ARTICLES BEING VIEWED NOW:
- Firedove - English organist Anna Lapwood's new album was recorded in a Norwegian cathedral
- Music on the Front Line - Peter King discusses the special place that music has for journalists at the sharp end of conflict zones
- A Worthy Captain - Peter King marks BBC presenter Petroc Trelawny's move from dawn to twilight
- United States of America
- Spotlight. Enchantingly Luminous - Gerald Fenech strongly recommends Raphaël Pichon's new recording of J S Bach's B minor Mass
DISCUSSION: John Dante Prevedini leads a discussion about Improvisation in the classical world and beyond, including contributions from David Arditti, James Lewitzke, James Ross and Steve Vasta.
Although the city was founded in 1642 by French settlers and incorporated as a city in 1842, there is evidence that the Island of Montreal was occupied by First Nations native people up to four thousand years ago. Montreal is the largest city in Canada's province of Quebec, the second largest city in Canada and one of Canada's most bilingual cities. For more than a-hundred-and-fifty years, Montreal was Canada's financial and industrial centre, and one can still see some of the city's earliest still-standing buildings, mostly in the Old Montreal area, many dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like Calgary, Montreal sits at the confluence of two rivers - the St Lawrence and Ottawa - and it also sits at the confluence of French and English culture, which gives it a unique perspective in the arts.
Montreal's cultural depth can be sampled in the programming of the city's performing arts centre - the Place des Arts, Canada's largest cultural centre, created in 1963, which boasts nearly a million visitors each year, and six concert venues of various sizes - Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier (2,996 seats), Montreal Symphony House (2,117 seats), Théâtre Maisonneuve (1,453 seats), Théâtre Jean-Duceppe (765 seats), Cinquième salle (420 seats) and the 129-seat Salle Claude-Léveillée.
Montreal's Place des Arts. Photo © 2022 J F Savaria
A wide variety of music, opera, dance, musical theatre, comedy, spoken word, circus/magic and other cultural events are regularly programmed at the Place des Arts. Orchestral music has held a prominent place in Montreal, thanks to performances by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Orchestre Métropolitain.
Looking ahead, highlights of the Place des Arts' classical music programming in 2025 and beyond include:
Puccini's Turandot at Place des Arts, Montreal, Canada
Further information: placedesarts.com
Posted 10 March 2025 by Keith Bramich