On the eve of its 20th anniversary, Johanne Goyette`s ATMA

On
O
n tthe
he eeve
ve of
of iits
ts
20
th anniversary,
anniversar y,
20th
JJohanne
ohanne G
oyette’s
Goyette’s
AT
MA C
lassique
ATMA
Classique
pproves
roves that
that smaller
smaller
ccompanies
ompanies can
can
su
cceed in
in the
the world
world
succeed
o
classical re
rrecording
cording
off classical
BY
B
Y
Heart
IICK
CK PH
HILLIPS
ILLIPS
Soul
oul
28
OPERA CANADA
WINTER 2013
PHOTO:
PHO
OTO: JULIEN FFAUGERE
AUGERE
One of the measur
measures
e of success in an
es
any
ny business
business is the n
number
umber of
widgets pro
produced.
oduced. Afterr almost 20 years,
years, theree are
are some 450 recordings
reecordings
aavailable
vailable fr
from
rom the Montr
Montreal-based
ntreal-based ATMA
ATMA Classique label,
bel,, and Johanne
Johanne
Goyette
G
oyette is
is a bi
bitt bothered
bothereed bbyy th
thee fact
factt th
that
at sshe
he ca
can
n no
no longer
longer remember
remember al
alll
of them.. Maybe
Maaybe that’
that’s’s one
ne of the pitfalls
pitffalls of success,, albeit a w
welcome
elcome one
one..
Trained
T
rained as a m
musician
usician and
nd star
starting
ting down
do
own that path,, Go
Goyette
oyette
te then spent 15
yyears
ears as a m
music
usic
i pro
producer
producer
d cer for
f Radio
R dio Canada in Montr
Montreal.
Montreeal.
al.l With
With
i h perhaps
h
some fore
foresight
esight into where
wher
heree the public
public broadcaster
bro
oadcaster was
was heading—as
eading—as well
well
as a belief in forg
forging
ing your
your own
own opportunities—she
opportunities—she went
weentt back to school
to obtain a ggraduate
raduate deg
degree
greee fr
from
rom McGill Uni
University’s
iversity’’s Master
Masters
sters Program
Pro
ogram in
Sound Recor
Recording.
ding.ATMA
ATMA
MA (Sanskrit
(Sanskrit for “soul”) Classique w
was
as launched in
11994,
994, although
although Goyette
Goyette claims
claims her
her rresolve
esolve to
to establish
establish a label
lab
abel ddates
ates back
back a
decade earlier
earlier..T
Today,
odaay, shee is still as involved
in
nvolved in every
every recording
reecor
ordding project
pro
oject as
shee was
sh
was in the vvery
eryy first.
first.. She
She still
still loves
lo
oves working
workingg with
with musicians
music
i ians and
and being
being
immersed
immer
sed in the entire
entire process,
ppro
ocess,, fro
from
om the initial planning and conception
through
thro
ough
g the rrecording,
ecording,
g,, mixing,
m g,, editingg and ppost-production.
post-pro
p oduction.
tion.
After 450 rrecordings,
ecorrdings,, she is still as pr
proud
roud of the re
recorded
ecordded
d sound of the
eearliest
arliest A
ATMA
TMA projects
projects as
as she
she is
is with
with the
the most
most re
recent.
ecent. B
Based
ased on
on the
the simple
simple
belief that a re
recording
ecorrding should
hould highlight the m
music,
usic, not m
much
u has changed
uch
over
o
ver the decades.. Go
Goyette
oyette
tte is still in charge of eevery
ver
eryy A
ATMA
TMA
MA re
rrecording
ecordding as
29
the producer and editor, maintaining a consistency in the ATMA
sound—even the microphones used are the same. More like a musician than a producer or record-label executive, she seems to express
herself through her recordings.There is no ATMA Artists & Repertoire committee, typically the source for ideas for recordings in the
industry. A committee of executives weighs each proposal according to selection of artists, repertoire, value, budget and monetary
return. Instead, the ideas for future
ATMA projects come from the staff
of seven, including a graphic designer
and a sound engineer, or from the artists themselves.
Based in the early-music hotbed
of Montreal, Goyette was quick to
realize the potential for top-line
recordings of Baroque repertoire
with artists living on her doorstep.
Sopranos Karina Gauvin and Suzie Leblanc, countertenors Daniel Taylor and Matthew White, the viol duo Les Voix Humaines,
the ensembles Les Boréades de Montréal, Masques,Arion, Studio
de musique ancienne de Montréal, Ensemble Caprice—the list is
lengthy.As time passed, the repertoire of the label broadened from
the Baroque into other eras, medieval to contemporary, as well as
world music, tango, popular and even experimental music. Canadian artists such as Leblanc and Taylor or the now internationally
renowned conductorYannick Nézet-Séguin have been solid sellers,
but the hands-down top ATMA artist today is the Montreal-born
tenor and Quebec television personality, Marc Hervieux, with his
popular discs of opera arias, French and Québecois mélodies, as well
as Christmas music and Neapolitan songs.
Gauvin has enjoyed a long and fruitful association with ATMA
Classique, with a dozen recordings to her credit, ranging from
Baroque opera and oratorio to the Symphony No. 4 by Mahler
“Johanne just loves music.
It’s really her life”
and Britten’s Les Illuminations.Her recent Prima Donna recording for
ATMA won a 2013 Juno Award.Although she continues to record
for such international labels as Decca, Virgin and DGG’s Archiv
Produktion, Gauvin maintains a soft spot for ATMA and Goyette.
