WATCH / SHARE “AMOUR” / “OUESSANT” HERE
AUBADES, THE POST-CLASSICAL ICON’S FIRST ENSEMBLE RECORD, OUT NOW VIA ARTS & CRAFTS
BUY / STREAM AUBADES HERE
CANADIAN TOUR DATES CONTINUE THIS WEEK
“From its opening notes, it whisks listeners away. On the new album from the esteemed post-classical pianist, Blais is in perpetual bloom, moved by life's beauty and nature's song.” - Exclaim!
“...aubades finds Blais conducting a 12-person ensemble, filling in his beautiful piano melodies with lush instrumentation that brings his music to new heights.” - CBC MUSIC ‘Albums we can’t wait to hear in 2022’
Photo Credit : William Arcand // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, celebrated composer and pianist Jean-Michel Blais is revealing the latest visual piece for two tracks, “amour” and “ouessant”, from his album aubades. Continuing the story of the ballet instructor from his previous release “passepied” this offering, created by collaborator Adrian Villagomez, spotlights Russian ballerina Larissa Belova in a melancholic and inspiring dance as a middle-aged woman in the grand empty Théâtre Outremont in Montréal. In docufilm style, it switches between VHS footage of Larissa’s past performance as a young ballerina and behind-the-scenes footage and her choreographed performance today exploring memory, loss and love of dance.
“When approached to dance for 'amour', Larissa responded with an additional choreography for 'ouessant'!” says Blais. “This only merely shows that woman's singularity. We then had no choice but to write this docu-fiction, interpolating her glorious past as a Soviet ballerina with her current grace as a woman, a loving mother, a generous, sensitive and explosive artist. 'amour / ouessant' is therefore both a process and a product, a testimony and a continuity, a creation and an inspiration for those who forgot their dreams along the way ..."
Director Adrian Villagomez explains, “It's while working on ‘passepied’ that we got to know Larissa, Vlad's mother, who turned out to be a very interesting character, and that's when we realized that she alone could have been the protagonist of a feature film.”
“I always wanted to mix the documentary style with music videos. Larissa is a strong and endearing character, she certainly has 100 stories to tell and is 'extremely generous with her person. We felt privileged to have this closeness with her and give her the chance to perform with all the greatness she deserves.”
“What's cool about Jean-Michel is that when we start with a strong concept, we allow ourselves to let it evolve along the way. I think that's why we can say we have a true documentary approach by letting ourselves rewrite the story during the filming as well as during post-production. “
WATCH / SHARE “AMOUR” / “OUESSANT” HERE
BUY / STREAM AUBADES HERE
MORE ABOUT AUBADES
aubades marks the Montreal-born musician’s transition from pianist to composer, as he writes for an ensemble for the first time in his career. Written during the pandemic and following a breakup, Blais has used his distinctive musical voice to create a defiantly uplifting record with glistening instrumental textures and warm major tonalities. The album’s title refers to the “aubade”, a Middle Ages morning love song about lovers separating at daybreak, a dawn serenade.
Jean-Michel Blais has been a celebrated figure in the post-classical piano world since the release of his critically-acclaimed debut album II in 2016. He attended Quebec’s prestigious Trois-Rivières Music Conservatory but left after two years of study, exhausted by the restraints of the traditional music curriculum. Blais then travelled widely before retraining as a special education teacher. Whilst working as a teacher, he returned to music on his own terms, rediscovering his passion through improvising on the piano. These improvisations formed the basis of a recording career that has earned him two Polaris Music Prize nominations, a #1 on the Billboard Classical chart and a Time Magazine top ten album of the year.
WATCH / SHARE “PASSEPIED” HERE
Despite the difficult global and personal backdrop, Blais described the time writing this album as a “fruitful moment of creativity for me. We started having hares in the park, beautiful butterflies flying everywhere. It was a time of lots of blossoming, and also a moment when I blossomed from being a pianist into a composer.” Musical ideas captured in over 500 recorded piano improvisations were transformed by Blais into 11 compositions performed by a 12-person ensemble. During the composition process, Blais collaborated with Alex Weston, former music assistant to Philip Glass. The musicians were recorded with close-up microphones, creating a richly intimate atmosphere that captures the human behind each instrument, from the mechanics of the woodwind keys to the snap of a double bass string.
Blais also consciously found himself leaning towards major tonalities, which he believes are surprisingly rare in modern classical piano music. “With this album, I was definitely responding to certain trends,” Blais reckons. “For example, the fact that the solo piano tends to sound melancholic. That’s good, but I’ve done that already, I wanted to go beyond that.”
WATCH / SHARE ‘MAKING OF AUBADES’ DOCUMENTARY HERE
In aubades, every instrument is given moments of expression to an extent that took the players by surprise. Blais says, “there’s often been this dominant idea in classical music that one instrument is the chief, the king of all the instruments, and the others are in the background merely supporting.” He was inspired by more democratic musical textures from the Renaissance and Middle Ages, as well as the social democratic artistic ethos of the English 19th century poet, designer and activist William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.
Jean-Michel Blais will be taking aubades on the road in 2022. Full tour dates can be found below.
BUY / STREAM AUBADES HERE
2022 TOUR DATES
02/09/22 L’assomption, QC - Théâtre Hector-Charland
03/09/22 Laval, QC - Salle André-Mathieu
08/09/22 Gaspé, QC - Salle de spectacles de Gaspé
09/09/22 Carleton-sur-Mer, QC - Studio Hydro-Québec du Quai des arts
10/09/22 Rimouski, QC - Salle Desjardins-Telus
12/09/22 Sept-Îles, QC - Salle Jean-Marc Dion
13/09/22 Baie-Comeau, QC - Centre des arts de Baie-Comeau
15/09/22 Saguenay, QC - Théâtre Banque Nationale
16/09/22 Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC - Salle Desjardins Maria-Chapdelaine
17/09/22 Alma, QC - Salle Michel-Côté
22/09/22 Rivière-du-Loup, QC - Centre culturel Berger - Salle Alphonse Desjardins
23/09/22 Lévis, QC - L’anglicane
24/09/22 Terrebonne, QC - Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne
26/09/22 Amos, QC - Théâtre des Eskers
27/09/22 La Sarre, QC - Salle de spectacles Desjardins
28/09/22 Rouyn-Noranda, QC - Théâtre du Cuivre
30/09/22 Val-d’Or, QC - Théâtre Télébec
02/10/22 Shawinigan, QC - Centre des arts de Shawinigan - Salle Philippe-Filion
04/10/22 Brossard, QC - L’Étoile Banque Nationale
05/10/22 Longueuil, QC - Théâtre de la Ville - Salle Pratt & Whitney
07/10/22 Beloeil, QC - Centre culturel de Beloeil
08/10/22 Baie-du-Febvre, QC - Théâtre Belcourt
13/10/22 Saint-Irénée, QC - Domaine forget de Charlevoix
14/10/22 St-Eustache, QC - Le Zénith Promutuel Assurance
20/10/22 Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre
20/01/23 Toronto, ON - Koerner Hall