The proliferation of works by female composers on concert programs in recent years is sometimes the occasion for great discoveries. Discussion with Maskoutain pianist Élisabeth Pion, who will perform Concerto No. 1 in E flat major by Hélène de Montgeroult with the Arion ensemble from October 6 to 8 at Bourgie Hall.
In July, we reported on a new complete discography of the sonatas of Hélène de Montgeroult, active at the turn of the 19th century. Part of the first team of professors at the brand new Paris Conservatory after the French Revolution, the French composer and pianist distinguished herself in particular with her collection of studies for piano, which were imitated by many.
Although the studies and sonatas have already been the subject of a few recordings, his two piano concertos are still rarely played. The first, according to Élisabeth Pion, was only performed by Edna Stern, one of the most active promoters of Montgeroult music.
“It’s a work that I fell in love with,” says the 27-year-old musician, a former student of the Montreal Conservatory who spent several years at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music in London.
Concerto No. 1, like No. 2, is a transcription made from extracts of violin concertos by Giovanni Battista Viotti, a violin virtuoso and pedagogue who had worked for Queen Marie Antoinette at the end of the Ancient Diet and indulged in improvisation with Montgeroult.
Those who know his sonatas or his studies, who already have a strong foothold in Romanticism, will probably find the concerto, written earlier, more classical. “Even in the concerto, however, you hear how lively and bright her mind was, and a very good sense of humor,” warns Ms. Pion. It’s like when I was working on a Haydn concerto and I was laughing to myself and telling myself that it was really a good joke! The Montgeroult concerto is a bit like that. If the audience doesn’t laugh, I’m going to have missed my shot a little! »
“In the writings we have about her, everyone says they’ve never heard piano played like that. There is a disarming virtuosity in certain passages,” adds the woman who will also perform Mozart’s Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, at the same concert, a work composed at the same time as the Montgeroult concerto.
The day after our interview, Élisabeth Pion flew off to work on Mozart, which she has already played often in concert, with none other than Alfred Brendel. ” He knows what he is talking about ! “, she said respectfully.
At Bourgie Hall, she will have the chance to play both works on a Broadwood piano, a maker that Montgeroult particularly appreciated. “These instruments had a more sustained sound, a mechanism that allowed more singing, so it was more suited to her,” explains the artist, whose collaboration with Arion will be the subject of a recording.
The concert will also feature a Montgeroult Overture (an arrangement by Arion conductor Mathieu Lussier) and Mozart’s Symphony No. 26 in E-flat major, K. 184, a little-heard early work.
“People are often touched, surprised, by Montgeroult’s music, because we wouldn’t expect that for his time,” says Élisabeth Pion. In style, it is profoundly visionary. It’s really like Chopin or Schumann before their time. His music is like a missing piece in the historical puzzle. »
Described as the “Paganini of the trumpet,” Sergei Nakariakov is a living legend. He will be at Bourgie Hall on October 16 (7:30 p.m.) in the company of pianist Maria Meerovitch and Daishin Kashimoto, none other than the concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic. Nakariakov will perform on a flugelhorn, a darker-sounding cousin of the trumpet. We will hear works by Schumann, Brahms and Grieg. The concert will be repeated the following evening at the Club musical de Québec.
Chaplin’s Dictator has seduced generations of moviegoers with its humor, but also with its message of peace. Why talk about this film in a music column? This cinema classic will be screened at the Maison symphonique while the Montreal Symphony Orchestra will play the soundtrack, restored by Timothy Brock, who will also be on the podium. The two performances, on October 18 (7:30 p.m.) and October 19 (10:30 a.m.), will be followed by a 30-minute interview.
The month of October is definitely fascinating at the Bourgie Hall, which will present, on October 22 (2:30 p.m.), the Mozart concert, from joy to sadness with Harpsichord in concert. Four experienced musicians (Luc Beauséjour on pianoforte, Antoine Bareil on violin, Juan-Miguel Hernandez on viola and Cameron Crozman on cello) will compete against three masterpieces: the Variations for cello and piano on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” (from Mozart’s Magic Flute) by Beethoven, as well as Mozart’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, K. 379, and Mozart’s moving Quartet for Strings and Piano in G minor, K. 478.
Le Poème harmonique and its conductor Vincent Dumestre finally return to Montreal. Those whose records (at Alpha) win prize after prize have never ceased to surprise us. Spectators at the Bourgie Hall will hear, on October 28 (7:30 p.m.), an anthology of works performed in the courts of France and Italy during the time of the young Louis XIV. Lully, Charpentier, Delalande and Cavalli will rub shoulders with lesser-known composers like Moulinié and Uccellini.
