Orchester Symphonique de Québec

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Logo of the Orchester Symphonique de Québec (since 2017)
The Orchester Symphonique de Québec with the chief conductor Joseph Vézina seated in the first row in the middle.

The Orchester Symphonique de Québec or Quebec Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra founded in 1902 from the city of Québec in the Canadian province of the same name .

Already known as Orchester Symphonique de Québec at the time of its founding , the orchestra appeared as Société symphonique de Québec (SSQ) from 1903 after a few other musicians had joined . After merging with the Cercle Philharmonique de Québec (CPQ), founded in 1935 , the orchestra was given its original name again.

It is now (as of 2019) one of the leading orchestras in Canada and is also the oldest and longest continuously active in the country.

history

From the beginning to the First World War

After Joseph Vézina had conducted three major concerts with an orchestra consisting of all freelance musicians in the Quebec City Armory on the 50th anniversary of Laval University on June 23, 24 and 25, 1902 , the three young instrumentalists Léonidas Dumas , Joseph Talbot decided and Raoul Vézina - the latter is a son of the great conductor - to establish a permanent music group. Together with around 25 musicians, they founded the Orchester Symphonique de Québec on October 3 or 5, 1902 . Joseph Vézina was introduced as chief conductor, a position he held until his death in 1924. The new ensemble made its first public appearance on November 28, 1902 in three acts during a choir concert at Tara Hall on Québec's rue Sainte-Anne. With a more extensive program, the orchestra then appeared again on December 5, 1902 in the Tara Hall. On February 23, 1903, four members of the Septuor Haydn septet ( J.-Alexandre Gilbert , W. Noble Campbell , Arthur Lavigne and Nazaire LeVasseur ), as well as the ten members of the regimental band , joined the orchestra to strengthen it. This association of 40 musicians with a wide variety of backgrounds chose Société symphonique de Québec , or SSQ for short , as the name for its ensemble . At the same time, the founding president Léonidas Dumas resigned his office to J.-Alexandre Gilbert. Gilbert then appeared as concertmaster until 1934. The official establishment of the SSQ took place on March 20, 1906; The Société only adopted its motto “Arte alitur fulgetque” ( German : art nourishes and enlightens ) on June 3, 1927.

In 1903 the Société symphonique de Québec was chosen to inaugurate the Auditorium de Québec music hall , now known as the Capitole de Québec or Théâtre Capitole , at a concert . Subsequently, three subscription concerts were held annually in the auditorium, especially in the early days. At the opening on August 31 and September 1, 1903, the soloists Rosario Bourdon , Paul Dufault , Émiliano Renaud and Joseph Saucier appeared. The subscriptions mentioned were sold from 1904 onwards. Up until the First World War , the SSQ also held a series of three concerts a year for the Société du parler français au Canada (the national covenant of Francophone Canadians ) and often performed on other festive occasions, most of which were of a religious nature.

Under Vézina's leadership, the orchestra quickly developed into one of the most successful in the country; As early as 1907, the SSQ won first prize in the music category at a music and theater competition organized by Albert Gray, 4th Earl Gray , the then Governor General of Canada , at the Russel Theater in Ottawa . The judge here was George Chadwick , who was considered one of the most important American composers at the time and was director of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston , Massachusetts . A short time later, the SSQ had a big gig at Monument-National in Montreal . In 1908, Vézina was president of the music committee for the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the city of Québec. On this occasion, the Société symphonique de Québec played several important concerts. Until 1914, the symphony orchestra played large subscription concerts with around 60 musicians. In addition, the orchestra was invited to perform in other parts of the country, notably in Ottawa, Montreal, Sherbrooke and Montmagny .

Even before the war, renowned soloists performed with the SSQ in order to keep the balance between local and international artists. Vézina created the scores for three comic operas published by the Société symphonique de Québec for the first time in 1906 ( Le lauréat ; libretto by Félix-Gabriel Marchand ), 1910 ( Le rajah ; libretto by Gaston Morelles (pseudonym of Benjamin Michaud )) and 1912 ( Le fétiche ; libretto by Alex Villandray and Louis Fleur (pseudonyms by Alexandre Plante and Antonio Langlais )). A fourth work ( La große gerbe ), based on a poem by Pamphile Le May , remained unfinished. The operas, all of which premiered in the Auditorium de Québec , were considered successful.

