Tuesday 22
I MUSICI DE MONTREAL
Richard Lee, guest conductor

Sunday 20, Teatro Rosas Moreno- Lagos de Moreno, 20:00 h - Admission free
Tuesday 22, Teatro Degollado, 11:00 h (didactic concert) - Admission free - FULL
Tuesday 22, Teatro Degollado, 20:30 h - $90 - $150

In Spanish

Programme:
Andante Cantabile de Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Souvenir de Florencia de Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
I- Allegro con spirito
[12 min]

II- Adagio cantabile e con moto
[11 min]

III- Allegretto moderato
[7 min]

IV-Allegro vivace
[8 min]

Intermission

Pictures at Exhibition by Modesto Mussorgsky ( 1839-1881)
+ Vídeo
[32 min]

Promenade/ Gnomus/ Promenade/ Il vecchio castello/ Promenade/ Tuileries/ Bydlo/ Promenade/ Ballet des petits poussins dans leurs coques/ Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle/ Limonges: le marché /Catacombae: Sepulchrum Romanum - Cum mortuis in lingua mortua/ La Cabane de Baba Yaga sur des pattes de poule/La Grande Porte de Kiev

L'Orchestre de Chambre
I Musici de Montréal

Founded by cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky, I Musici de Montréal is a chamber orchestra of 15 musicians that performs a vast repertoire extending from the baroque to the contemporary. The orchestra presents a busy schedule of over 100 concerts per season throughout the world, including three prestigious series in Montréal. This extraordinary amount of activity places I Musici de Montréal among the most important touring orchestras in Canada. Since its beginnings, I Musici de Montréal has released more than 40 CDs for the Chandos and Analekta Record Labels that are distributed in more than 50 countries around the world.

These recordings have won the orchestra and Maestro Turovsky many awards, including a Diapason d’Or for their 1988 recording of Shostakovitch’s 14th Symphony and a 1992 Penguin Guide Rosette for their Concerti grossi, opus 6 by Handel. I Musici de Montréal’s recording of Handel has since become a reference recording of the highest standard. In December of 1998, the Conseil Québecois de la Musique gave two Opus Awards to the orchestra for Recording Event of the Year and Best Recording - contemporary music for a CD grouping works by Gorecki, Pärt and Schnittke. In August 2001, BBC Music Magazine named as their CD of the Month I Musici de Montréal’s 40th CD, a recording of Miaskovsky, Schnittke and Denisov, naming it “Pick of the month”. In 2007 the orchestra won the Opus Award for their latest record Shotakovich´s Circle and was nominated for a Juno Award.

In 1999, I Musici de Montréal was awarded the Grand Prix by the Montréal Urban Community for their exceptional contribution to music presentation in and around Montréal. In 2004, the orchestra and Maestro Turovsky received a uniquely special award for internationak perfomances presented bay the Conseil québécois de la musique. This award saluted the 20th. Anniversary of the orchestra and the whole work that made the reputation of theorchestra throughoutthe years.

Under the dynamic and visionary direction of Maestro Yuli Turovsky who also performs as cello soloist with the orchestra, I Musici de Montréal has performed in some of the greatest halls in the world: New York’s Lincoln Center, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, the Seiji Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussel, the Kioi Hall in Tokyo and the Philarmonie in Luxemburg, among others. Public enthusiasm and critical acclaim underlining the precision, cohesion and virtuosity of their performance as well as the brilliant and distinctive sound of the orchestra confirm I Musici de Montréal’s importance on the world’s musical stage.

“The Incredible String Band”, The independent, London

“I Musici de Montréal is a decidedly virtuoso group”,
South China Morning Post, Hon Kong

“Whiplash precision and tension” Stereo Review, New York

LISTE DES MISICIENS / MISICIAN´S ROSTER

Guest conductor
Richard Lee

Concertmaster
Julie Triquet

Violin
Denis Béliveau
Catherine Sansfaçon Bolduc
Madeleine Messier
Françoise Morin-Lyons
Christian Prévost
Ariane Lajoie
Yubin Kim
Valérie Belzile

Viola
Anne Beaudry
Suzanne Careau
Jacques Proulx

Cello
Alain Aubut
Timothy Bruce Halliday

Double Bass
Yannick Chênevert

Concert Reviews Excerpts

“One of the best chamber orchestras in North America”
Fanfare Magazine, New Jersey, January 2005

