Wednesday,  October 24th 2018,  7:30 p. m.
Bourgie Hall
1339 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal
Peel Metro

SUMMARY

The “Grand Siècle”—17th century France—was not simply a century of monarchical grandeur. It was also a time of intense piety, although this was not necessarily always evident in the music being created; considering the melodic sensuality and the refined ornamentation and drama— stemming from opera—that characterize it, one might even speak of a cult of seduction. The movements of Charpentier’s Assumpta est Maria mass will alternate with a few motets by François Couperin, namely to Saint Cecilia and to Saint Susanna. Three of these, which were lacking instrumental parts, have been fittingly reconstructed by British conductor Edward Higginbottom; they will be performed for the first time on this side of the Atlantic.

Presented in collaboration with Arte Musica.

Edward Higginbottom explains his reconstruction of motets in a lecture on Tuesday, October 23rd 2018 at 5:30pm at Bourgie Hall. Duration : 1h30

Listen the pre-concert conversation (Élisabeth Gallat-Morin / Edward Higginbottom)

PROGRAM

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) Missa Assumpta est Maria
François Couperin (1668-1733) Cinq motets

Duration : 1 h 30

WITH

Solistes
Rebecca Dowd, soprano
Stephanie Manias, soprano
Philippe Gagné, high tenor
Normand Richard, bass-baritone

Choristes-solistes
Anne-Marie Beaudette et Dorothéa Ventura, soprano
Josée Lalonde et Nicholas Burns, alto
Nils Brown et Michiel Schrey, tenor
Clayton Kennedy, William Kraushaar et Yves Saint-Amant, basses

Instruments 
Chantal Rémillard, concertmistress
Tanya Laperrière, violin
Jacques-André Houle, viola
Amanda Keesmaat, bass violin
Sylvain Bergeron, theorbo
Edward Higginbottom, guest conductor and organ