For the other labels, she merely gets the call to record a certain role
or repertoire. But it’s more of a special relationship with ATMA—a
two-way street, as she describes it. She enjoys being involved from
the outset as well as at the editing stage. She respects the way Goyette has long been a strong supporter of young talent and admires
30
result of Johanne’s unique talent, personality and values.”
White explains that the international distribution of ATMA
recordings can give a strong boost to the careers of Canadian
musicians and ensembles on the roster. In recent seasons, his group,
Les Voix Baroques, has received invitations to perform at some
of Europe’s most prestigious music festivals without ever having
sent out a press package. Presenters and producers have learned
of the high quality of Canadian ensembles just from their ATMA
recordings. Future projects with Early Music Vancouver, Pacific
Baroque Orchestra and ATMA Classique are being planned.
“ATMA is the result of
Johanne’s unique talent,
personality and values”
– M AT T H E W W H I T E
of Handel’s opera, Orlando, featuring Canadian singers Gauvin,
mezzo Allyson McHardy and bass Nathan Berg, along with
English countertenor Owen Willetts in the title role, American
soprano Amanda Forsythe and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
Produced and recorded in Vancouver by Goyette after a successful
run of the opera at the 2012Vancouver Early Music Festival, music
direction was by Alexander Weimann, the talented Montreal-based
harpsichordist, conductor and current Artistic Director of PBO.
This project, along with many of the activities of Early Music Vancouver, is a dream of collaboration between what may seem at first
as unlikely partners. The new Orlando was realized as a result of
joint funding by Early Music Vancouver, the Canada Music Fund
of the federal Department of Canadian Heritage, Pacific Baroque
Orchestra, the province of British Columbia, and the Conseil des
arts et des lettres du Québec. As Matthew White explains, “The
funding to make it happen came from many sides, and I think it is
a first-rate testament to the collaborative spirit that makes the Vancouver
Early Music Festival work so well.”
Now with 11 ATMA recordings,
White made his first for the label
in 2000 with the Skye Consort—a
disc of mostly old Celtic and English
songs and instrumental pieces.“I was
struck right away by how personally
involved and open Johanne was to
ideas that others might think strange
or unmarketable.”
Because Goyette is involved at every step, White has never
viewed her any way other than as a close collaborator. Although
she exhibits a strong presence, he has never felt manipulated or
handled.“Johanne is a sensitive musician and lover of music first.
I’ve never had the sense that ATMA was primarily about product
or business. Johanne has had a series of love affairs with music and
musicians over the past 20 years and I think this is reflected in
what she has managed to create. In short, ATMA is the successful
OPERA CANADA
PHOTOS: (TOP) CHRIS WEBSTER; (BOTTOM) MICHAEL SLOBODIAN
– K A R I N A G AU V I N
her calm, non-interfering, yet encouraging manner during the
recording sessions.“Johanne just loves music. It’s really her life,” she
says.Watch for an upcoming ATMA Classique recording of opera
and concert arias by Mozart from Gauvin with LesViolons du Roy.
Another regular on the ATMA roster is Ottawa-born countertenor Matthew White, now Artistic Director of Early Music
Vancouver. Recently released on ATMA Classique is a 3-CD set
Also recently released is an impressive 5-CD ATMA set
of the complete works for voice and piano by Francis Poulenc,
nicely timed to mark the 50th anniversary of Poulenc’s death in
1963. A joint production between ATMA, the recently formed
Centre lyrique d’expression française and Festival Classica (held
in Saint-Lamber,t just outside Montreal), this is the first complete
recording of these works featuring Francophone singers—including sopranos Pascale Beaudin and Hélène Guilmette, mezzo Julie
Boulianne and baritone Marc Boucher from Canada alongside
soprano Julie Fuchs and baritone Francois Le Roux from Freance.
Richard Turp [a member of the board of Opera Canada magazine] acted as Artistic Advisor and Montrealer Olivier Godin as
the pianist throughout. Praised by the Association des Amis de
Francis Poulenc, the recordings were produced and recorded at
Domaine Forget in Quebec by Goyette between 2012 and 2013.
Godin is a pianist-coach at McGill’s Schulich School of Music
and co-director of the Opera Studio at the Conservatoire de
musique de Montréal.When he first approached Goyette about
the Poulenc project, he says, she turned him down. But typically,
when she saw the artistic passion and commitment, she agreed
to it. Godin himself likes to be totally involved in recordings,
from overall sound to editing. He appreciates the honesty of
Goyette, her teamwork and how input is solicited from everyone
involved before decisions are made. “It really is a two-way street
with Johanne,” he says, echoing Gauvin. ATMA has more vocal
projects planned with Godin, including potential discs of Brahms,
Henri Dutillieux and other French vocal repertoire.
Now in her early 60s, Goyette has no plans to retire. But working well over 300 days a year has limited her family concerns,
which she hopes to correct. There are just too many potential
ATMA projects to consider—from one with the Vienna-based,
Juno Award-winning Canadian soprano Jane Archibald to more
with Gauvin, Early Music Vancouver, Pacific Baroque Orchestra,
White and Weimann. She’s also interested in the future in attracting international artists and ensembles to complement ATMA’s
ongoing commitment to Quebec and Canadian musicians and
ensembles. On the eve of the 20th anniversary, the ATMA mission
statement has never changed and says it all. As the company’s web
site (atmaclassique.com) states it: “At ATMA, we like to surprise,
dazzle and take artistic risks.What inspires us is simply our passion
for recording sound, and for sharing, both through the traditional
medium of the disc and through cyberspace, our acoustic images
of imagined worlds.”
WINTER 2013
31