"Faust's Demise... Alongside French Vocals" or "Faust's Condemnation... with French Melodies"
The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) opened its season with a performance of Hector Berlioz's La damnation de Faust, but the event was met with criticism for a lack of awareness and adherence to French vocal art. Under the leadership of Rafael Payare, the performance was criticized for its handling of the choral passages, which lacked the necessary vision and precision. The French singing that Berlioz's work feeds on has specific words, placements, and pronunciations that were not followed in the OSM's performance. Andrew Staples, who played Faust, was noted to have a timbre without charm, a little pinched, and without any French color. Ashley Riches, who played Brander, muddled through his aria in a mix of international languages, making it sound as French as possible. The main protagonists in the performance did not have sufficient mastery of the French language, making the masterpiece of French music less intelligible. Willard White, who played Mephistopheles, had only one dynamic and sometimes resorted to parlando when forced to go a little below. A bass from London was hired to sing a three-minute aria, adding to the concerns about the performance's understanding and execution of French vocal art. The "fugue on the Amen" punctuating Brander's song was not caricatured as intended, missing the parody of Cherubini. Andrew Megill, the chorus master of the OSM, and Rafael Payare both missed the intended caricature in this section. In addition, Rafael Payare added a bell before the Easter Hymn that was not in tune with the singing, and was not originally intended by Berlioz. The performance raised concerns about a lack of consideration for French vocal art, particularly in a French-speaking metropolis. Despite these criticisms, the orchestral reading was ardent and splendid, with the OSM in top form, showing impressive power in certain sections. The performance featured a duo that was particularly noteworthy. In unrelated news, Stephen Colbert went on the offensive against Donald Trump during his broadcast following the announcement of the end of his "Late Show". In a Montreal case, the victim has been identified as a 40-year-old man, and his family has been notified.
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