Festival de Lanaudière – July 6 to August 4, 2024 LiveEvents July 2, 2024 662 Festival de Lanaudière 2024 From July 6 through August 4, dive into a world of extraordinary musical experiences and concerts that defy expectations. Once again this summer, close to 1,000 artists will converge in Lanaudière for the Festival: great figures of the world’s major stages and emerging Quebec and Canadian artists alike. “Again this summer, for a few weeks Lanaudière will become a meeting point for a plurality among the most compelling artists of the international stage, breakthrough talents and bright lights of the global musical scene. It’s a chance for spectators to be part of this rare constellation, to experience music like nowhere else, to be in dialogue with it, share in its emotion, and enter into deep connection with our environment.” – Renaud Loranger, Artistic Director of the Festival de Lanaudière “A getaway to the Festival de Lanaudière is about savouring incredible music in a close-knit and welcoming region, where performances find harmony with various cultural and agrotourism experiences. We encourage our festival goers to explore all that the Lanaudière Region has to offer, in tandem with our musical programming. This extraordinary synergy with our region’s community actors is what enables us to position ourselves as North American leaders in classical music and what every year, allows us to welcome festival goers in fine style.” – Xavier Roy, Executive Director of the Festival de Lanaudière THE FESTIVAL IN A NUTSHELL • 14 concerts at the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay, blending an atmosphere of the world’s greatest concert halls with the soothing embrace of nature; • 6 concerts Hors les murs series, at various cultural venues and agrotourism sites; • 6 free evening outdoor film screenings ; • 5 intimate concerts in the region’s historic churches ; • An open house day with programming of free activities for the whole family! A FEW HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROGRAMMING AT THE AMPHITHÉÂTRE FERNAND-LINDSAY Nicolas Ellis and Orchestre de l’Agora in Orbit! | July 6 at 7pm To kick off the Festival, Nicolas Ellis and his Orchestre de l’Agora will send us far into the stratosphere with Holst’s The Planets and Claude Vivier’s orchestral suite Orion , expertly assisted by a surprise guest who is no stranger to gazing at the stars! A Mozart Celebration! | July 7 at 2pm The decades-long association of Les Violons du Roy and Lanaudière moves forward again this year with a concert devoted to the divine Wolfgang, in a momentous first performance bringing together violinist Kerson Leong and conductor Bernard Labadie. Join us in celebrating the festive spirit of Mozart! The Complete Brandenburg Concertos | July 12 at 8pm and July 14 at 2pm Renowned as royalty among European orchestras, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra offers us its kaleidoscopic vision of the world of Bach—a North American exclusive—with the composer’s iconic Brandenburg Concertos, alongside works by Bach’s equally illustrious contemporary Antonio Vivaldi. Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants | July 13 at 7pm After triumphant performances in Paris, New York, Madrid, and La Scala in Milan… William Christie and Les Arts Florissants will conclude their tour of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in Lanaudière, drawing us into the enchanted world of Purcell and Shakespeare through coaction by the outstanding singers of Le Jardin des Voix and stage director-choreographer Mourad Merzouki. Rafael Payare Conducts Zarathustra | July 19 at 8pm Rendered famous by Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Also sprach Zarathustra, with its unmistakable opening theme, remains connected with the deep philosophical inquiry. To complete the program, distinguished German baritone Matthias Goerne will sing the moving, “Wotan’s Farewell.” Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov: Signed Payare and the OSM | July 20 at 7pm For his Canadian debut performance, a Lanaudière exclusive, revered pianist Yoav Levanon, joins forces with Rafael Payare and the OSM in a concert pairing Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Les Violons du Roy dans la Beethoven’s Seventh | July 21 at 2pm Jonathan Cohen and Les Violons du Roy give us Beethoven’s majestic Beethoven’s its musical representation of the myth of Prometheus—then turn to Mozart and his Bassoon Concerto performed by Mathieu Lussier. La Fifth de Beethoven par les Grands Ballets | July 26 at 8pm Les Grands Ballets take the Amphitheatre stage for an evening of exquisite emotion and stunning choreographic mastery. See Beethoven’s Fifth performed alongside a selection of some of the most celebrated excerpts from the repertoire for ballet. La douce France of Anne Sofie von Otter | July 27 at 4pm Anne Sofie von Otter needs no further introduction. She has reigned supreme over the greatest opera stages for decades. For her Lanaudière debut, this versatile artist will present an excitingly unusual exploration of French popular song, creating a space of freedom in which her triumph is assured. Nézet-Séguin and Hamelin: Together Again | July 28 at 4pm It has developed into a Lanaudière tradition: the summer reunion of two of Quebec’s most acclaimed musicians. This time around, they concentrate on not just one, but two outrageously demanding piano concertos by Franz Liszt, performed back-to-back by Marc-André Hamelin, who revels in their challenges with uncanny ease. To complement these two flagship works, this concert also offers the profound introspection and yearning Romanticism of Johannes Brahms. The OSM with Rafael Payare: Boléro and Other Gems | August 2 at 8pm Between Ravel and Debussy, Rafael Payare and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal offer us all the magic of musical impressionism, in this program that includes the unmissable Boléro, and Chausson’s Poème for violin and orchestra with Concertmaster Andrew Wan. Mahler and the Song of the Night | August 3 at 7pm In Gustav Mahler’s Beethoven’s, there lies an entire cosmos to be unravelled, yet held within the world of Vienna and its idea of culture: from the apotheosis of Classicism to the enigmatic modernity of the early 20th century. Aida : The Season’s Final Bow | August 4 at 4 pm Aida is among Verdi’s most emblematic operas—unquestionably one of the most beloved of the entire repertoire, combining ill-fated love and political intrigue with the allure of ancient Egypt. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a world-class vocal cast in this opulent conclusion to the Festival’s 47th edition, just a few months before inaugurating a new production of Aida with the Metropolitan Opera. To see the full list of events, visit: www.lanaudiere.org To purchase your tickets visit: https://lanaudiere.org/en/billetterie/