TRIBUTE TO JOSEPH ROULEAU AND TO JEUNESSES MUSICALES BY THE MSO

It was an unforgettable evening by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at Place des Arts all in the honor of Joseph Rouleau.

Great Canadian bass Joseph Rouleau pleased the audience by performing two of the most famous arias (Il lacerato spirito), from Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Aleko’s cavatina of Rachmaninov.

I have to say that it was a miracle to hear the great opera bass Mr. Rouleau singing at Montreal’s cultural center the Place des Arts after an extended impressive career for almost a century. Mr. Rouleau spoke on the stage with Radio Canada’s host Mrs. Francoise Davoine and shared with people many anecdotes of his remarkable career.

Joseph Rouleau is a recipient of the Silver Medal for his thirty years at London’s Royal Opera House Coven Garden. Also he was made a Grand officer of the National Order of Quebec and received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award from Michaelle Jean. Last November, Joseph Rouleau was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest Canadian honorary distinction.

Engaged by the Royal Opera House in London, Rouleau sang with the company in Cardiff, Manchester, and Southampton prior to his London debut as Colline on 23 Apr 1957. Leading roles followed in over 40 productions there during the next 20 years. His Count Rodolfo in Bellini's La Sonnambula in 1960 with Joan Sutherland, led to a collaboration with the soprano which included his debut at the Paris Opéra that year as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and a 1965-6 Australian tour during which he won high praise particularly for his Assur in Rossini's Semiramide.

A consummate actor and musician, Rouleau sang a wide range of roles, he expanded his repertoire to include German and Russian roles, notably Titurel in Parsifal, and the lead in Boris Godunov. He also won considerable acclaim as Don Quichotte, and Mephistofeles in Faust. In 1976, he participated for the BBC, in a performance of the complete French version of Don Carlos, singing Philippe II.

He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera on April 13, 1984, as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, under James Levine. Since 1987 he has appeared in concerts and recitals with accompianist Pierre Brabant. Many of their recitals together have been devoted to the music of Félix Leclerc.

In June 2009 McGill University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and the new cultural complex in his hometown Matane bears his name.

Conductor Jean-Philippe Tramblay did a wonderful job with the MSO, and gave the right tempo to all parts of the program, especially at the beginning of the concert at Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture”.

Another notable moment was the Piano Concerto No 3 with soloist pianist Serhiy Salov.

Bass Burak Bilgili had little problems with the tecitura of the aria “Ella giammai m’amo” from Verdi’s Don Carlo, but he sang with gusto the aria “La calunnia” from Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barbier of Seville”.

Soprano Marianne Fiset was excellent at the aria of Mimi from La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini. Fiset’s voice is lyric with worm vibrato and opens at the upper register. Her pianissimo projected on the big hall Wilfrid Pelletier, allover the theater.

One of the most touching moment was Mozart’s ‘Beatus vir” (Psalm 112), performed magicly by The Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal directed by Gilbert Patenaude.

Joseph Rouleau has been president of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada for over twenty years. The organization JMC founder in 1949 and is the most important network of classical-music presentation in the country. The program completed with Bach’s Concerto for two violins, performed by violinist Alexander Da Costa, and OSM’s concertmaster violinist Andrew Wan.

(Pictures: Joseph Rouleau with composer Panayoti Karousos (Mr. Rouleau performed the world premiere of Karousos opera Prometheus in Greek at 1994), Mr. Rouleau with all artists on stage, and composer Panayoti Karousos with soprano of the evening Marianne Fiset and former Canadian Minister of the Environment and Leader of Canadian Opposition Mr. Lucien Bouchard, and Mr. Joseph Rouleau talk with Mr. Lucien Bouchard)