Week Five at the Festival de Lanaudière (July 29 to August 3)

Mega-concert with the OSM and Rafael Payare
A deluge of international stars rains down on Joliette and Lanaudière

 

Joliette, July 27, 2022 - An OSM concert with more than 170 artists on stage, vocal fireworks with the elite of today’s tenors, and four exclusive performances by the American-French conductor William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissants … the penultimate week of the 45th Festival de Lanaudière will leave no one wanting for excitement!

In the words of Artistic Director Renaud Loranger, “The Festival is entering its final stretch. It has been a succession of amazing events that will mark our history: William Christie and Les Arts Florissants make their Festival debut after two postponements; the OSM and Rafael Payare perform Ravel and Scriabin; Jean-Yves Thibaudet gives his first concert here, and it’s a return for tenor Michael Spyres… It’s summer, it’s Lanaudière, it’s the Festival in all its splendour!”

A farewell mega-concert

Back from a triumphant tour of South Korea, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Music Director Rafael Payare make their third and final appearance in Joliette in 2022.

The program begins with Elysium by Quebec composer Samy Moussa, commissioned by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Festival de Lanaudière. The work received its premiere last September at Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, in a concert broadcast throughout Europe!

Then, more than 170 musicians and choristers take to the stage to perform Maurice Ravel’s symphonic ballet Daphnis et Chloé and Scriabin’s colossal Prometheus with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in his Canadian debut. This work is very rarely presented because of its over-the-top proportions. In fact, Scriabin planned for more than 200 lighting changes in his score!

Presented by Desjardins

Friday, July 29, 8 p.m. - Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay

William Christie: a quadruple bill

With us for what will be a major Festival premiere and an exclusive North American engagement, William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissants offer a series of four concerts in various formats, showing Quebec audiences why their unique reputation has spread across the musical planet. This concert series is part of a new partnership between the Festival de Lanaudière and the Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie.

The program of the first concert includes Handel’s peerless Pastoral Ode, an enchanting allegory of the virtues of nature and a poetic reflection on our place within it. This exquisite music will be performed by soloists from the renowned Jardin des Voix, Les Arts Florissants’ and the Juilliard School of Music’s (New York) academy for young singers.

Presented by the Pierre Desmarais Belvédère Foundation and the Stéfane Foumy Foundation

Saturday, July 30, 8 p.m. - Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants have devoted themselves for over 40 years to one of the most emblematic composers of the Grand Siècle: Marc-Antoine Charpentier. This concert is an immersion in the sacred choral music of this French Baroque master, a moment of grace between fervour and contemplation. The audience will rediscover the majesty of the Magnificat H. 77, the overwhelming serenity of the Litanies à la Vierge and the virtuoso score of the Nuptiae sacrae - a nuptial dialogue evoking the relationship of Christ with his faithful.

Presented by Desjardins

Monday, August 1, 8 p.m. - Joliette Cathedral

William Christie moves to the harpsichord to collaborate with violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte (darling of the Baroque scene and winner of the 2020 “Victoires de la musique classique” for an intimate recital in one of the Lanaudière Region’s enchanting villages, so remote from Carnegie Hall and the Philharmonie de Paris of which they are both regulars. Between the spellbinding sonatas of Leclair and his contemporary Senaillé, the master and his disciple invite us to partake of a prodigious Baroque feast.

Presented by Desjardins

Tuesday, August 2, 8 p.m. – Église de Sainte-Mélanie

To conclude his memorable visit, William Christie offers the Quebec public the opportunity to hear revelations Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano) and Thomas Dunford (lute). All three share a taste for musical audacity, brilliance and fantasy. Discover scrumptious Baroque nuggets, arias by Offenbach … and even a few surprises as the young artists combine splendour of tone, virtuosity, charisma, depth, and finesse.

Presented by Desjardins

Wednesday, August 3, 8 p.m. - Église Saint-Norbert

Vocal Fireworks with Spyres, Brownlee and Rossini

Tenor Michael Spyres captivated audiences at his Festival debut in 2019: beauty of tone, sophistication of style, impeccable technique… Few singers can claim nowadays to rival this American tenor. But his compatriot Lawrence Brownlee is one of them! Expected result: rarely heard vocal fireworks in a loving – and hedonistic – tribute to Rossini by a trio of gifted singers completed by the fabulous American soprano Meagan Sill.

Presented by La Presse

Sunday, Juy 31, 4 p.m. – Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay

Lanaudière 2022 : A rich and unique edition

Presented for the first time in 45 years over a six-week period, this year the Lanaudière Festival delivers even more generously than ever:

• 14 grand concerts at the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay;
• 10 performances in the magnificent churches of Lanaudière;
• 5 recitals in the new Hors les murs series;
• 4 classical music-themed films projected outdoors.

Ticketing

Tickets for all the concerts of the 2022 edition on sale at placedesarts.com.

Amphitheatre Box Office

450 759-4343 / 1 800 561-4343

lanaudiere.org

About the Festival de Lanaudière

The Festival de Lanaudière is the largest classical music festival in Canada and was founded in 1978. Year after year, the festival welcomes tens of thousands of spectators for concerts featuring some of the greatest artists on the national and international scenes. The event takes place primarily at the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay in Joliette, as well as in some of the region’s most beautiful churches. The Festival de Lanaudière is a member of the Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux (REMI).

General photos : click here

Photos (5th week) : Click here

 

Press relations
Cn2 communication
Chantal Neveu
514 927-1052
cneveu@cn2communication.com