Inside Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mainly on the run, his office in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.
If you want to hear the Abitibi firefighter turned European opera star, Luc Robert, now is the time. The Opéra de Montréal gave him the leading role in Il Trovatore. Be warned: this work is not for the faint of heart.
Stuffed with famous airs that are ubiquitous in advertising, this opera by Verdi is as incredible and ferocious as the work of George RR Martin.
“It’s an opera gore, completely ! exclaims Marie-Nicole Lemieux.
The Quebec contralto plays the role of the gypsy Azucena. Haunted by images of her mother on fire at the stake following a conviction for witchcraft, she plots an abominable revenge.
“He’s a troubled and intense character, you can’t sing it without great physical effort,” says Mme The best.
I attended the dress rehearsal on Thursday. At some point, Azucena collapses on stage.
Photo QMI Agency, Mario Beauregard
Sopranos Nicole Car and Kirsten Leblanc never lack reason to be moved by the twists, tricks and traps that sow this frenetic drama.
I shudder.
Did Marie-Nicole Lemieux hurt herself?
“Nooo, don’t worry, it’s game, it’s my Jacques Rougeau side! laughs the singer, a former competitive handball athlete.
When Count de Luna’s guards seize her (to burn her alive like her mother), Azucena struggles. This tussle has a certain “WWE wrestling” cachet.
“I just spit hatefully in someone’s face in that scene, so I’m not going to be led away obediently!” »
singers on fire
Is it the theme of fire that inspired the Opéra de Montréal to choose for the title role (trovatore means troubadour) the singer Luc Robert, nicknamed the tenor fireman?
Before his European career decided him to move to Estonia, the singer from Abitibi was a firefighter in Rouyn-Noranda for nearly 20 years, 10 of them full-time.
“I miss being a firefighter,” he says.
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
International tenor Luc Robert, a former firefighter from Rouyn-Noranda, gave me an interview in front of a barracks.
The internationally renowned tenor sighs as he looks through a window of the Montreal barracks in front of which he has given me an appointment for the interview.
“You can take the fireman out of the guy, but you can’t take the fireman out of the guy!” he exclaims.
As a firefighter, he sometimes pulled people out of the fire when it was too late…
“At least, with opera, nobody dies, the only risk is that I break a note! »
This is the first time in five years that Luc Robert has sung at the Opéra de Montréal, the first time in seven years for Marie-Nicole Lemieux.
“I’m more nervous to sing here than at La Scala in Milan, because it’s in front of my loved ones,” says Ms. Lemieux.
As for Montreal baritone Étienne Dupuis, exiled to Paris for his career, he plays the role of the villain in this predominantly Quebec cast.
Add the director Michel-Maxime Legault and the conductor Jacques Lacombe, and there, one has the impression that the only foreigner in there, ultimately, is Verdi!
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A Game of Thrones in opera mode
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