A new exhibit will open on February 22 at Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, centered around Debussy, whose 150th birthday will be celebrated throughout 2012. The exhibit is “a mix of works Debussy admired and those he could have seen”, according to the team behind this all, Xavier Rey of the Musée d’Orsay,  Guy Cogeval, the director of the Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie (formerly head of the Montreal Fine Arts Museum) and musicologist Jean-Michel Nectoux. Pieces once owned by his brothers-in-law—the painter Henry Lerolle, the composer Ernest Chausson and Arthur Fontaine — are mostly featured.  If you plan a trip abroad, you won’t want to miss it. Concerts and conferences will also be presented until June 11.

Details can be found here…

The 15th gala of the Prix Opus was held yesterday afternoon in the very beautiful Salle Bourgie of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. No less than 28 awards were given out during this celebration of concert music, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Conseil québécois de la musique.

Several musical performances were included throughout the gala. The audience heard the Zaldivar Trio, the Bozzini Quartet in an excerpt from an Ana Sokolovic work to be premiered in October, composer Jean-François Laporte in Rituel, an intriguing and rather poetic work for flying can, the Fanfarniente, harpist Valérie Milot in two movements from a piece by Glenn Buhr, as well as a baroque group with Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, Olivier Brault, and actors Jean-François Gagnon and Carl Béchard.

A very moving homage was rendered to Yuli Turovsky, who left I Musici’s musical direction last May for health reasons.  From the long list of winners, let’s mention the program The Art of François Couperin, a Clavecin en concert production, led by Luc Beauséjour, (“Concert of the year – medieval, Renaissance, baroque repertoires”), On n’est jamais trop classique, a youth program from the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (“Young audience production”) and pianist Louise Bessette, who celebrates in 2012 her first 30 years of career, nominated twice in the category “Disc of the year – modern, contemporary repertoires” who went home with the precious prize for her Serge Arcuri project.

Cloé Palacio-Quintin becomes “composer of the year” and  baroque flutist Vincent Lauzer (who has worked with Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivière of Ensemble Caprice) “upcoming artist”. Julie Boulianne’s work on the international stage was as well saluted.

Congratulations to all!

Everyone loves to hate them, but critics remain an essential part of the music world. Alex Ross from The New Yorker, author of The Rest is Noise, was in Oberlin recently for the inaugural edition of the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism.

Part symposium for present and former critics, part workshop for ten young writers from the Oberlin community, the event also offered concerts for the student critics to judge (and seasoned journalists to discuss, no doubt), including performances by the Cleveland Orchestra. In his address to students, Ross quoted E. M. Forster: “The critic ought to combine Mephistopheles with the archangels, experience with innocence. He ought to know everything inside out, and yet be surprised.”

The post can be read here…

Young Canadian cellist Stéphane Tétreault just learned that he will now have the privilege to play on a Stradivarius, the “Paganini, Countess of Stainlein”, owned until he passed away on May 13 by Bernard Greenhouse, venerable member of the Beaux-Arts Trio.

The instrument was sold by Reuning & Son Violins to a patroness of the arts from Montreal, who whishes to remain anonymous, for a little over  6 millions  dollars.

“I am immensely touched and humbled to have been chosen to play an instrument that was cherished for so many years by Bernard Greenhouse, who has always had my great respect and admiration,” Tétreault stated in a press release.

The 18-year-old cellist studies at Université de Montréal with Yuli Turovsky. He will give a recital on February 4, at 2:30 p.m., at Théâtre Outremont.  The concert will be recorded by Espace musique and available on the Internet from March 2 on at www.radio-canada.ca/revelations.

An article from The Gazette and one from The  New York Times.