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June 28, 2007
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For music, go north Hydro Quebec may have flooded large stretches of pristine Canadian wilderness to generate power. But I recently got invited to a music festival near Montreal that they sponsor, so hey?they?re all right with me. It?s called Le Festival de Lanaudi?re, and it?s billed as Canada?s largest summer celebration of classical music, with concerts running through July and into the first week of August. Like all good summer festivals, it takes place out in the country, about 40 miles from downtown Montreal. For folks in southern New Hampshire, that?s not much farther than the much-more-familiar drive to Tanglewood in western Mass., summer home of the Boston Symphony. Though Tanglewood runs longer, the two festivals have much in common. The Lanaudi?re festival?s main location is the Joliette Amphitheatre, a 2,000-seat outdoor venue that sounds similar to the concert shed at Tanglewood. This summer marks the festival?s 30th year, and they?re celebrating with an ambitious series of concerts by several orchestras led by some big-name conductors. Things start out big on Friday, July 7 with not one but two symphonies (one from Montreal, another from Quebec) joining forces with three choirs for an opening night of classical bombast, including the 1812 Overture and the Berlioz Te Deum. In subsequent weeks, Kent Nagano, new music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, will lead Mendelssohn?s ?Italian? Symphony No. 4, Mahler?s massive Symphony No. 3, and a concert version of Tchaikovsky?s opera ?Eugene Onegin.? If you?ve been hankering for a Beethoven symphony, the festival has your back. Guest conductor Paavo J?rvi will lead the visiting Deutsche Kammerphilharmonic of Bremen in performances of all nine of the big man?s big works over three days, from Friday, July 27 to Sunday, July 29. There?s a whole lot of other music, too, plus movies and food events and so on. I?m heading up for the last weekend, to hear Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa play Beethoven?s ?Emperor? Piano Concerto No. 5 and the concert version of ?Onegin.? Stay tuned to hear how it all goes. Meanwhile, anyone know the French for ?What are those green things in my poutine?? For more information on the festival, visit lanaudiere.org. ? A time for singing: You know it?s summer when the Nashua Symphony Chorus breaks out the score books and starts working their way through some of the big works of choral literature. The sessions, called ?Summer Sings,? are open to anyone ready to graduate from the shower and raise his or her voice in song. What happens is that on certain Monday nights through August, singers get together at 7:30 p.m. at Nashua?s Christan Science Church, 115 Concord St. For $7, you get a score to sing from, a conductor to lead you, and a pianist to play along as you sing through that evening?s masterpiece. This season?s first ?Summer Sing? took place Monday, June 18, with conductor Diane Cushing leading John Rutter?s Requiem. Upcoming dates are Monday, July 9, when Jody Greenhill leads the Zigeunerlieder by Johannes Brahms; Monday, July 23, when Diane Cushing returns for Haydn?s ?Creation? oratorio; Monday, Aug. 6, with Paul Madore leading Faure?s Requiem; Monday, Aug. 20 with Diane Cushing conducting Shaker Songs; and then on Monday, Aug. 27 another dose of Shaker Songs under Cushing to round things out. The Summer Sings are open to everyone regardless of ability or experience. For more information, visit nashuasymphony.org or call 595-5196. |
6/21/2007 Singing for his scholarship 6/14/2007 Very easy on the ears
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