For immediate release

Handel's Messiah: One of the great successes of Les Violons du Roy

Montréal, October 19, 2009 – One of the highpoints of the 2009-2010 musical season will be the performance of Handel’s Messiah, a signature work for Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie and La Chapelle de Québec, in the Saint-Jean Baptiste church of Tuesday, December 8. An outstanding quartet of soloists—soprano Rosemary Joshua, countertenor David Daniels, tenor Jan Kobow and bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams—will appear with the choir and orchestra. The concert is the prelude to an American tour that will take the performers to Carnegie Hall in New York and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Among all the thrilling performances given by Les Violons du Roy over the last 25 years, Handel’s Messiah stands out for the warmth of the critical and public acclaim it has received. When Bernard Labadie appears on the podium to conduct this famous oratorio, the audience knows it is about to enjoy a unique musical experience. Sixty exceptional performers on stage will bring all their talent and passion to bear as if performing the work for the first time.

Like all of Handel’s oratorios, Messiah owes some of its fame to the dramatic power and variety of its choral movements, which will provide an opportunity to appreciate the accuracy, cohesion and virtuosity of the singers who make up La Chapelle de Québec. Once again, Bernard Labadie has called on an outstanding array of soloists, and Montréal audiences will be delighted at this new opportunity to hear famous counter tenor David Daniels and soprano Rosemary Joshua, admired for her pure and luminous voice, and to discover German tenor Jan Kobow, recognized for his expertise in Baroque music and his work with renowned conductors including Philippe Herreweghe and John Eliot Gardiner, as well as bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams, appreciated for his virtuoso approach and rich vocal timbre.

“Labadie: a magical Messiah […] So much sincerity and beauty brought tears to my eyes at times […].”
Claude Gingras, La Presse, Montréal, 1999

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