The Nouveau Théatre Musical, directed by Bruno Laplante, in association with Hertel and the Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France, have produced "L'Intendant Bigot", Ulric Voyer's historical Canadian grand opera, at the "Jardin des Gouverneurs" in Quebec City. Two nights in a park, close to the Château Frontenac. A concert version with 60 musicians and singers. An event because the opera L'Intendant Bigot had never been performed since its creation in 1929!

The audience gathered for the event, intrigued and anxious to hear the unknown opera of a composer from Quebec City. There had been interviews on every radio station during the preceding days leading up to this spectacular event, and six of the composer's children awaited nervously, most of them about to hear their father's opera for the first time. In the crowd were the distantly related families of Anaclet and Clovis Bélanger Some spectators had come from Montreal (Quebec), Winnipeg (Manitoba), and from Ottawa and Hamilton, Ontario.

The evening had a dreamlike quality: perfect temperature, no wind to disturb the sounds, marvelous singers, great quartets, and touching duets between the soprano and the tenor, all backed by the Quebec Symphony Orchestra in a majestic final act with a strong chorus. On August 7th and 8th 1998, 70 years after it had been composed, L'Intendant Bigot was performed again in an open air park, in Quebec City, near the Château Frontenac. Three thousand people listened fervently; the silence was deafening between the pieces and before the narrator made introductory comments about upcoming pieces of the play.

After the narrator gave a presentation about the life and works of the composer, the orchestra leader appeared to the accompaniment of applause by the crowd. Then all was silence as the musicians immediately captivated the crowd. No one thought as all eyes and minds were focused on the stage. At that moment, we knew the night would provide us with an enormous surprise, a rare and unique gift that may come only once in a lifetime. The composer's children are back in their troubled pasts from whence they will emerge with new light in their eyes.

Slowly, the sounds of the male chorus of hunters echoed in the distance, supported by growing sounds of music. Bigot entered as a black bear. His entrance is followed by a brilliant quartet between Toinon, Gaston, Raymond and Bigot! The crowd could not resist refraining and spontaneously burst into applause. But this was just the appetizer because then followed Gemma and Raymond in an arresting duet. The marvelous Gemma and her lover, Raymond, seduced the crowd at their first appearance and delighted all until the end.

The first act ended with a celebration of extraordinary voices emotionally connected to each other, with the chorus in the background. Each with their own melodic line, the lines of the Marquis, Bigot, Raymond, Gemma, Toinon, Dumas blended, melting into delight,. Only exceptional signers could have provided us with such a charming piece.

In the second act, we were presented with a remarkable piece displaying the Marquis? realization that Gemma does not love him and is in the arms of Raymond. The Marquis sings a lament recalling his youthful love for Gemma, followed by a duet and touching love scene between Gemma and Raymond.

During the Intermission, Madeleine and Marcel Voyer, the oldest and youngest of the family were interviewed by the narrator. They were well received and applauded by the crowd. Madeleine had attended the Auditorium in 1929, and recalled the first presentation of the opera in Quebec City. Marcel was but fifteen months old when his father died, and this was the first time he heard the music of the father he never knew.

The third act began after a brief intermission, and the audience never left their seats again, captive to emotion until the conclusion of the opera and their release. The third act was filled with chorus lines and dramatic scenes, including Gemma dying, assassinated by Bigot's maneuvers. In a duet that shook the body with electric pulses, Gemma died in Raymond's arms, echoed by tragic sounds emanating from the chorus. The people revolted and killed Bigot in a dramatic finale. After the last note faded, a spontaneous and long-standing ovation broke the air like thunder.

The members of the chorus were excited, with every musician proud to have been part of this event. After the concert, some vocalists compared this work with the famous operas of Bizet, Verdi, Massenet, and Gounod! They said it was a delightfully romantic opera, and many wondered why this work had not been presented before and had been unknown until now.

The crowd slowly dispersed through the trees of the park, beneath the reflected light of the nearby Château Frontenac, smiling and pleased. The temperature was warm yet comfortable, and the composer's children smiled gently, still rapt in the dream. They emerged slowly from the enchantment, cherishing their feelings, desiring them to last until they went to bed, and carrying the memories of their father with them in their minds.

The following night, more people gathered. Those who came the previous night had spread the word. The sound system was better, the music was played with more strenght and now that they knew how it sounded, the musicians and singers were more confident, stimulated by their successful previous night.

During the break, Jeanne Langlois, a niece of the composer, recalled her memories of her uncle Ulric. She talked about the 1929 concerts that she saw in Montreal and Quebec. And she recalled her uncle in her home in Montreal for rehearsals with soprano Caro Lamoureux. She also recalled that her uncle was often late. The train would usually wait for him at the Val Saint Michel's train station, and he would run to catch it with his tie in one hand and his papers in the other. During the same break, a member of the Society of friends and descendants of Ulric Voyer was interviewed by Jacques Boulanger to share his insights into the composer's life and works and the singers who took part in the 1929 concerts in Montreal and Quebec City.

At the end of the night, Yvette Deslauriers, a 91-year-old sister-in-law of Ulric Voyer, said this had been the best day of her life, as it clearly had been for the composer's children. A seventeen-year-old girl had been so profoundly affected, she stood on the lawn with tears in her eyes. She had never before listened to an opera, and she would never forget this experience.