Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) presents

Bernard Labadie and Haydn’s Creation

First performed in 1799, Haydn’s oratorio The Creation spread with astonishing speed throughout Europe. It united, if only for the duration of its performances, a continent torn asunder by war. Structured in three parts devoted respectively to the elements, to animals and humans, and to heaven on earth, The Creation alternates biblical passages with musical commentary in a vastly expressive spiritual fresco.

Haydn, The Creation, Hob.XXI:2 (109 min.)

Artists
Bernard Labadie, conductor and chorusmaster

Bernard Labadie is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading conductors of the Baroque and Classical repertoire. He founded Les Violons du Roy and was their Music Director for three decades. He continues to be Music Director of his extraordinary choir, La Chapelle de Québec, which he founded in 1985.

In September 2018 he began his tenure as Music Director of the Orchestra of St Luke’s, New York. He is a regular guest with all the major North American orchestras and in Europe this season he has conducted the Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Hessischer Rundfunk Orchestra in Frankfurt, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Other recent appearances include the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony and the period instrument ensembles, the Academy of Ancient Music and the English Concert.

His honours include “Officer of the Order of Canada” awarded by the Canadian Government and “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Québec”.

Miah Persson, soprano

Internationally renowned Swedish soprano Miah Persson has worked all over the world as a recitalist and concert artist, as well as on the operatic stage.

Throughout her distinguished career, she has performed Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Gretel in Hansel und Gretel and Pamina in The Magic  Flute at the Metropolitan Opera; Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni at Covent Garden; the title role in L’Incoronazione di Poppea and the Governess  in The Turn of the Screw at Teatro alla Scala; Fiordiligi, Susanna and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at the Wiener Staatsoper; Governess The Turn of the Screw, Fiordiligi, Donna Elvira and Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress at the Glyndebourne Festival; Donna Elvira at the Theatre Champs Elysees and the Liceu Barcelona; Fiordiligi at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper, New National Theatre Tokyo, Bayerische Staatsoper and in Stockholm and for a Deutsche Grammophon recording at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden; Iris in Michel van der Aa’s Sunken Garden for Dallas Opera;  L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Carnegie Hall; and Michel van der Aa’s Blank Out, a chamber opera for solo soprano, for Netherlands Opera with performances in Amsterdam, Rome and New York.

Highlights of the 2022/23 season include the Governess in The Turn of the Screw with Budapest Festival Orchestra in both Budapest and Vicenza, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at Opéra national de Paris, Haydn’s The Creation with Orchestre symphonique Montreal and Verdi’s Requiem with Oslo Philharmonic.

Andrew Haji, tenor

Canadian tenor Andrew Haji is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after voices on both the operatic and concert stages. Winner of the Grand Prix at the 50th International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the Montreal International Music Competition’s Oratorio Prize, Haji recently performed Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with Pinnock and the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Messiah for the Toronto Symphony – Debus conducting.

Selected recent and upcoming concert engagements include performances of Haydn’s The Creation, Verdi’s Requiem, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and Mozart’s Requiem, Great Mass in C minor, and Coronation Mass.

Andrew Haji holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music where he performed in productions of Les mamelles de Tirésias, Don Giovanni, Candide, Il mondo della luna and Rob Ford: The Opera, among others. He was invited to participate in young artist programmes at the Salzburg Festival Young Singers Project, the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, the Music Academy of the West and Accademia Europea dell’Opera where he was influenced by some of the world’s finest musicians. A native-born Ontarian, he has received awards from the Marilyn Horne Song Competition in Santa Barbara and the COC’s annual Ensemble Studio Competition.

Matthew Brook, bass

Matthew Brook leapt to fame with his 2007 Gramophone Award-winning recording of Handel’s Messiah with the Dunedin Consort, followed by equally critically acclaimed recordings of Acis and Galatea and St Matthew Passion. He has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe, Australia, North and South America and the Far East, and has worked with many of the world’s leading conductors. He has developed a world-wide reputation for his interpretation of the music of J.S Bach and George Frederic Handel but his musical tastes stretch far beyond this, often performing new commissions. Other concert repertoire he performs regularly include pieces such as Beethoven Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ, Brahms’ Requiem, Elgar Dream of Gerontius, Haydn Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten, Mendelssohn Elijah, Tippett A Child of Our Time and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.

Maison symphonique
Friday, April 7, 2023 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 2:30pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com