Daniel Lavoie sings Gaston Miron : a note from the audence

A photo from Douze hommes rapaillés, most likely taken in the Parc de la Francophonie in Quebec City on July 11, 2011. The original source of the photo is unknown. Immediate source: http://www.daniellavoie.ru/dl/index.php/en/creativework/concerts/440--2011

A few years ago  I had a chance to see one of a handful of live performances of the legendary Douze hommes rapaillés, the one that took place in in the Parc de la Francophonie in Quebec City on July 11, 2011. (For the details, see my earlier post). The 12 extraordinary French-Canadian singer/songwriters/poets/political activists and just plain handsome men were creating an enormous energy on that open air stage and beyond. But this post is about Daniel Lavoie.

Lavoie stood out for me even among these very distinguished colleagues, and not just because his easy smile set him apart during the "idle" times when they would all just sit around the stage listening to a colleague or playing chorus. And not even because of the power of his stage presence whenever he took over the microphone for Soir tourmente/Le vieil Ossian or  Ce monde sans issue (seriously, it was like in an illusionist's trick: one person somehow would fill out the whole stage and soar over the audience). And not even because he was getting all the "Bravos" from the public.

It was not the perfect form that struck me the most in Lavoie's performance, it was the message, the interpretation of his pieces, especially Soir tourmente/Vieil Ossian.

I'd like to take some time to talk about this song. In my view it's a strange (but beautiful!) musical piece to write and a tough one to sing. It is basically a combination of two impressionistic poems, neither of which lends itself to retelling by prose. In simplified terms one presents an image of dying and another one - an image of an epic winter storm, but in essence it's an atmospheric song, it talks about things that only poetry and music can approach, and its message comes across very clearly in Lavoie's interpretation.

It all clicked for me on that summer night in the Parc de la Francophonie. When Daniel got to “Et tu meurs” (“And you die”) he started... smiling and I swear some visible light started streaming from this man. Now that smile did not make it to the TV version, but for me it's pivotal to this interpretation. It was that smile and that glow that made me for the first time sense that the idea of death as a natural part of life (or its counterpoint) might be somehow grounded. At least someone knew something about it that I didn't...

Later I will find out that this fearless and poetic view of the relationship between life and death is natural to this singer/philosopher/poet.

Not surprisingly, Lavoie himself found a way to "explain" this song in his 2010 interview  given to Olivier Robillard-Laveaux:

*[For original French see footnote] What connection are you making between Soir tourmente, a gripping text about death of a man and Le Vieil Ossian (strongly inspired by the winter cold) placing them next to each other like that?
"To tell the truth, I don't see Soir tourmente so much as a poem about a death of a man as about consciousness of existing, in fact about life. We all die, every day, one little step at a time. If I had to make a connection, and obviously I understand the question, I would say that Le vieil Ossian makes a jubilatory counterpoint to this very true but nevertheless sad statement, that death accompanies us every day of our lives. The connection, an acute awareness of life and death, of the beauty and the magic which are there in the very matter of the Universe."

This photo captures Daniel's mood in Soir tourmente/ Le Vieil Ossian very well (although this Agence Spectra photo was taken a month earlier in Montreal).

Not to overlook Ce monde sans issue, it was perfect as well. In this song, the way Lavoie interpreted it, I heard once again acute awareness of existence and consciousness of own strength, as well as of solitude in the crowd, and also a reflection on one's life and one's own roots, all in all it's a very grown-up song for a grand singer, who has the mind, the gift and the means to deliver all this. Oh, how Lavoie soared over the audience both in this song and Le vieil Ossian! 

In general I find that Douze hommes rapaillés perfectly showcased Daniel Lavoie's unique combination of contrasting and (for many performers) mutually exclusive gifts. Grand and intimate, cerebral and intuitive at the same time, a master of the form and the message, Lavoie manages to think while he performs artistic magic on stage every single time...

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Just to add value to this collection of thoughts I have attached some links to videos of Daniel Lavoie in Douze hommes rapaillés below.

The televised version of Douze hommes rapaillés: 

Soir tourmente/Le vieil Ossian (yes, don't believe the video's own title)

 
Ce monde sans issue 

 

One more version of Soir tourmente/Le vieil Ossian, from TV show Pénélope McQuade, June 4 2015, Ici Radio-Canada Télé. Watch for that smile!:

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* [The original French] Quel lien faites-vous entre Soir tourmente, un texte saisissant sur la mort de l’homme, et Le Vieil Ossian (fortement inspiré du froid hivernal) pour les juxtaposer ainsi?
"À vrai dire, je ne vois pas tellement Soir tourmente comme un poème sur la mort de l’homme autant que sur la conscience d’être, sur la vie en fait. Nous mourons tous, tous les jours à petites lampées. Si j’avais à faire un lien, et j’ai, évidemment, vu la question, je dirais que Le Vieil Ossian vient faire un contrepoids jubilatoire à ce constat bien vrai, mais quand même triste, que la mort nous accompagne tous les jours de notre vie. Le lien, une conscience intense de la vie et de la mort, de la beauté et de la magie qui sont là, dans la matière même de l’univers."