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Jusqu’à aujourd’hui, le nom de Louis Riel m’était tolalement inconnu. Le contrebassiste Norman Guilbeault a choisi de réhabiliter ce poète, écrivain, chef politique, défenseur des Métis canadiens et héros national. Me méfiant comme de la peste de ces derniers, on peut se demander qui était vraiment ce Monsieur Riel. Poète? Humaniste? Visionnaire? Mystique? Je me contenterai donc de jouer ce qui ici doit l’être, à savoir un énorme travail de recherche mené par le contrebassiste-historien et la grande cohésion musicale d’un projet abouti et pas pompeux pour un sou. On suit ce concert donné en février 1999 à Montréal, le livret entre les mains, essayant de s’y retrouver quelque peu au milieu de ces histoires d’arpenéeurs, de bataille du lac aux canards et de victoire de l’anse aux poissons. Musique toujours passionnante, rien ne nous interdit de plus encore nous intéresser à ces quelques faits politiques, essentiels de l’histoire du Canada. On l’aura compris, avec ces trois productions, l’été sera magnétique ou ne sera pas.
blogue@press-1283
press@1283

blogue@press-1646
press@1646
Let me state from the outset that I’m no expert on Canadian history! The whole Louis Riel affair memorialized in Normand Guilbeault’s musical drama was entirely unknown to me before I spun these two CDs, so I won’t attempt to comment on the political implications of the putting-down by English-speakers of an uprising of Franco-Manitoban Métis led by Riel in the late part of the 19th Century. Suffice it to say that the story is told from the Francophone point of view, and that the English-speakers are presented as lying, hypocritical imperialists while Riel is seen as a prophet leading his people to freedom. With good and evil so clearly defined, a rousing drama ensues. Musical Plea is essentially an instrumental work with bilingual (French/English) narration. The narration is mostly spoken, though sometimes shouted, and is drawn principally from historical documents. Occasionally a period hymn or anthem is performed. There is also a liberal sprinkling of spontaneous battle cries, whoops and hollers.
Guilbeault’s musical style owes a great deal to jazz, and I noticed more than a fleeting similarity to Mingus. Like Mingus’ more ambitious compositions, Musical Plea is at once innocent and world-stained, joyous and tragic. Sometimes it lurches along, while at other times it soars. Its substance consists of American Indian chants, gigues, reels, military marches and anthems woven together with long threads of improvisatory material. This interplay between the historical and spontaneous results in a kind of souped-up snapshot of the past — as if documentary and commentary had become one. The dramatic climax of the work comes as Louis Riel is hanged for treason, and the music comes abruptly to a halt with narration in mid-sentence. The effect is chilling indeed! Unfortunately, the schmaltzy pop ballad that follows weakens this impact. Ignore that track and I can recommend Musical Plea as a finely crafted musical drama.blogue@press-1204
press@1204
A monumental undertaking requiring four years of research, Montréal bassist/composer Normand Guilbeault’s Riel debuted at Victoriaville in 1998 and played again at the Lion d’Or in February 1999, where it was recorded. Packaged beautifully, with an informative 72-page booklet, this is top shelf all around. A large cast of Montréal’s best musicians Jean Derome, Pierre Tanguay, Tom Walsh, Jean René, Mathieu Bélanger, Bob Olivier and others) tells the story of the doomed and damned Metis leader, mixing Scottish and French reels and jigs, native and Metis songs, Orangemen chants, and improvisations in a passionate tour de force that is stimulating both as musical event and history lesson. 4/5
blogue@press-1647
press@1647
La pendaison de Louis Riel par les autorités canadiennes à la fin du XIXe siècle raisonne encore dans l’imaginaire collectif québécois. Le contrebassiste Normand Guilbeault offre avec Riel: Plaidoyer musical un drame musical qui cherche à réhabiliter ce personnage historique. Traître ou héros? L’analyse historique de Guilbeault est très bien documentée et constitue une synthèse du dossier proche de la réalité, sans magnifier le personnage outre mesure. Musicalement, Guilbeault entremêle improvisation dirigée et musiques traditionnelles québécoises, irlandaises et métis, le tout étant lié par des narrations de François Gourd et de Bob Olivier qui reconstituent les événements marquants de la vie de Riel. L’enregistrment fait au Lion d’Or à Montréal en février 1999 est supérieur au spectacle présenté en première au FIMAV 98. Certaines longueurs demeurent néanmoins et l’aspect grandiose de la présentation scénique se trouve atrophié sur disque et parfois transformé en pathos. Il s’agit tout de même d’un disque accessible et le livret de 72 pages (français et anglais) éclaire l’auditeur sur les différents aspects du «dossier Riel». Recommandé.
blogue@press-1121
press@1121
Louis Riel (1844-1885) is one of the most controversial figures in Canadian history, regarded by some as a hero, by others, a traitor. In January 1869 the Hudson Bay Company sold most of its land in the north-west to the Canadian government without regard for the territorial rights of the resident, French-speaking, half-breed Métis, who appealed to the well-educated Métis, Louis Riel, to lead them in their struggle. As secretary of the Métis movement, Riel organised blockades against government surveyors and was instrumental in the formation of a provisional government for the Métis of which he became president. The problem soon escalated into armed conflict. Normand Guilbeault’s Riel/Musical Plea dramatises these Métis uprisings in Manitoba (1869-70) and Saskatchewan (1885), culminating in the trial and execution of Riel in 1885. Guilbeault’s position is pro-Riel and he offers this nearly two-hour work as a “fair tribute to this national hero, unjustly accused of high treason.”
A patchwork of styles, including rousing native chants, French-Canadian songs, military marching themes, jazz and free improvisation, Riel appears, on first hearing, an uneven experience, though greater familiarity with Guilbeault’s polystylistic method reveals a work of considerable emotional power, rooted in the musical landscape of Riel’s time. Narrators (in English and French) speak for the principal participants in the action; the accompanying booklet contains relevant historical documents, but non-French readers will have problems understanding about half of this material. The improvising, which accounts for the radical aspects of the "soundtrack", functions as superior mood music and is at its most dissonant when describing conflict or the threat of it. However, Lou Babin’s vocal and accordion improvisation on L’exil, one of the work’s highlights, is both lyrical and memorably poignant, later supported by the enchanting flute of Jean Derome. Batoche with its solemn processional tempo and eruptive military horns has an Ayleresque flavour. The excellent live recording matches the performance of a 12-piece ensemble which includes some of the finest musicians in Canadian New Music.blogue@press-1648
press@1648
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