Period from 1914 to 1950

The outbreak of World War I abruptly stopped the orchestra's activities. Instead of subscription concerts, philanthropic concerts took place during this time. When the Spanish flu claimed millions of lives around the world from 1918 onwards, the SSQ ceased operations from March 1918 to March 1919 and did not make a single appearance. One of the reasons for this was the high production costs. On April 13 and 14, 1921, the SSQ invited the young violinist Arthur LeBlanc (1906–1985) to make his debut. Until the mid-1940s, LeBlanc continued to perform regularly with the orchestra. On the occasion of François de Montmorency-Laval's 300th birthday , the SSQ and a 300-part choir gave a concert in front of about 6,000 spectators; The oratorio La rédemption by Charles Gounod was played . After the death of Joseph Vézina on October 5, 1924, Robert Talbot became the new chief conductor of the Société symphonique de Québec. Under his leadership, the ensemble's repertoire was expanded and, on the 25th anniversary of the SSQ, Talbot conducted the first full performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony in May 1928 .

In addition, symphonies by Haydn and Schubert (in whole or in part), Dvořák's From the New World (9th symphony) , Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker , Faurés Masques et Bergamasques , prelude (orchestral introduction) to Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , the 3 . Symphony of Brahms , the Symphony in D minor by César Franck and the 6th Symphony of Glazunov played. Other works were by Vincent d'Indy , Emmanuel Chabrier , Ernest Chausson and Joseph Guy Ropartz . In 1931 Talbot made it possible for the orchestra to make its radio debut. A year later, at the inauguration of the Palais Montcalm, a concert with the soloist Raoul Jobin (1906–1974) took place. After Gilbert had left his position as concertmaster in 1934 after more than three decades, this position was taken over by Alphonse Saint-Hilaire , who himself only remained in office until 1936.

Difficult times again began for de SSQ in autumn 1935, when a group of young dissidents who wanted to increase the quality and quantity of the concerts, under Edwin Bélanger , united to form the Cercle Philharmonique de Québec , or CPQ for short . The first concert took place on December 10, 1935 in the Palais Montcalm. The first season consisted of four public concerts and five free educational concerts for schoolchildren, which was an important innovation. Within a very short time the CPQ developed into a rival of the SSQ that should not be underestimated. Over the next seven years, the CPQ presented 45 concerts in this way, whereas the SSQ had 31 concerts. The time when the city of Québec had two symphony orchestras ended again in 1942 when the two orchestras merged and formed the now Orchester Symphonique de Québec . The ongoing financial problems of both orchestras forced them to take this step; the original founding name was named on June 25, 1942. Talbot retired as chief conductor; the aforementioned Edwin Bélanger succeeded him in this position, which he himself held until 1951. In the meantime, the concertmaster has also been replaced several times. Saint-Hilaire, who left in 1936, was followed by Antoine Montreuil , before Jules Payment took over the following year . This was followed again a year later by Gilbert Darisse , who appeared as concertmaster of the orchestra until 1960.

Despite some serious difficulties in recruiting musicians, the orchestra resumed its annual series of four to six concerts. It also regularly invited famous international artists and offered innovative educational programs. In addition to children's concerts in the afternoons, a separate competition for young soloists was launched in 1945, in which the then 13-year-old pianist Janine Lachance (1932–2017) emerged as the first winner. Another well-known winner of this competition was the tenor Richard Verreau (1926-2005), who won the competition in 1948. Towards the end of the 1950s, however, this competition disappeared again from the program of the Orchester Symphonique de Québec, but was reactivated in 1977. Under Bélanger's leadership, increasing efforts were made to sensitize the public to the contemporary repertoire.

