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French Baroque Masterworks Relevant To Champlain Legacy
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The celebrated baroque ensemble Les Boréades de Montréal (pr. lay borayahd) performs Sunday March 15 at 3:00 p.m. at the Church in the Hollow on Route 3 in Saranac. This is the fifth concert on the Hill and Hollow Music series commemorating the Champlain Quadricentennial 1609-2009. Each year Les Boréades’ home concert series at Montréal’s historic Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel is sold out. The group also tours extensively throughout Canada and abroad, participating each year in renowned international festivals for early music. Among recent triumphs are performances at the Frick Collection in New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Vancouver Festival, Musikfest Bremen, and Alter Musik Regensburg. Les Boréades has twice won the coveted Opus Prize bestowed by the Conseil québécois de la musique (Québec Council for Music): in 1999 for “Best Performance of the Year” and again in 2000 for “Best Recording of the Year” for early and classical music. The ensemble boasts fifteen recordings on the ATMA label.
Exploration, colonization, and development of the natural resources of North America continued full-force following Champlain’s death. Champlain’s legacy was fulfilled as New France achieved its zenith in the middle of the 18th century, encompassing all of Canada and the lands west of the Mississippi River. French arts and culture also flourished during this period, known as the Baroque. And French music reached a zenith—or apotheosis—during this era. The term “apotheosis” refers here to French music achieving its own unique identity, distinct from the stylistic dominance of other nationalities, especially Italian. The “Sun King” Louis XIV made it his personal mission to support the creation of a recognizable French style of music composition, noted for its delicacy, good taste, and finely crafted structure and balance. His favorite composers, especially Jean-Baptiste Lully, furthered this goal. Ironically, Lully was born Italian! But his greatest compositions combine Italian vivacity with French refinement. Marin Marais was a student of Lully. François Couperin came to the forefront of French music after Lully’s death. He is noted for trying to perfect music though observing the ideal of “les goûts réunis,” a reconciliation of French and Italian musical tastes. Les Boréades’ March 15 concert in Saranac will feature six musicians: a pair of recorders/baroque flutes, a pair of baroque violins, harpsichord, and viola da gamba. The program will begin with Suite in G Minor and Suite in B-flat Major of Marais, separated by Trios pour les couchers du Roy of Lully (intended to be played for the King as he prepared to retire for the night). Next come two great works of Couperin: Le Parnasse, or L’Apothéose de Corelli, a “grand trio sonata” elegizing the beloved Italian composer Corelli, followed by L’Apothéose de Lully “composed in the immortal memory of the incomparable Lully.” Hill and Hollow Music is a key participant in the Champlain Quadricentennial, interpreting the theme “Vive la France!—From the Old Country to the New World” with performances of French and Franco-American music. Throughout the year a variety of music and dance events—drawing on medieval, renaissance, baroque, traditional folk, and contemporary traditional—tell the story of French exploration and settlement in our region from 1609 onward, and illustrate the diversity of French culture in North America, one that continues to thrive and evolve in our present day. General-seating tickets at $15 for the March 15 concert of Les Boréades de Montréal may be obtained in advance by mail or at the door. Significant member discounts and subscription rates are available. For more information please call 518-293-7613 or visit on-line at www.hillandhollowmusic.org.
Community Outreach Concert Mini-Concert - 50 minutes’ duration Excerpts of Apothéoses Françaises (French Apotheoses) Saturday March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Forest Senior Living Community ($10 concert only or $20 includes 5:30 p.m. dinner)
More About the Artists . . . Founded by Francis Colpron in 1991, Les Boréades de Montréal focuses on early music. The ensemble has chosen an interpretive approach in keeping with the spirit of the Baroque era, by adhering to the rules of performance practice of the past and playing on period instruments. Critics and audiences alike in Canada and abroad have been unanimous in hailing the group’s energy and spontaneity as well as its theatrical, expressive, and elegant playing, indicative of a unique flair for Baroque aesthetics. The Boreads were Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the god of the north wind, Boreas. Their father was the son of Eos (goddess of the dawn) and of Astraeus. The brothers were Titans, beings who, in Greek mythology, personify the elemental forces of nature. Zetes, the more spirited of the two, was associated with quests. Calais, the temperamental one, personified the turquoise sea. Each year Les Boréades gives a series of concerts at Montréal’s historic Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel with international guest artists, many of which have been broadcast by the national broadcasting corporation. The group has received many grants from the Québec and Canada governments and has toured extensively in Canada and abroad, taking part in several renowned festivals. The musicians also performed at the Frick Collection of New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Vancouver Festival, Musikfest Bremen, and Alter Musik Regensburg. Les Boréades won the Prix Opus for best performance of the 1998-1999 season, bestowed by the Conseil québécois de la musique in December 1999, and the same prize a year later for best recording of the year in early and classical music. The ensemble boasts fifteen recordings on the ATMA label featuring renowned artists such as Hervé Niquet, Skip Sempé, Manfredo Kraemer, Alex Weimann, Eric Milnes and Karina Gauvin. In 2006 Hyver, with Karina Gauvin, was nominated as Juno’s Best Classical Album of the Year and was also nominated for an award at the ADISQ gala. Another recording with Karina Gauvin, Purcell, was also nominated as Juno’s Best Classical Album of the Year. Other recordings by Les Boréades, all on the ATMA label, include Baroque-Sonates virtuoses du XVIIe siècle; Noëls français du XVIIIe siècle aux instruments; Private Musick; Théâtre musical; Telemann-Suite & Concertos; Beatles Baroque, volumes I, II, and III; In stilo moderno; Super Flumina Babylonis; Acis and Galatea; and KammerMusik II. On film Les Boréades appear on Le Maestro Errant, a romanced biography of George Frideric Handel, 11th episode of the series entitled Musique de chambre, Cine Qua None Film. www.boreades.com Francis Colpron, flautist, has been recognized these past few years as one of the most talented instrumentalists of his generation. His qualities and capacity to innovate in both the artistic and interpretive spheres have been acclaimed by the public, critics, and cultural authorities alike. In 1991 he founded Les Boréades de Montréal, of which he is artistic director, and runs a successful series in Montréal, touring in North America and Europe, and recording many CDs on the ATMA label. Besides teaching at the Université de Montréal, he is a regular guest of prestigious summer music camps such as Amherst in the United States as well as Cammac and Lanaudière in Quebec. He is the flute and recorder player of the Portland Trinity Consort (Oregon) and he is also a regular guest of other ensembles such as the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier, Les Violons du Roy, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, and the Nova Scotia Orchestra. In addition to the many recordings by Les Boréades, Francis Colpron has several solo recordings to his credit, also on the ATMA label: Bravade, Jacob van Eyck & cie; Dieupart: Les Six Suites; and Frutti Musicali.
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