Requiem and Coronation – March 8-10, 2024

Arion Baroque Orchestra & Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal present

Requiem and Coronation

This concert proposes to (re)discover two contrasting Masses heard in France during the reigns of Louis XVI and of Napoleon. Composed by Mozart in 1791 on his deathbed at the behest of a mysterious character, his Requiem was triumphantly performed in Paris for the first time in 1804 in a slightly modified version conducted by Luigi Cherubini. To open our concert, we will perform the latter’s Marche funèbre (Funeral March) of 1820 for large orchestra, reminiscent in its dramatic weight of his colleague François-Joseph Gossec’s Marche lugubre for wind band and percussion composed thirty years earlier, which we will also perform. François Giroust, the last representative of the French grand motet, as you will hear in his moving Super flumina Babylonis of 1768, was commissioned to compose the music of the coronation mass for Louis XVI in 1775 at Reims Cathedral.

Artists
Mathieu Lussier, conductor
Florie Valiquette, soprano

After being artist-in-residence at the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, and joining the Studio then the Ensemble of the Opernhaus Zürich, Florie Valiquette is leading an international career.

She performs on prestigious stages such as the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Capitole de Toulouse, the Opéra de Bordeaux, the festivals of Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne… and regularly collaborates with Les Violons du Roy, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Les Talens lyriques, Le Concert de la Loge, Le Concert Spirituel…

Her musicality and virtuosity allow her to excel in a wide variety of repertoires, from baroque music (Dixit Dominus, Israël en Égypte by Handel, Stabat mater by Pergolèse…) to contemporary repertoire (creation of Svadba by A. Sokolovic, title part in the French creation of Coraline by M-A. Turnage…).

She also performs major roles in the Mozart repertoire (Pamina / Die Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Giunia in Lucio Silla, Blondchen / Konstanze in Die Entführing aus dem Serail) as well as in the French repertoire (Sophie in Werther, Madeleine / Madame de Latour in Le Postillon de Lonjumeau, Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites, Micaëla in Carmen, Ophélie in Hamlet…).

Sophie Naubert, mezzo-soprano

Sophie Naubert is a young soprano noted for her “extraordinary vocal maturity coupled with
exceptional acting skills” (Louis Bilodeau, L’Opéra). At the age of 23, she made her debut as a
soloist with the Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with the
Cottbus Philharmonic Orchestra at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and with Arion Orchestre Baroque
in Montreal. That same year, she won the 2021 edition of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Competition and she was featured along with other singers in a recording of Massenet’s complete
mélodies on the ATMA Classique label.

With her great curiosity, endowed with agility and flexibility in her voice, Sophie is as
comfortable in the operatic repertoire as in musical theatre and art song always keeping a
luminous stage presence. Her roles include Maria in the Gregory Charles’ production of The
Sound of Music at the St-Denis Theatre, Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck), Euridice
(Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck), Ilia (Idomeneo, Mozart), Adina (L ‘elisir d’amore, Donizetti), Annio
(La clemenza di Tito, Mozart), Cinderella and Noémie (Cendrillon, Massenet).

Sophie also sang the role of Fibi in the world premiere of Airat Ichmouratov’s opera L’homme
qui rit and sang the role of Ariel in the North American premiere of Thomas Linley’s The
Tempest in spring 2023.

Nicholas Scott, tenor

Alexander Dobson, baritone

Recognized for his “ringing, present sound” and “rich, flexible, baritone”, British-Canadian Alexander Dobson has been praised for his musicality and dramatic awareness on both opera and concert stages. Some roles include the title roles in Wozzeck and Don Giovanni, as well as Guglielmo (Così Fan Tutte), Belcoré (L’elisir d’amore), Ned Keene (Peter Grimes), The Count (The Marriage of Figaro), and Marcello (La Bohème), Alexander has appeared with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Trevor Pinnock, Nic McGegan and Paul Goodwin; on the stages of L’Opéra du Montréal, Opera Ontario, Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera, Calgary Opera, Opera Lafayette, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and with the Toronto Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tafelmusik and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Recent engagements include World Premiere of The Night Falls by Ellis Ludwig-Leone with Ballet Collective, Handel’s Messiah in New York, Jacksonville and Halifax, Escamillo in Carmen with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony and Pulcinella with Artis Naples, Florida, Raimbaud in Edmonton Opera’s production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory, Against Nature with Citadel and Compagnie and Il Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro with Florentine Opera and Das Lied von der Erde with the Ontario Philharmonic. Upcoming engagements include Winterreise with Société d’art vocal, St. Matthew Passion with both the St. Louis Bach Society and Peterborough Singers, Angel’s Bone with Loose Tea Opera and Beethoven 9 with the Hamilton Philharmonic.

Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal
Arion Baroque Orchestra

Program
Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842)
Marche funèbre (1820)
François Giroust (1737-1799)
Super flumina Babylonis (1767)
Messe « Gaudete In Domino Semper » pour le sacre de Louis XVI (1775)
François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829)
Marche lugubre (1790)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Requiem, K. 626 (version de Paris, 1804)

Friday, March 8, 2024 – 7:30pm
Saturday, March 9, 2024 – 4:00pm
Sunday, March 10, 2024 – 2:30pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/