Montréal’s Autumn 2016 opera, ballet and classical music season

Montréal’s Autumn 2016 cultural season has many treats in store for lovers of opera, ballet and classical music. International stars will grace Montreal’s finest stages, including Russian classical pianist Denis Matsuev; Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux; Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma; as well as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Montreal-born conductor and music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain recently named music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York beginning in 2020.

The Opéra de Montréal launches their 37^th season with a big-budget production of Guiseppe Verdi’s three-act masterpiece Aida, set in Ancient Egypt and first performed at Cairo’s Khedivial Opera House in 1871. The Montreal production runs Sept. 17 to 24 and stars Russian soprano Anna Markarova as Aida and Bulgarian tenor Kamen Chanev as Radames. The orchestra will be lead by legendary American conductor Paul Nadler.

“Aida is the grandest of grand operas, it is an inexhaustable part of the repertoire,” says Opéra de Montréal’s newly-appointed GM Patrick Corrigan. “Its humanity, its beauty, its context in terms of politics and history and art, is still so significant.”

The Opéra de Montréal will follow-up Aida with a much-anticipated production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which runs Nov. 12 to 19, starring Canadian bass-baritone Gordon Bintner in the title role, as well as tenor Jean-Michel Richer who wowed audiences last season in the OdeM’s landmark world-premiere opera Les Feluettes.

Meanwhile, over at McGill University, the Schulich School of Music was named by QS World University Rankings as the top Canadian school in the performing arts category. Schulich’s 2016-2017 concert season features over 600 performances, including three fully-staged Opera McGill productions, complete with orchestra and top-notch production values. Performances are held in Pollack Hall, where Opera McGill will present three performances of Handel’s 1735 opera Alcina, from Nov. 5 to 7.

The world-renowned Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal launches their 60^th season with a company favourite, French choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Romeo and Juliet at Salle Wilfred-Pelletier from Oct. 13 to 28. Prokofiev’s powerful score will be performed by L’Orchestre des Grands Ballets.

Montreal is home to two great symphony orchestras, the Orchestre Métropolitain headed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, lead by Grammy-winning conductor and rock star of the classical world, maestro Kent Nagano.

Orchestre Métropolitain launches their 2016-2017 season with its Shared Emotions concert at the Maison Symphonique on Oct. 6, performing Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, with guest French classical pianist Hélène Grimaud.

In addition to Nagano conducting regular OSM concerts at the Maison Symphonique this autumn, the OSM will also present Russian pianist Denis Matsuev performing Prokofiev’s formidable Piano Concerto No. 2, from Nov. 15 to 18. And the music of Canadian pop star Roch Voisine gets the orchestral treatment when he performs in the OSM Pop Series on Sept. 27 and 28.

Over at Theatre Outremont, two classical concerts of note this autumn: internationally-renowned Canadian coloratura contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux will celebrate French poet Baudelaire at an Oct. 4 recital; and another Montreal favourite, soprano Marie-Josée Lord will pay tribute to the great female heroines of opera, at her Oct. 20 recital.

The gorgeous Salle Bourgie at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts celebrates its 5th anniversary with yet more classical music concerts, including Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra on Oct. 5, while Les Violons du Roy with conductor Bernard Labadie presents The Complete Cantatas of J. S. Bach on Oct. 30.

Finally, the Festival Bach de Montréal (Montréal Bach Festival) presents renowned local and international performers interpreting the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, including the McGill Chamber Orchestra who will perform the Brandenburg Concertos on Nov. 29, and cellist and classical music icon Yo-Yo Ma who will headline the Maison Symphonique on Dec. 2.  The Festival Bach de Montréal runs in several venues from Nov. 18 to Dec. 4.

Up next:The fall 2016 guide to Montréal dance