Francis Choinière conducts Respighi's Pines of Rome and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé

Embark on a Greco-Roman tour in two early 20th-century masterworks performed by Francis Choinière and the Orchestre Philharmonique et Chœur des Mélomanes — comprising over 80 musicians and 100 singers — at the Maison symphonique de Montréal. First, stroll through Rome’s verdant Villa Borghese gardens and across the pine-tree-lined Janiculum Hill, taking in Respighi’s vivid portrait of the Roman landscape through the four movements of his 1924 tone poem, Pines of Rome. Each movement takes us further back in time, from modern metropolitan Rome through the early Christian era and, finally, the Roman Republic. Then, enter into the enchanting, dreamlike realm of Ravel’s 1912 Impressionist masterpiece Daphnis et Chloé, with its lavish, resplendent harmonies and dancing melodies. Thought to date back to the 2nd century AD (at the time of the Roman Empire), the original novel by Greek writer Longus recounts the story of two orphans who fall in love but go their separate ways, discover the workings of the world, and eventually reunite for a peaceful life together in the countryside.