HARMONY OF OPPOSITES
To celebrate twenty years of exceptional friendship and an equally exceptional career, the pianists of the Duo Fortin-Poirier present Harmony of Opposites, a concert that explores the theme of duality in its many facets and magnifies the music using a bold and poetic visual signature.
Paradoxes, entanglements, chiaroscuro... Harmony of Opposites is conceived as a musical and emotional journey through various forms of duality specific to each piece. Under the duo’s fingers, Rachmaninoff and Gershwin rub shoulders with Pärt and Bartok, while also making roomfor composers Julie Thériault and Hanna Kulenty and including, for the first time, a creation by Amélie Fortin. Propelled by sensitive performers who have made their mark on the Quebec and international scene, the musical works are experienced as actual paintings on stage.
The happy culmination of creative residencies, inspired by the artists'many travels and love of the visual arts and cinema, Harmony of Opposites is also the product of a collaboration with renowned lighting designer Julie Basse.
Placing their creativity at the service of emotion, pianists Amélie Fortin and Marie-Christine Poirier transform a traditional classical concert into a one-of-a-kind event, where the choreography of their hands reveals itself in shadow play and on the big screen.
Featuring two experienced and accomplished Quebec musicians, the Harmony of Opposites concert is an unmissable musical event that combines virtuosity with touching visual poetry.
Nuit Blanche
Every facet of what night represents is explored: doubt, anguish, passion, celebration, love and dreams come together through works written for four-hand piano by both famous classical composers and contemporary composers. The ballet of the duo’s dancing four hands continues to amaze with a live projection, enhanced by imaginative stage lighting designs signed by Alexandre Péloquin.
Mémoires
Already presented more than forty times across Canada in 2016-2017, the Duo Fortin-Poirier offers you a colourful concert that will blow your mind! Mémoires is a concert including works for piano four hands from the classical, tango and ragtime répertoire, presented in a warm atmosphere.
You will be touched by the intensity of Adios Nonino, a tango written by Astor Piazzolla as a final farewell. You will discover Souvenirs by Samuel Barber, a six-movement suite with attractive dances. You will be seduced by the originality and the energy of Serpent’s Kiss by William Bolcom, a rag from the suite Garden of Eden, that tells the story of Adam and Eve. You will rediscover Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninoff, in a completely breathtaking version, in which you will be impressed by the choreography of the four hands. But most of all, you will be moved and delighted by the intensity of the piano artistry and the complicity between Amélie Fortin and Marie-Christine Poirier. Mémoires is a concert in which are mixed together a hard-driving rhythm and a sweet nostalgia. In a nutshell, a concert that you will not easily forget!
Vingt Doigts
& a piano
Twenty Fingers and a Piano is a concert performed with two heads, four hands, and… thousands of notes! Known for their dynamism and ease on stage, the lovely Duo Fortin-Poirier presents an exceptional musical tour that will delight music lovers and amateurs alike.
The pianists Amélie Fortin and Marie-Christine Poirier invite you to discover a selection of pieces from their favourite works. Hear extracts from Bizet’s Jeux d’Enfants, short playful movements about children’s games, among others. Discover Greig’s Pièces Symphoniques, two beautiful transcriptions from the Symphonie Oubliée in C minor. You’ll be impressed by the choreographic movements of the four hands in Poulenc’s Sonate and captivated by the frenzy in Corigliano’s Gazebo Dances, a suite in four movements that will bring a smile to your face. Most of all, you will be fascinated by the intensity of skill and the remarkable complexity of the two pianists.