Music & Beyond 2023: A Sum-up
The festival’s opening concert, with Pablo Ziegler, Masae Shiwa and M&B Orchestra, July 4, 2023
Hearing the well-known tunes of Johann Strauss Jr. (1825-1899) and Franz Lehar (1870-1948), closing off with the Radetsky March by Strauss Sr. (1804-1849), all in a nostalgic evocation of 19th century Vienna, is not exactly what I had expected from usually innovative Music & Beyond’s programming, but there we had them, in the 2023 Festival’s final “Gala” concert on July 17. In partial compensation, a bit of Mozart (1756-1791) was thrown in as well, and superb singing by soprano Myriam Leblanc.
So if the 2023 version of the Festival ended in a bit of a whimper, the previous fourteen days had plenty to offer. I managed to catch 26 out of 70 events and already wrote about the opening concert, celebrating Piazzolla, and the thrilling performances of the Orava Quartet. I skipped the John Rutter appearances but am told that they were a smashing success. Other highlights I’m grateful to have attended:
+ Tango in the Dark (July 5) with dancers Erin Scott-Kafadar and Alexander Richardson (forming the PointeTango Dance Company) showing off dazzling technique (tango on pointe!) and numerous costume changes;
+ Fabula Femina by Cordâme (July 6), with music by Jean Félix Mailloux (b. 1981);
+ Thomson Highway’s Concerto in Cree Major (July 6) with Peruvian-Canadian Patricia Cano entertaining us with excerpts from Highway’s cabaret creations (Rose, The Post Mistress);
Patricia Cano ‘handling’ a letter in Thomson Highway’s The Post Mistress
+ Kerson Leong, who impressed us as a 6-year old performing Vivaldi at the recital of his mother’s music school, here he was, as a mature 27-year old leading Thirteen Strings from the violin in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (July 7). Passionate, superb playing. That concert ended with a rendition of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks which was later streamed in sync with actual fireworks over the Ottawa River. Certainly a feat of coordination that qualifies as “& Beyond” I suppose.
+ Les Violons du Roy (Thomas Leduc-Moreau energetically guest-conducting) and actor Normand Chouinard performed G.P. Telemann’s Burleque de Don Quichotte (July 9). Unfortunately, neither French nor English texts of the passionately rendered narration (which sounded like it came straight from Cervantes) were provided;
+ the complete works of Julius Reubke (1834-1858): A piano sonata and an organ sonata, Carson Becke and Matthew Larkin doing the honours. His death at age 24 poses another ‘what if’ question in musical history, as these are quite mature compositions.
+ Pontiac-based Despax Quartet (consisting of four siblings) gave a respectable performance of Dvorak’s Quartet No. 10 and Mendelssohn’s No. 4 (July 11).
+ Also on July 11, the superb vocal ensemble, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, offered music under the title Douce Mémoire (“Soft Memories” in English; why not Sweet Memories?): laments at the death of one or other 15th- or 16th-century composer, a whole Missa Doulce Memoire by Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565), plus four motets by Stephanie Martin (b. 1962) inspired by Healey Willan;
+ Schubert specialist Mathieu Gaudet offered a most enjoyable all-Schubert recital (July 12). He is recording Schubert’s complete piano works — 7 of a projected 15 discs have been published so far;
+ the Cheng2Duo, charming and passionate as ever, on July 13 offered new (Paul Wiancko [b. 1983], W.G. Still [1895-1978]) as well as classical pieces I’d never heard before (Dvorak: Silent Woods, Rondo in G minor; Chopin: Sonata for cello and piano). Their latest disc should be coming out soon.
+ Mireille Asselin, with Philip Chiu at the piano, put together Correspondence (July 14), a variety of songs based on letters or advice on how to write them, ranging from Mozart to Cole Porter (1891-1964) and Tom Cipullo (b. 1956).
+ the recital of Janina Fialkowska on July 15 (Schubert, Brahms, Ravel, Chopin) before a packed house was, well, perfect. I should read her 2021 autobiography, A Note in Time;
+ on Sunday evening, July 16, Matthew Larkin and his Caelis Academy Ensemble and Orchestra staged his Passion Play, on texts from the St. John Gospel as well as poetry by Anna Akhmatova and others. I was grateful for the beautifully produced programme which gave me all the texts but was less impressed by the composition which drew heavily on chants and endlessly repeated intervals, even in what passed for ‘arias.’ I felt sorry for the strings who sat very close to sometimes very loud brass and timpani. I have great admiration for Matthew Larkin, including for his incredible ability to improvise as demonstrated in presentations of silent movies by Seventeen Voyces, but this work does not show his best side.
And there was more!
Unlike in other years, classical music fans who attend both M&B and the Chamberfest Festival are given only two days of respite this year — the latter opens tomorrow, July 20!