Repetitive, Christmas shows? Rather, everyone has their own particularity. In Parapapam, installed at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier this weekend, the great voices of Patrick Bruel, Mario Pelchat, Vladimir Kornéev and the singer Marie-Josée Lord combine with around sixty choristers and around forty musicians from the Orchester Filmharmonique de Montréal, conducted by Francis Choinière, to reinvent the traditional tunes of this time of year.
Proud of the nearly 9,000 tickets sold during the first edition of Parapapam last year, director Guy Lévesque rightly evokes the symphonic character of the production to explain its splendor and singularity.
“I find that the term “majestic” really fits the show well,” explains Guy Lévesque between two rehearsals. It’s an opportunity to hear Christmas songs interpreted differently, with a real symphony orchestra and international stars. »
Parapapam also relies on the personal preferences of its headliners to go off the beaten track, by offering solos and sparkling encounters, in French and English. “Approximately 75% of the material is in French,” explains Guy Lévesque.
While Patrick Bruel himself asked to appropriate Mariah Carey’s popular refrain, All I Want for Christmas Is You, Mario Pelchat wants to reserve the precious Minuit, Chrétiens for himself. Marie-Josée Lord shares with Patrick Bruel the verses of The Prayer, popularized by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli, and with Vladimir Kornéev, those of Sainte Nuit. The celebration must end on a note of hope with the anthem Everything will change, by Michel Fugain, and a cheerful December 23 sung in unison by the entire troupe.
Mario Pelchat is never difficult to convince when he is asked to sing the holiday season, still haunted, at almost 60 years old, by memories of the choir of his childhood church in Dolbeau-Mistassini, where he was serving as mass. Nostalgia, he says, continues to grow as his loved ones leave our world.
“It was like a family, strong bonds were forged. We started rehearsing Christmas carols from September. From year to year, this celebration reconnects me to these memories. In our house, my mother would put up the tree on December 1st and take it down on my birthday, February 1st. »
For the old hand that is Patrick Bruel, the exercise of a Christmas collective is not at all conventional: surprisingly, the French legend had never done a show of the kind before hearing about Parapapam.
“Never done it, never seen it, never heard it. I didn’t know the concept! », argues the man who had never worked with Mario Pelchat either. Both wine producers, the new friends promise to toast each other with a tasting of juice from their respective vineyards between two performances.
The only artist participating in last year’s Parapapam, Vladimir Kornéev is also moved by the talent of his comrades, honored to walk the stage alongside them.
“It’s like a dream come true to work with them, and with Marie-Josée Lord, who has such a wonderful voice,” enthuses the Georgian baritone singer and actor.
Described as an “angel” by Mario Pelchat, pampered by his three male companions, Marie-Josée Lord also salutes the complicity that has developed within the group.
“There are lots of laughs! », slips the respected soprano, a fan of the “festive” aspect of such events.
