Singing, Jacques Lacombe will have it all around him in Vancouver since he has just been appointed musical director of the Opera, where he started 20 years ago by directing The West Fanciulla by Puccini and where he has directed around ten productions since.
Currently, Vancouver Opera offers three productions per year offered three times each. “There are also two chamber operas”, specifies Jacques Lacombe “and, for large productions, we could soon increase to four or five performances of certain operas”.
“Around ten years ago, there were four productions per year, then they made the decision to move to a festival format and group everything together over two or three weeks. This was not a very happy decision and they reverted to a more traditional format. » But the Vancouver Opera came through: “Financially, the Opera is back afloat, therefore in a rather good situation compared to other houses in Europe or North America. The objective is to return to four productions per season. On the artistic level, there is a desire to have a balance between the great titles, sure values of the repertoire, and works never performed in Vancouver, for example when I conducted last January-February A Midsummer Night’s dream by Britten. »
Among the areas of development, there is also that of building productions on site, which was the case in particular for Britten’s work. The restructuring was carried out boldly, since the institution did not hesitate to put on display The Knight of the Rose by Strauss or The ghost ship by Wagner, rather expensive works.
Jacques Lacombe aims for a balance of all repertoires, including Russian opera: “I have conducted a lot Eugene Onegin, I think there is an opening from this point of view and we will quickly have artistic programming meetings to discuss the years to come. » But it is often details that influence the programming: “The availability of the singers with whom we want to work significantly influences the programming, as do the productions and directors available. »
But the conductor is excited by this new challenge: “The company has been courting me for 20 years to become musical director. And so, after 20 years of dating, we decided to join forces! »