Choppy time until the 1980s

Bélanger was succeeded in 1951 by Wilfrid Pelletier , who had previously been a regular conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1929 , as the new chief conductor. Under Pelletier, the level of opera was raised, which he sometimes succeeded in inviting new musicians - including teachers and recent graduates - from the Conservatoire de Québec , which was founded in 1944 under Pelletier's direction. In the late 1950s, Pelletier conducted several operas in concert versions and also continued Bélanger's educational work. With the arrival of Françoys Bernier as Pelletier's assistant in 1959, there was another radical structural change within the Orchester Symphonique de Québec. In the following year, the orchestra received a new concertmaster again after almost 23 years when Stuart Fastofki replaced the previous concertmaster Gilbert Darisse. Also from 1960 the orchestra became a permanent and professional ensemble, as well as a valued representative of decentralization. Cities like Chicoutimi , Rimouski , Thetford Mines , Trois-Rivières and even the regions of Abitibi , North Shore and Gaspé received a professional symphony orchestra for the first time.

Some centers like Trois-Rivières or Thetford Mines even had regular performances by the Orchester symphonique de Québec and held their own annual concert series. In the 1960s there were several changes in the management level of the orchestra. The previous concertmaster Fastofki was replaced in 1963 by Jean-Louis Rousseau , who had to make way for the young Japanese Hidetaro Suzuki (* 1937) in the same year . The chief conductors were also replaced during this time; Pelletier was followed in 1966 by his assistant Françoys Bernier as chief conductor. Two years later, in 1968, the French Pierre Dervaux was the first foreign conductor to take up the position of artistic director and chief conductor of the orchestra. Under Dervaux, the Salle Louis-Fréchette in the Grand Théâtre de Québec , which was later to become the center for symphony concerts, was inaugurated with a concert by the orchestra in January 1971 .

Although he was unable to expand the ensemble, which consisted of around 65 musicians in 1968, for financial reasons, Dervaux nevertheless put on a number of notable performances, including Chronochromie by Olivier Messiaen in October 1970 , at which the composer himself was present and very satisfied showed. In 1975 Dervaux resigned as chief conductor, before another foreigner took over this position the following year, the American James DePreist . In 1977 the concertmaster was also changed; Suzuki was followed by Malcolm Lowe , who then remained in office until 1983 and is concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1984 until today (as of 2019) . During the work of DePreist and Lowe, both of whom were active in their respective positions with the orchestra until 1983, The Rite of Spring was performed in January 1978 . On October 21, 1977, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Orchester symphonique de Québec, a concert was held in Washington, DC . With the 1977/78 season, the aforementioned talent competition of the orchestra for young musicians from Québec returned. The cellist Johanne Perron was the first winner of the reactivated competition and received 500 dollars as well as an invitation to perform as a soloist.

1980s until today

In July 1983 British-Canadian violinist and conductor Simon Streatfeild succeeded DePreist. Malcolm Lowe also made room for Liliane Garnier-Lesage , who was born in Dijon , France, in 1932 , and that was the first time that a woman became concertmaster of the orchestra. Under Streatfeild, the orchestra made a critically acclaimed Toronto debut and made six recordings including this commercial debut . In the 1980s there were further changes in the position of concertmaster. Garnier-Lesage left the Orchester Symphonique de Québec in 1986; Successor Jean Angers stayed until 1987 and was then replaced by Darren Lowe , Malcolm Lowe's brother. In May 1991, after a year of difficult negotiations, Streatfeild left the orchestra, which at that time was already in dire financial straits, which subsequently had to restructure the management and its workforce to a large extent. The French Pascal Verrot then took over the artistic direction of the orchestra as the new chief conductor and led the company back to remarkable successes. Verrot, who succeeded his predecessor only in autumn 1991, conducted among others, the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz , and brought two commercially successful CDs out with the orchestra. Both CDs received prestigious awards, including the Félix Award for the album Noël with soprano Lyne Fortin . Denys Bouliane appeared as composer in residence for the orchestra from 1992 to 1995 .

