A new start in the city’s two new concert halls

 

Montreal, March 2, 2011 – Music director Bernard Labadie today unveiled the 2011–2012 program of Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec in Montreal. The new season marks a turning point in the chamber orchestra’s Montreal adventure with concerts in Place des Arts’s new concert hall and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ intimate and welcoming Bourgie Concert Hall. Three series have also been programmed: the Grands Rendez-vous, Soirées Arte Musica, and the Concerts Espresso. With 13 concerts in all—three with La Chapelle de Québec—audiences can look forward to a season of musical passion and excitement.

 

This series features four major events under the direction of Bernard Labadie. It all begins with a spellbinding night in the company of soprano Karina Gauvin (October 8). Subsequently, audiences will be pleased to join La Chapelle de Québec for two of the works it and the orchestra are best known for: Handel’s Messiah (December 11) and Bach’s Saint John Passion (March 23), assembling an outstanding cast around tenor Ian Bostridge and the chorus just days before the ensemble’s return to New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall. The series winds up with Bernard Labadie and the orchestra interpreting Mozart’s three last symphonies—the master’s final testament to the form (June 2).

 

The Arte Musica Foundation will boost Les Violons du Roy’s Montreal presence with two new series in the magnificent surroundings of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Bourgie Concert Hall: Soirées Arte Musica on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. as well as three performances in the Concerts Espresso series on Thursdays at 2 p.m.

 

Bourgie Concert Hall will host Les Violons du Roy’s reunion with the renowned Jeanne Lamon (October 19), founder of Toronto’s Tafelmusik baroque orchestra. It will also be an opportunity to discover brilliant trumpet virtuoso Benjamin Raymond. Next up will be an evening culminating in Mozart’s towering Concerto for Clarinet with Ricardo Morales, principal clarinet of the Philadelphia Orchestra (November 9). Audiences will be pleased to welcome back recorder virtuoso  Maurice Steger for a followup to his triumphant performance last season (January 18). Lovers of the human voice will not be neglected either, with Alessandro Scarlatti’s moving Stabat Mater, featuring soprano Shannon Mercer and mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle (April 4). Then on April 11, La Chapelle de Québec and pianists Jimmy Brière and Maneli Pirzadeh will plunge into the heart of German Romanticism with Les Valses d’amour de Brahms. The final word will be delivered by the orchestra’s musicians (May 2) as they offer up Vivaldi’s complete concertos for one, two, and four violins, under the direction of Eric Paetkau in L'Estro Armonico. 

 

Three mid-day musical interludes will combine enjoyment, relaxation, and harmony—each followed by a chat with the conductor and performers over a cup of coffee. The first will star recorder virtuoso Maurice Steger (January 19). Next in line will be soprano Shannon Mercer and mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle in Scarlatti’s exquisite Stabat Mater (April 5). And to wind up the season with a bang, musicians from the orchestra will present excerpts from Vivaldi’s L’Estro Armonico (May 3).

 

From November 11 to 25, Les Violons du Roy will be on the other side of the Atlantic, joining French pianist Alexandre Tharaud in an eight-concert tour of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France, including a stop at Théatre des Champs-Élysées.

 

In early 2012 in January and February, Maurice Steger will be with the ensemble as Les Violons du Roy tours North America, delivering 10 performances of the program they will introduce at Bourgie Concert Hall.

 

The group’s return to Carnegie Hall, New York City, is sure to be a highlight of the season. After their acclaimed performance of Handel’s Messiah in 2009, Bernard Labadie and the two ensembles he founded were immediately invited back to present another masterpiece of their repertoire: Bach’s Saint John Passion. This eagerly awaited return engagement will take place on March 25, 2012, following their performances of the work in Quebec City and Montreal.

 

Alexandre Tharaud and Les Violons du Roy recorded a program of Bach concertos at Palais Montcalm in September 2009. The results will be released in the fall on Virgin Classics to kick off their European tour.

 

A second recording will also grace the fall of 2011, this one with Marie-Nicole Lemieux. The disc, featuring arias by Haydn, Gluck, Mozart, and Graun, marks the first collaboration between Les Violons du Roy and the French label Naïve.

 

A variety of subscription options are available with savings of 15 to 30 percent over the single-ticket price as well as a number of special privileges. By subscribing to any 2011–2012 season series before October 8, 2011, subscribers will also be entered in a draw for one of three great prizes.

 

Grands Rendez-vous Series
Place des Arts Box Office

175 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest

514 842-2112

 

 

Soirées Arte Musica and Concerts Espresso
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Box Office

1380 rue Sherbrooke Ouest

514-285-2000, option 4

 

For full details on Les Violons du Roy’s 2011–2012 program, ask for your season brochure by calling Ms. Micheline Breton at Les Violons du Roy’s office at 418-692-3026, extension 0, or visit violonsduroy.com

 

For more information on the Soirées Arte Musica and Concerts Espresso series, please contact Ms. Marie-Hélène Dionne at the Arte Musica Foundation at 514 285-1600, extension 116, or visit fondationartemusica.ca

 

Espace musique, Radio-Canada’s music radio network, is the official broadcaster of Les Violons du Roy.

 

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Press relations:
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