{"id":20067,"date":"2014-08-17T11:31:48","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T15:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=20067"},"modified":"2014-08-18T08:32:51","modified_gmt":"2014-08-18T12:32:51","slug":"mimc-spanish-fiesta-serves-up-sweet-musical-deserts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2014\/08\/17\/mimc-spanish-fiesta-serves-up-sweet-musical-deserts\/","title":{"rendered":"MIMC Spanish Fiesta serves up sweet musical desserts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dunham,<\/a>
Dunham, Quebec, Ferme le Campanile. Photo: Michael Vincent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the balmy summer evening of August 9th<\/sup>, a few horse flies and nearly 500 of Quebec\u2019s who\u2019s who descended upon the small hamlet of Dunham, Quebec<\/a>, at Ferme le Campanile located in the Eastern Townships.<\/p>\n

The annual summer Montreal International Music Competition dinner-concert has become a genuine summer hot spot for Quebec\u2019s classical music community.<\/p>\n

For a mere $350, guests can enjoy a mini-vacation to Quebec’s wine country, and get up-close and personal with those who make the MIMC tick. Not to mention, visitors get to hear a concert of world-class performers, which (over the past 20 years) has included Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Marie-Jos\u00e9e Lord, Marc Hervieux, \u00c9tienne Dupuis, Joseph Kaiser, Richard Verreau, Louis Quilico, and Joseph Rouleau. The list is impressive.<\/p>\n

It all began in 1994, when co-founder and President of the MIMC\u00a0Andr\u00e9 Bourbeau<\/a>, who was then the Quebec minister of Finance, went to a benefit that included a private concert with soprano, Dominique Blier. Rumour had it, he told the organisers he would double his financial contribution if they could also get renowned bass, Joseph Rouleau to sing as well, and relocate it to his private farm (Ferme le Campanile), in the Eastern Townships.<\/p>\n

They agreed, and 80 people made the trip out to Bourbeau\u2019s grange to enjoy a\u00a0dinner-concert under a somewhat \u2018unsure\u2019 tent. Guests enjoyed it so much, Bourbeau decided to make it an annual event every summer. Word spread quickly, and attendance ballooned to over 200 people. In 1996, to accommodate the crowds, they had to move the event into a horse arena, which Bourbeau\u2019s wife used year-round.<\/p>\n

Giant screens were added to the barn to ensure the 400 to 500 capacity space could accommodate everyone.<\/p>\n

They nixed the piano accompaniment in favour of l\u2019Orchestre de la Francophonie<\/a>, founded by Artistic Director and chief conductor is Jean-Philippe Tremblay,<\/a> which was started in 2001 for the Jeux de la Francophonie. The summer orchestra has now gone on to become a permanent fixture, which provides training to young musicians across Canada.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to 2014, and where one might expect to find pigs, sheep, and cows, instead find\u00a0an entire orchestra, fine dining, and performers who not only know covenant garden, but Bourbeau\u2019s garden as well! It is a sight to see.<\/p>\n

Christiane LeBlanc, Executive and Artistic Director of the MIMC describes it as \u201crelaxed, beautiful, and certainly different as a concert venue!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dunham,<\/a>
Dunham, Quebec, Ferme le Campanile. Photo: Michael Vincent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the visitors congregated for drinks beside an idyllic farmhouse, which lined a multi-acre farm with a small pond, the dinner bell rang and patrons were ushered into a large barn. No expense was spared. Spectators were treated to a three-course meal, and a seemingly endless supply of wine, loosening everyone up for the spectacle to follow.<\/p>\n

\"Dunham,<\/a>
Dunham, Quebec, Ferme le Campanile, Interior stage. Photo: Michael Vincent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ms. LeBlanc leaned into to whisper, \u201ccan you imagine that only a day ago, this was only a horse riding stable?\u201d<\/p>\n

A surprising number of local celebrities and politicians were also present. Each were introduced, leading to a video montage of the past piano competition finalists, and the first-placed finish of Australian pianist Jayson Gillham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The host for the evening was Marie-Claude Lavall\u00e9e, a long-time journalist with the CBC, who announced last May that she will be leaving the beleaguered public broadcaster.<\/p>\n

Jean-Philippe Tremblay and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie, were introduced, and they began to play Ravel\u2019s Bolero \u2013 which has been played to death, but given the Spanish Fiesta theme, it seemed forgivable, if not inevitable.<\/p>\n

The music was predictably light and airy, with a spirit of celebration. This was not a meat and potatoes repertoire, but rather a top 40\u2019s classical and opera jukebox that was full of sweet musical desserts.<\/p>\n

Other performers included Montreal\u2019s Alexandre Da Costa<\/a> – a violinist with a subtle exactness, and jolting cadence. He performed Manuel de Falla\u2019s Danse Espagnole No. 1 from La Vida Breve<\/em>, impressively, but the orchestra lagged behind him at times. Da Costa also took a number of liberties with the rhythms, but his tone was impeccable. He also performed one of the highlights of the evening, the Carmen Fantasy<\/em>, Op. 25, by Pablo de Sarasate, played with youthful energy that glistened and engaged the audience.<\/p>\n

\"dunham<\/a><\/p>\n

Keeping things in the family, Andr\u00e9 Bourbeau\u2019s daughter Pascale Bourbeau<\/a>, sang a duet with Spanish baritone Eduardo Del Campo to an arrangement of Barcelona<\/em>. Looking a bit nervous as first, she settled into the role quickly. Unfortunately the trumpet solo, played by a member of the orchestra, was a little too sulky, for the jubilant tune, but the orchestra seemed to have fun playing along.<\/p>\n

Another highlight of the eventing was an authentic Flamenco performance with dancer Lina Moros accompanied by guitarist Bahram Aghakhan. They rumbled and shook the stage with a mesmerizing Spanish flare.<\/p>\n

The vocal fare was enriched with pieces further pieces performed by Eduardo Del Campo, soprano Gianna Corbisiero, and young tenor Antonio Figueroa.<\/p>\n

In many ways, the huge popularity of rural summer music festivals across both the US and Canada has helped idealize events like these, which provide musicians and spectators alike with an opportunity to get out of the city, and enjoy music in a more informal setting.<\/p>\n

One thing I would have liked to see was an appearance by one of the finalists of this past year\u2019s competition. A performance by Montreal\u2019s second place winner Charles Richard-Hamelin<\/a>, would have made a lot of sense here, but perhaps organisers preferred to focus on lighter diversions.<\/p>\n

As the night warred on, there was a genuine feeling of celebration in the summer air. Where many had traveled from across, Quebec, Vermont and Ontario to spend the weekend together, each left with new found friends, and most importantly, musical memories.<\/p>\n

Until next year, Dunham. \u00c0 l\u2019an prochain\u2026<\/p>\n

\"L-R:<\/a>
L-R: Pascale Bourbeau, Bahram Aghakhan, Lina Moros, Gianna Corbisiero, Edouardo Del Campo, Antonio Figueroa. Photo: Jacques Robert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael Vincent<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the balmy summer evening of August 9th, a few horse flies and nearly 500 of Quebec\u2019s who\u2019s who descended upon the small hamlet of Dunham, Quebec, at Ferme le Campanile located in the Eastern Townships. The annual summer Montreal International Music Competition dinner-concert has become a genuine summer hot spot for Quebec\u2019s classical music […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":20074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[117,76,19,52,64],"tags":[228,4841,4839,4843,4813,4842,4845,4846,4840,4847,2266,4844],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/08\/dunham-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-5dF","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20067"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20098,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20067\/revisions\/20098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20067"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}