Thursday,
September 29
This concert was the 6th in the series of homage performances
Without a
doubt, it was José Evengelista’s “Monodias españoles” – the final piece in the
program that thrilled the audience at Pierre Mercure Hall in Montreal. Written in 1989 but transposes for orchestra
in 1995, the work’s seventeen short vignettes presented the colourful musical flavours
from different regions in Spain.
At the piano was the incredible Louise Bessette whose timing with the orchestra
was impeccable.
These
pieces were entertaining and much more melodic than the musical fare that
proceeded it. American composer, Sky Macklay’s “Microvariations”
opened the evening with a work that was so fragments, full of instrumental stuttering
from instruments and percussive backing, it came off as being chaotic rather
than hypnotic. It did not engage us as we tried to follow some kind of cohesion
in the piece.
Jean Lesage’s
wonderful work was splendidly rich and musically pleasing. With passages that seemed
to emulate Debussy and Stravinsky, it sounded like both were taking an exciting
trip while on acid. Titled “Le concert des anachronisms délibérés”, it employed
piano, harp, clarinet and strings, and so the
full bodied melody had fascinating impact. Likewise, “Clos de vie”, also by
Evangelista was instrumentally rich with
banjo, electric guitar, strings, piano and vibraphone conveyed to me various images of rain , creepy crawly insects in the Amazon and a dark house of mirrors with psychedelic
lights.
The evening
was all in all a great way to once again showcase out-of-the-box music written by
great composers – all marvelously conducted before our eyes by Walter Boudreau
– artistic director of this orchestra.
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