In July 1998 the Israeli Yoav Talmi was introduced as the new chief conductor of the Orchester symphonique de Québec. He campaigned for the improvement of the technical quality of the orchestra, initiated ambitious cycles (from Mahler to Bruckner ) and stimulated the recording activities as well as the contemporary commissioned projects. The 2005/06 season consisted of the series Grande musique , Sélection , Week-Ends électrisants , Hommage , Classiques à croquer and Concerts famille . After more than 13 years, Talmi was replaced in 2012 by the French Fabien Gabel , born in 1975 . In the spring of 2017, the orchestra presented its new logo to the public and started a large-scale marketing campaign that included more modern public appearances, but also new branding of envelopes, business cards, album covers, posters and programs. Concertmaster Darren Lowe, who was absent for a few months, was replaced on an interim basis by Catherine Dallaire in 2019 .

Vocal works and choral works

In addition to supporting most of the productions of the Théâtre lyrique de Nouvelle-France (until 1970 Théâtre lyrique du Québec ), the Opéra du Québec , the Société lyrique d'Aubigny and the Opéra de Québec , the orchestra also presented important choral works with their own Choeur de l'OSQ , which was founded in August 1964 by Françoys Bernier as a mixed choir of 120 members and is composed mainly of amateurs. An average of around 20 paid professionals are brought in for each performance. After Bernier, Jocelyne Desjardins , André Martin , Pierre Loranger , Marcel Laurencelle and Élise Paré-Tousignant conducted the choir.

Chantal Masson took over the choir in 1970 and was replaced in 1977 by Charles Dumas , who held this position until 1989. He was succeeded by Bernard Labadie ; In 1995 he was replaced by the choirmaster Marthe Lacasse . In 1996, Louise DeLisle-Bouchard took over before she was replaced by Jean-Marie Zeitouni in 2001 . Zeitouni resigned after almost two years, however, and made room for David Rompré , who has been a choirmaster since 2003.

The orchestra allocates part of its annual budget to the choir, with the repertoire being determined by mutual agreement.

Premieres

In the course of the approximately 120-year history of the orchestra, numerous premieres and world premieres have taken place. Above all, Canadian composers and new works were given special support. The first artistic director Joseph Vézina had his three own operas premiered by the Orchester Symphonique de Québec, but also works by Charles O'Neill and Robert Talbot. Under the direction of the latter artist, pieces by Clermont Pépin and Maurice Blackburn were heard as world premieres by the Société symphonique de Québec. Talbot's successor, Edwin Bélanger, was particularly open to new and contemporary works, which sometimes led to premieres of pieces by Lucien Vocelle , Léo Roy , Morris Davis and Gaston Allaire . Under Wilfrid Pelletier, Pépins Guernica (named after the painting of the same name by Pablo Picasso ) was premiered by the Orchester Symphonique de Québec in May 1953 . Encouraged by Françoys Bernier, the orchestra established the tradition of creating new works themselves or at least commissioning them.

Since 1960, these have included Roger Matton's Mouvement symphonique I (1960), Maurice Delas Seconde esquisse (1962), Serge Garants Ouranos (1963), Roger Matton Concerto for two pianos (1964) and Te Deum (1967), Alain Gagnons Prélude (1969), Jean Françaixs Concerto number 1 for violin (1970), Jacques Hétus Concerto for piano (1970), Vic Angelillos Tangentes (1971), the piece Le Dict de l'aigle et du castor by Gilles Vigneault , Claude Léveillée and Neil Chotem (1972), Pépins Chroma (1973), Mattons Mouvement symphonique III (1974), André Prévosts Chorégraphie II (1976), Angelillos Dans une fontaine jouaient trois canards (1980), Mattons Mouvement symphonique IV (1980), François Sassevilles Églogues symphoniques (1982), Anne Laubers Valse concertante for piano and orchestra (1982) and Clara et le mur du son (1983), Denys Boulianes Le Cactus rieur et la demoiselle qui souffrait d'une soif insatiable (1988), Pépins Concerto for marimba (1988), Alex Pauks Cosmos (1989), Serge N Iggs Poème for orchestra (1990), Denis Dions Vers 210 milliards de souvenirs en quête de bois de rose (1991), François Morels Chant d'espace (1993), Pépins La Messe sur le monde (1993), Boulianes De Sophie à Léon and Épilogue à Anna Karenin (1994), Dions Quelques détours ... (1994), Pierre Bartholomées Humoresque (1994), Alain Perrons Empreintes sonores (1995), Boulianes Appels-Rappels (1995) and Entre chien et loup (1996), Michel Legrands Contrebande for double bass (1996), Boulianes Concerto for piano (1998), Jean Lesages Les Représentations surannées (1999), Walter Boudreaus La Vie d'un héros ( Tombeau de Claude Vivier ; 1999), Morels Rupture (2001), Randolph Peters ' Ailes de papillons et tempêtes tropicales (2002), José Evangelistas Iris (2003), Denis Gougeons ARTE! (2003) or Hétus Concerto for oboe and English horn (2005).

