The fairy tale opera, L’eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante et l’oiseau qui dit la vérité is asserted to be the summum of Gilles Tremblay’s creative life. The premiere of this lyric work, a little over two hours long, is to be held tonight, at the Monument National in Montreal. Permeated by a strongly poetic strain, the opera is the product of a collaborative enterprise between Tremblay and poet and novelist Pierre Morency (signing his debut libretto)―two men united by a shared communion with nature. “Every word was re-examined, discussed, made to conform, in accordance with the music it will support,” explains Morency. “A libretto not only tells a story, but provides a base from which the composer can launch into his music.”

As occurs all too often, a cruel twist of fate intervened, and Gilles Tremblay could not be present at the rehearsals: he is convalescing from a CVA but should be there tonight. Fired with enthusiasm, the stage director Robert de Bellefeuille states: “We have the very delicate responsibility of bringing this work into the world. It traverses our whole bodies; we are investing a part of ourselves in it, unreservedly, uncompromisingly. The work will be complete only on the evening of the premiere; it is up to us to bring it forward without imposing it, in such a way that the audience will embrace it and be transported by it.”

A series of concerts and homages are held this week in Rio to honour the memory of one of – if not the – most important Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, who passed away on November 17, 1959.

“He was deeply immersed from the earliest age in an atmosphere of nationalistic exaltation, affirmation and search of “modernism” in all its meanings. He captured in his musical language all the elements of his universe, and through this conveyed the essence of his self-definition as a man and as an artist. His vast knowledge of his people’s folklore combined with his mastery of the compositional techniques of the “educated” musical styles of the period led to a most universal artistic product”, explained guitarist Alvaro Pierri in his program notes of his 1995 CD devoted to the composer.

“Composition was therefore his activity, fundamental, essential and vital, even during the course of normal life, while giving a lesson, surrouded by his friends or cooking a stew! Without a hint of arrogance he once told a reporter in a sudden impulse of sincerity: “I am the folklore.” Such a comment was fitting for a man of his vitality – powerful transfiguration of the cultural mosaic of his musical “nation.” Friend of Stokowski, Varèse, Milhaud, Rubinstein, Segovia, unsurpassed orchestrator and chamber musician, orchestra and choir conductor, unique pedagogue of spectacular realisations, often controversial, he always disseminated his creative energy in all directions to the major benefit of our emotions.”

To listen to his music…

I admit that I am not a big Christmas fan but I really do enjoy Handel’s Messiah (written, let’s remind ourselves, to be sung at Easter). So when I read this invitation from Tafelmusik, I was a little titillated.

Indeed, the baroque orchestra just launched a contest to find the the best 90-second video celebrating the  spirit of their annual Sing-Along Messiah performance. As the media release says, “Now is your chance to show the world your finest Sing-Along voice by recording your best rendition of your favourite Messiah excerpt in a 90-second video that will be viewable worldwide. Be creative! Have fun! Sing your heart out with friends and family or be a daring soloist. You can appear in the video, or not, as long as the music and/or voices in the video are your own. (You could even film yourself as a sock puppet!). It doesn’t matter if you are a member of a choir, or you have never sung before – if you enjoy Handel’s Messiah, show us your stuff.”

Prizes will be offered for the Best Overall Performance, Best Group / Family, Best Soloist, and Most Creative, and the final decisions will be made by Mr. Handel himself, at the annual concert. For more information, you can visit Tafelmusik’s website

You can learn a little bit about Messiah by reading this article, published a few years back in La Scena Musicale…

What if we were to take a piece of classical music and represent it with graphics? What would it look like? This is what demonstrates the Music Animation Machine. Each instrument has its own line (like a conductor’s score would) as well as its own colour. This is how we can visualize one of the best-known works of the repertoire and appreciate it in a totally different light.

Through the years, he also became diplomatic correspondent, Kapellmeister of the courts of Duke Ernst of Gotha and eventually Kantor of the Hamburg Johanneum, a position that required  him to compose two cantatas a week, to produce a new Passion annually, and to provide occasional works for church and civil ceremonies. But it wasn’t enough for Telemann who also wanted to have his hand at opera, despite the opposition of the city fathers. Fed up with their attitude, he threatened to resign and applied for the post of Kantor of the Leipzig Thomaskirche, and in 1722 was chosen over Bach, Graupner and three other candidates. Since the Hamburg City Council refused to grant his release, they were nevertheless obliged to improve his salary and withdraw their objections to his association with the Hamburg Opera. Telemann remained in Hamburg until his death in 1767, being succeeded in that position by his godson, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of Johann Sebastian.

Considered the most famous musician in Germany, Telemann was an extremely prolific composer, and wrote more than 3000 works (some sources mention 3600), including more than 1500 church cantatas, 600 suites for orchestra and 46 settings of the Passion! Handel, a lifelong friend, would jokingly relate that Telemann “could write a church piece in eight parts with the same expedition another would write a letter”.

Listen to Telemann and the Baroque Gypsies, Ensemble Caprice’s latest album…