Société de Musique Contemporaine Presents Recital: Visions Cosmiques

Accustomed to large ensembles, the Société de musique contemporaine (SMCQ) is adapting to the new health standards this season by exploring the form of the recital. Visions cosmiques, a webcast concert on October 25 at 3 p.m., will allow the public to hear works from the repertoire for two pianos, performed by Brigitte Poulin and Jean Marchand.

"Historically, the repertoire for two pianos was used, among other things, for the reduction of orchestral works or large works for rehearsals, and then the form developed at the request of pianists who appreciated the wide range of possibilities," says Walter Boudreau, SMCQ Artistic Director.

The Poulin-Marchand pianist duo places the infinite possibilities of the repertoire for two pianos at the service of a program in search of the infinite! Les Visions de l'Amen, Olivier Messiaen's monumental work, will be presented 50 years after the composer himself performed it in Montreal with his wife, pianist Yvonne Loriod, at the invitation of the SMCQ. Jean Marchand was in the hall at the time. "I have fond memories of it!" he recalls.

Visions cosmiques will continue with Denis Gougeon's Schubertian-accented work Andante Sostenuto, created by the long-time duo in 2015. The critics were unanimous in their praise, and Lucie Renaud declared it to be "a piece of exquisite slowness and meditative orientation", in her blog le Clavier Bien Tempéré.

Finally, Bechara El-Khoury's Sonate pour piano no. 3 will complete this poetic and universal recital, paying tribute to the victims of the recent explosion in Beirut. This webcast concert will allow the audience to experience a virtual, but nonetheless astronomical musical communion!