Cellist Yegor Dyachkov, whose talent was featured on a recent release, Interwar Duets (with violinist Olivier Thouin), will join Appassionata on Friday, in Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major, as part of the inaugural concert of the Orgue et Couleurs Festival.

He is featured in a rather interesting interview here (in French), in which, for example, he explains he was “tricked” by his mother into playing the cello. Since at that time, he dreamt of working in a zoo, she convinced him that all animals liked music and that lions just loved the low soothing sound of the cello. When later, he stopped to ponder if he could ever play with and for the king of the jungle, it was too late, he was hooked. He also explains:

“As other art forms, music brings us back to us in one way or another, it brings us back to our humanity, to a universal experience. It can put us in touch with something mysterious, undefinable, yet essential. It moves the heart and delights the spirit. Music is the art form that transforms our time perception.”

The star-studded jury of the MIMC has heard it all over the years. Nevertheless, there are far from being blasé about this new crop of pianists about to take Montreal by storm.

I interviewed Arnaldo Cohen a few weeks ago about what he was looking for in a candidate. Here are some of his answers.

“It’s always fascinating to find out how the judgement can vary throughout the competition. But in the end, I think there is always a common point and that you will point to one or two candidates only. Maybe I’ll love a piece a candidate played in the first stage and a colleague of mine will prefer something else, but those two candidates will pass to the next round because it’s not the question yet to only vote for one. Sometimes, you will like someone in the first round and then be disappointed and you could be fascinated by someone who raised his level. When you get to the finals, all the candidates are basically unanimous from all the jury members.

Someone who wins the first prize has to be ready for a career. You have to be able to see how he deals with the orchestra, how experienced he can be because you can be a great talent but not be prepared yet because of lack of experience for example to play with an orchestra
The problem of this profession in my view is that you have an appointment with inspiration and you have one chance. You worked for thousands of hours and you play that recital and that’s it.  You have to take everything into consideration, like the emotion state, perhaps the mental state. There are so many things that can go wrong – and that is the brutal part of it.

For me a wrong note is not a wrong note. When you are a professional, you know what can happen and you have to see the different sides and be open to different interpretations.  You have to be generous enough to open your ears and I’m prepared to listen to his views as opposed as my view being the only views and I think this is the fascinating process.”

You can listen to the Competition live online here, starting at 1 p.m. today.

Some of us will enjoy a few days to relax this weekend or might eat a tiny bit too much chocolate (me? never!) but I doubt that Marianne Fiset will take those four days to just rest and forget about everything. Indeed, in a few short weeks, she will be the mythical Mimi in La bohème at Opéra de Montréal. Winner of the MIMC four years ago (time flies, doesn’t it?), she is already leading a very busy professional life, both on the opera stage and the concert scene and her recordings keep gathering rave reviews. She is featured on the current edition of La Scena Musicale and she talks about her career and how she will get ready for this role.

You can read the article on page 24 of the PDF.

Angèle Dubeau recently recorded a podcast with Rick Philips, in which she talks about the Portrait series, featuring up until now composers Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt and, very recently John Adams. “The music of these three composers does speak to me,” she explains in the interview. She talks about how she chooses the repertoire and why these composers appeal to her and to the audience.

You can listen to the full podcast here…

To listen to the Adams album, the latest in the series…

She has a voice that lends itself to baroque music but also to contemporary repertoire. Why choose when you can do it all with the same apparent ease? She certainly dislikes labels or to have to pick one period of music history instead of another. Soprano Shannon Mercer is featured on the cover of the March issue of La Scena Musicale. You can read the profile here…

You can listen to her in Francesca Caccini’s works in O viva rosa.