The focus on a contemporary music program earned the orchestra first prize from the Performing Rights Organization of Canada in the 1977/78 season, the 75th anniversary season . The orchestra was again awarded this prize on later occasions.

Guest soloists and conductors

Until the First World War, the orchestra invited numerous foreign soloists, including the Russian pianists Tina Lerner and Leo Ornstein , but also singers such as Charlotte Maconda , Bernice James de Pasquali , Lilla Ormond or Edna Blanche Showalter , as well as the cellist Jean Gérardy . The Canadian artists of this time also included the singers Adine Fafard-Drolet , Éva Gauthier and Angélina Giguère .

After the war, Arthur LeBlanc, Raoul Jobin, Jean-Marie Beaudet , Victor Bouchard , Renée Morisset , Paul Doyon , Jacques Gérard , Lubka Kolessa , Léopold Simoneau , Georges Lindsay , Calvin Sieb and Richard Verreau were active here. The soprano Marcelle Denya , the pianist Percy Grainger , the harpist Marcel Grandjany and the tenor Ramón Vinay were among the foreign artists who performed with or with the orchestra in the 1940s. After the restructuring in the 1960s, the orchestra presented artists such as Dawid Fjodorowitsch Oistrach , Emil Gilels , Régine Crespin , Alicia de Larrocha , Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli , Henryk Szeryng , Jon Vickers , Cecilia Bartoli , Wilhelmenia Fernandez , Ida Haendel , Scott Ross , Mstislaw Leopoldowitsch Rostropowitsch , Midori , Paul Tortelier , Tatiana Troyanos , Lasar Naumowitsch Berman or José van Dam .

The innumerable guest conductors included Sergiu Celibidache , Franz-Paul Decker , Vladimir Golschmann , Pierre Monteux , Michel Plasson , Charles Dutoit , Alexander Brott , Agnes Grossmann and Judith Somogi .

Several outstanding soloists and conductors made their North American debut with the Orchester symphonique de Québec. These included the conductors Pierre Dervaux (November 1964), Sergiu Celibidache (April 1966), Jean-Claude Casadesus (January 1969) and Charles Dutoit (March 1975) and the mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli (July 1990). In January 1961 the pianist Wilhelm Kempff played the complete cycle of Beethoven piano concertos on his debut with a Canadian orchestra.

Chief conductor

Concertmaster

Publications

In the course of its existence, the Orchester symphonique de Québec has published its activities through various means of communication. These include the Bulletin Sur une note d'information (1974–1977) and, in the late 1970s, a separate column in the magazine Le Mois à Québec . In September 1979 the orchestra first published the magazine Le Lutrin , which appeared five times a year but only lasted a few years. Since autumn 2003 the orchestra has published the quarterly magazine La Marque , consisting of program notes, biographies of guest artists and articles on music and culture.

An extensive archive collection on the Orchester symphonique de Québec is located in the Archives nationales du Québec in the city of Québec.

Web links

Commons : Orchester symphonique de Québec  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New Logo and Identity for Orchester Symphonique de Québec by lg2 , accessed on November 11, 2019