“…we can attribute the absolute perfection and precision even in the prestissimo sections…”
“Stellar performance stamps I Musici de Montréal”
“The last movement [Divertimento for Cello and String in D Major by Haydn],… was extremely fast, so much so, that we fully expected to see smoke, if not flames, issuing from the musicians bows. It was a spectacular end to the first half of the program.”
The Press Journal, Florida, April 2002

“From this orchestra, I musucu de Montréal, comes a rich and warm sound. The conductor, Yuli Turovsky, draws a superb performance aout of them.”
Yedioth Ahronoth, Tel Aviv, May 2001

“A cultural bouquet (…) the ensemble sounded ligth and delightful, their playing was refined and their presentation refreshing and attractive. The audience reacted enthusiastically, thus, giving its approval ti both content and quality.”
Ma´Ariv, Tel Aviv, May 2001

“I Musici de Montréal mixes pasión, and innovation. The performance (at the Kravis Center) lively and beautifully shaped-was so full of passion and energy that one was almost compelled to stand up and start a line dance down the aisles.”
The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach, March 2001

“To say it was a moving performance was an understatement; as the 14 other string players are on stage, they joined Turovsky in fingering and bowing ghostly harmonics, challenging to sustain even when standing still…”
The Morning Star, Vernon, British Columbia, November 2000

“ True Misici, true Wunderkind. Nearly a perfect 10 for the concert by our Musici. The program was good, the performance even better.”
La Presse, Montréal, October 2000

“Yuli Turovsky, bursting with genius, strength and character, led the ensemble with great expression in his gesture. Electrying pianissimo and original vigorous fortissimo lent new life to the score, perhaps far removed from what purists would call style, but very close to the performance aspect and individualized, romantic concept of the music.”
Avilés Y Comarca, Avilés, Spain, December 1999

“Intense gestures. Opulent plesures. I Musici de Montréal proved with his interpretation of the Schubert Quartet (among others) that with these 15 musicians, an outstanding Ensemble had found its way to Rüsselsheim (…) offering a sensuous hearing experience. The orchestra is highly motivated and therefore causes the music to shine.”
Rüsselsheimer, Rüsselsheim, Germany, December 1999

“Last night a miracle. First, the program: extremely varied, with many new works, daring surprising.”
La Presse, Montréal, February 1998

“We were treated to refreshing playing, in wich music became more than rote, but engaged one with heart and joy.”
Zuriberg, Zurich, Switzerland, February 1955

“The orchestra leaves an impression of remarkable directness, autority and distinct personality. The performances. All strongly defined, gain their particular character from an unstinting vitally in the sound and the urgent involvement of every player in producing that sound and the urgent involvement of every player in producing that sound.”
Financial Times, London, England, October 1992

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Souvenir de Florence by Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

“Florence is so very dear to my Herat. The longer you spend here the fonder you grow of it. This isn’t a noisy capital, where your eyes don’t know which way to look and which tires you with its bustle. But at the same time, there are so many things here full of artistic and historical interest that there is no chance of being bored.”

Tchaikovsky first set foot in Florence in 1878, thanks to the generosity of the wealthy widow Nadezhda von Meck, to whom he sent his impressions every day. He was immediately enchanted by the city’s museums, churches and art galleries, but he made their acquaintance gradually, almost tenderly. He would stroll around in the early morning before returning to his work table around 11.a.m. “I cannot begin to tell you how glorious perfect tranquility of the evenings is, when all you can hear is the distant sound of the waters of the Arno as they tumble or flow down an incline. One can’t imagine a more comfortable or suitable place to work.”

Tchaikovsky never forgot Florence, and in the early 1890s, after the triumphant premiere of Sleeping Beauty, he returned to his “dream city”. There, he composed most of The Queen of Spades and began his String Sextet, a work promised four years earlier to the president of the Imperial Chamber Music Society in Saint-Petersburg. After dashing through the conception of the opera, Tchaikovsky made much slower progress with the sextet. In June of 1890, he wrote to the pianist Alexander Siloti, “I have the constant feeling that instead of writing for six voices, I am writing an orchestral transcription for six instruments.” To his brother, he confided, “It requires six independent and equal voices. It’s incredibly difficult!”

The sextet was first performed privately in Moscow in November 1891 in the presence of Alexander Glazunov and Anatoly Lyadov, who had some reservations about the last two movements. Tchaikovsky confidently made some revisions and, at last satisfied, gave the score to his publisher in June. The definitive version was premiered in Saint Petersburg six months later.

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