Osvaldo Montes - La Guepe (2018) [Hi-Res]

The bandoneon betrays Osvaldo Montes's Argentinian origins. He uses it profusely in the Canadian film La Guêpe, directed by Gilles Carle in 1986. The piano, in the other hand, reveals his song-writing nature, and the melancholic spirit of his work.

This CD recovers one of his earliest works, one of the first since his arrival in Canada. Montes puts music to a tragic revenge story: Chloé (Chloé Sainte-Marie), a pilot, witnesses her two little children unintentionally killed in a car crash. The drunk driver, Delphis (Donald Pilon) turns out to be someone rich and powerful. Halfway between thriller and drama, the soundtrack is tinged with a certain narrative tension (The wasp's crash), but above all with a painful sadness (Prelude for Chloé),expressed here through bandoneon (with the virtuoso Arturo Penón), piano (Jimmy Tanaka) and strings (the musical arrangements are provided by Richard Gregoire). These musical instruments are the perfect tools for Montes (who is also in charge of synthesizers and keyboards) to create a scoresheet tilting towards the unexpected drift of the events. The composer shows his eclecticism (Plane waltz, Voodoo ceremony), without neglecting the narrative (Disco theme, and the Japanese Commercial presented as the CD's first bonus track).

If there is an outstanding song in The Wasp it is, without a doubt, the main theme, Tangaggio. Montes writes it upon the forms of the Tango, using bandoneon, piano and strings. The theme translates musically the painful emotion carried away by the Argentinian accordion, while the strings tilt it towards Tragedy. It will be repeated in several tracks throughout the CD, with a different orchestration (even in a bandoneon solo). It will also become a song,with French lyrics, performed by the heroine, Chloé Sainte-Marie, in a suggestive transposition of the theme's dramatic feel. Montes's beautiful score reflects faithfully the intentions expressed in his own website: The images surprise us, push us, talk to us; sometimes they ask for permission, sometimes they beg for company, sometimes they let us fly on our own, but they are always joint, image and music, in perfect unison, speaking a common language. It is a gift for the soul.

Tracklist:

CD1
01. Osvaldo Montes - 01 Tangaggio
02. Osvaldo Montes - Prelude Pour Clohe
03. Osvaldo Montes - Accident de la Guepe
04. Osvaldo Montes - Delphis
05. Osvaldo Montes - Valse Diner
06. Osvaldo Montes - Tangaggio (Reprise 1)
07. Osvaldo Montes - Valse Avion
08. Osvaldo Montes - Assassinat de Delphis
09. Osvaldo Montes - Escaliers
10. Osvaldo Montes - Tangaggio (Reprise 2)
11. Osvaldo Montes - Prelude Pour Clohe (Reprise 1)
12. Osvaldo Montes - Delphis (Reprise 1)
13. Osvaldo Montes - Ceremonie Vudu
14. Osvaldo Montes - Theme Discotheque
15. Osvaldo Montes - Tangaggio (Chanson)
16. Osvaldo Montes - Tangaggio (Bandoneon Solo)
17. Osvaldo Montes - Tangaggio (Reprise 3)

CD2
01. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 1 - Comercial Japonais
02. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 2 - Prelude Pour Clohe 6
03. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 3 - Prelude pour Clohe (cue 8)
04. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 4 - Tanggagio (Piano Solo)
05. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 5 - Ceremonie Vudu (Version 2)
06. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 6 - Tanggagio (Piano Solo 2)
07. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 7 - Tam Tam Guepe
08. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 8 - Prelude Pour Clohe (Reprise 4)
09. Osvaldo Montes - Extra 9 - Flecha Asesina