Copper has an exchange program with selected magazines, where we share articles between publications. This one's from PMA Magazine: the Power of Music and Audio.
Robert Schryer is transfixed by violinist Isabella d’Éloize Perron and the Orchestre FILMharmonique as they tour François Dompierre’s new Les Quatre Saisons du Québec, now also out on ATMA Classique.
Warning: violinist Isabella d’Éloize Perron is so captivating to watch live that you might experience the destabilizing sensation of having left your body, only to return to it and wonder where the time went.
It happened to me – literally – as I watched her perform at Montreal’s Place des Arts during her current concert tour, Les Quatre Saisons de Vivaldi à Dompierre (The Four Seasons from Vivaldi to Dompierre). It wasn’t entirely her doing – the Orchestre FILHarmonique, of which she was a part, conspired with her. But the most jarring sensation of returning to my physical body occurred during Les Quatre Saisons du Québec (The Four Seasons of Quebec), the final concerto of the night. I watched Perron possess her instrument like a wrangler breaking a wild horse; what felt like seconds later, an eruption of applause suddenly broke out. Before I knew it, it was all over. Time had flown.
Isabella d’Éloize Perron.
Watching such virtuosity and high-flying precision can be transfixing. You’re sucked in like a moth to a flame. The violin comes across as such a natural extension of Perron that you’d be forgiven for thinking she was born with one in her hand.
And that’s not far from the truth. A prodigy, Isabella started playing the violin at age two. At that age, I think I perfected my ability to burp on my own. And at five years old, Isabella was already performing for the public. That’s an insane level of innate talent.
But don’t take my word for it. If you can, see her for yourself. As I type these words, she’s touring North America and Europe with Orchestre FILMharmonique, led by Francis Choinière, performing a program featuring Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, and François Dompierre’s Les Quatre Saisons du Québec (The Four Seasons of Quebec). Have you spotted the theme?
It’s a fun one, for sure. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, along with two completely reimagined takes on the idea that his original inspired. You probably haven’t heard Dompierre’s piece because it’s receiving its world premiere on this tour – which makes attending one of these performances a sort of “I was there when” moment for those able to witness the work first entering the world.
Composer François Dompierre.
If that has the ring of destiny, consider this: Les Quatre saisons du Québec might not have existed at all if not for a serendipitous event, the catalyst for which was conductor Choinière himself. He proposed to Dompierre that he write a Quebecois take on the Four Seasons, one they could tour. His reply to Choinière? “I couldn’t say no,” Dompierre recounted to the Place des Arts audience.
It was a great idea, not least because Choinière has the guns to bring Dompierre’s work to thrilling life. And by guns, I mean his touring orchestra of 22 musicians, built around the string configuration chosen by Vivaldi: violin, viola, cello, double bass, and harpsichord.
As for the orchestra itself, FILMharmonique was founded in 2015 as a film-score orchestra whose mission is to help make classical music more accessible to the general public. They occasionally venture beyond that purview, as they do here, but even so, you can still hear a cinematic flair to the proceedings; they understand drama, beauty, excitement. And they certainly know how to put on a show.
And I’ll add something else: Perron’s fabulous violin playing would mean little without the support of the entire orchestra, and let me assure you, each musician on that stage was up to the challenge. As a group, they are tight and of a piece, starting and stopping with such skillful precision, confidence, and unity that they behaved as one instead of 22. At one point, I thought they must practice together in their sleep.
You could hear their hive mentality and collective control from the start of Vivaldi’s concerto. It was all rich, textural, silky, fleet-footed, and dexterous. The fast, cascading parts between first and second violins were exhilarating, while the deeper, more languorously played notes could be heart-wrenching in their emotional gravitas.
Perron, of course, was wonderful to watch, weaving in her multi-colored dress. I mention the dress only because she wore a different one for each of the three compositions – all elegant. For the tango-infused Piazzolla segment, with its pulsating, sensuous, festive facets, Perron wore a flamenco red dress that, during the more upbeat passages, could make her look like a flame flickering onstage.
She wore another red dress, this one more muted, for the final Four Seasons, Les Quatre Saisons du Québec, a work that gives a nod or two to the earlier concertos but stands on its own, with a core identity blending the many influences that lie at the root of Quebecois culture: French, Irish, Scottish, Acadian, Indigenous.
It is, of course, all folk music – just in classical form. Unsurprisingly, considering the pairing of Dompierre and the FILMHarmonic, the whole composition moves in an almost cinematic way, in scenes filled with Old World notions of adventure, discovery, dislocation, and barroom dancing. Moods alternate between joy, melancholy, love, sorrow, and finally, jubilation.
Then applause, and I was back in the concert hall, my transfixion broken on a summer evening.
To view the concert schedule, click here.
For those unable to attend one of the concerts, Les Quatre Saisons du Québec, conducted by Francis Choinière with the Orchestre FILMHarmonique, has been released on the ATMA Classique label in both CD and 45-rpm LP formats.
Recorded in a church in DXD (32-bit floating point, 352 kHz) by René Laflamme of audiophile label 2xHD and tube-based audio manufacturer Nagra, the sound is rich, reverberant, and natural, with ample string texture and a deep, well-delineated soundstage.
To order your copy, click here.
The recording space inside l’église de La-Nativité-de-la-Sainte-Vierge, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, on March 18, 2026.
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