Another Concert

Photos: March 27, 2016

Every day is a good day to listen to (or play) Bach. His music is so uplifting, so complex, so spiritual, so inspiring... There are so many adjectives I could add to describe his many works. Salle Bourgie is featuring all his cantatas, by many different groups over eight years. Read more here. These strings were ready for two cantatas written for Easter.



This performance was given by Ensemble Caprice, one of Montreal's many wonderful early music ensembles. I have followed this group since they first started performing in Montreal and have known many of the musicians both through their time at CAMMAC and through their Montreal musical offerings, both on the teaching side and performing. One of the artistic directors, Sophie Larivière is also the director of Flutissimo (the recorder orchestra I play in).  I loved her solo yesterday on baroque flute. Yesterday's performance was glorious. How can you go wrong with Bach?

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Bonus



A surprise on my way home. While this may look like a lovely pond for ducks - it is actually a drainage area - a catchment to help avoid flooding in a very urban surrounding area. These ducks seem to think it is a great place to stop. I hope they don't decide that it is a great place for a nest.

Jan16/10: Taking a Bow

Jan16/10: Taking a Bow, originally uploaded by susanvg.

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am passionate about music and early music in particular. A concert with one of my favourite groups, Ensemble Caprice, with Daniel Taylor as the guest was certainly a highlight. I have watched the careers of both the ensemble and Taylor for a number of years. I first heard Dan Taylor in about 1989 when he sang at CAMMAC, the music camp I go to most summers. He was a student at McGill and came up with some other students to do a concert. It was my first introduction to a counter tenor and I was smitten. His voice had and still has a purity that I find moving and remarkable. Since that time I have heard him in many venues (often in this church) and with a variety of groups. He now has an international career, singing all over the world with many early music ensembles and opera companies.
I first met the members of Ensemble Caprice at CAMMAC, as well. The wonderful part of the early music community here, is that the musicians and audience have many opportunities to interact. In many cases, these are not just performers for me, they are friends.

They should all take a bow for their many accomplishments. I know my life is far richer each time they share their talents.

Day 262: Music the Unifier

Day 262: Music the Unifier, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Day three of the Montreal Recorder Festival ended with a joint concert of Ensemble Caprice and Quynade (a medieval ensemble from Israel). There were a number of things that were interesting to note that shows how unifying music is.

The concert was played in a church on the second evening of Rosh Hashonah. If you stopped to think about the people on stage (Israelis along with the Montreal based musicians who originated from Montreal, Germany, England, Egypt and Iran) and the program they chose to share, there are odd combinations. The program included medieval music written for religious purposes (as so much of it was). Yet a message that may have been written for one purpose, for example the Cantigas de Santa Maria - songs written for Saint Mary could convey the mood and feelings Quynade wanted to share.

If you watched the musicians, their thoughts were not on politics and historical hatreds, but on sharing that intangible spirit that comes from creation - their joy in the music, their pleasure in playing together and creating something larger than themselves. Certainly, in this concert, music transcended time, politics and religion.