La Chapelle de Quebec in concert
Come early December of last year we were losing hope of the 2021 Yuletide season producing a masterpiece of a Christmas album, until one finally one arrived, late in the game (released in the U.K. and in Canada on December 10), in the form of La Chapelle de Quebec’s conceptual gem, The Road to Christmas. At the time the CD was unavailable in the U.S. due to U.K. distributor issues, but here in November 2022 the CD is now available on Amazon, and digital downloads can be purchased at Presto Music. The musical selections are also on YouTube, minus Colin Fox’s narrated interludes—the album’s connective tissue, as it were–are posted as standalone videos.
For Bernard Labadie, The Road to Christmas (in French, Le Chemin de Noël ) is the realization of a great dream inspired by the tradition of the annual Christmas concerts at the Chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, England. Named after the beloved annual concerts that Labadie has conducted in Quebec since 2016 with La Chapelle de Québec (Chapel of Quebec, for which he is both Founder and Musical Director), The Road to Christmas is the conductor’s deeply personal reflection on the meaning of Christmas. Created by Labadie in 1985, La Chapelle de Qubec, one of North America’s premiere vocal ensembles, is comprised exclusively of hand-picked professional singers from all over Canada. Drawing together carols from across Europe (and from across time, with composers ranging from Pachelbel [Von Himmel hoch da komm ich her] to Michael Praetorius [Es ist ein Ros’ entsprugen] to Ralph Vaughan Williams [Down in yon forest], from Schubert [Gott ist mein Hirt] to Britten [Songs from “Friday Afternoons,” Op. 7—A New Year Carol]). Bernard Labadie and La Chapelle de Québec curate an intimate, reflective journey through the Christmas story.
Les anges dans nos compagnes (Angels We Have Heard on High), La Chapelle de Québec Choir, with conductor Bernard Labadie, and Richard Paré on organ, from The Road to Christmas
Veni, veni, Emmanuel (O come, o come Emmanuel), La Chapelle de Québec Choir, with conductor Bernard Labadie, from The Road to Christmas
Inspired by the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presented each year in Cambridge, England, Labadie sought to present a similar experience in Québec, with The Road to Christmas presented at Québec City’s Palais Montcalm each year since 2016. This album is a studio recording of the concert as presented in 2019. Drawing on traditions from France, Germany and England, this musical, spiritual and poetic itinerary unfolds through traditional Nativity hymns carefully curated by Labadie over the years. Among the familiar fare: a powerful rendering of “O Holy Night” by contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux and harpist Valérie Milot; a haunting Veni, veni, Emmanuel (“O come, o come Emmanuel”) by the full choir with keening female voices creating an ethereal ambiance to set up robust male counterpoint; and a positively majestic outpouring of Les anges dans nos campagnes (“Angels We Have Heard on High”) with organist Richard Paré keying a soaring, triumphant—and breathtaking—arrangement amidst the meditative and reflective musical ruminations surrounding it.
‘You will teach me to dream like an angel’–Colin Fox reads the text ‘Children’s Sleep’ from The Road to Christmas
“The Road to Christmas is my ideal Christmas,” Labadie (who is also the founder of Violons du Roy) says. “It’s made up of music that is often simple, but presented with the greatest care, and texts that allow us to dive into the roots of the event. Everyone can find the Christmas of their dreams, whether through music, poetry, spirituality or a happy mixture of the three.”
Two digital versions of the album have been released, one in French, the other in English. The French version includes a reading by Yves Jacques from Ernest Myrand’s Noels anciens de la Nouvelle-France, the first historical study of a subject related to music in Canada.
Lully, Lulla, Lullay, Philip Stopford (composer), with soprano Sheila Deitrich and L La Chapelle de Québec Choir, with Bernard Labadie (conductor), from The Road to Christmas
Praetorius: Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, La Chapelle de Québec Choir, with Bernard Labadie (conductor), from The Road to Christmas
The English version is narrated by the esteemed Canadian character actor Colin Fox in an avunular tone that contributes immeasurably to this album’s magical pull, being at one turn measured but awestruck (appropriately, when reading “The Mystery of the Night” and “The Adoration of the Magi”), at another light and even playful when addressing young people in texts such as “Children’s Sleep” and “Christmas Morning”—a range of talents Fox undoubtedly honed in roles such as Swiss chef Fritz Brenner in A&E’s A Nero Wolfe Mystery and his voice portrayal of the Wizard in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland. The striking seasonal cover art, rooted in Christmas tradition, is an evocative painting by Quebec artist Patricia Bellerose.
‘See the bygone years leaning on the balconies of Heaven in old-fashioned dress…’–Colin Fox reads the text ‘The Mystery of the Night’ from The Road to Christmas
“I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” So declared a transformed Ebenezer Scrooge after his night visitors had departed. To those dear readers who would embrace Scrooge’s apothegm, The Road to Christmas will light your way, all through the days–nay, years–ahead. –-Presto Music with additional content by David McGee
