Yukari Cousineau Listening Zone

The coup de coeur of Yukari Cousineau

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7

My first encounter with the work…
It was at my first ever rehearsal of a symphony orchestra. I began playing symphonic music at a fairly late stage, you could say. Up till then, I’d performed a lot of chamber music and music for string orchestra. One fine day – I must have been 17 or 18 – I found myself sitting among the musicians of a semi-professional symphony orchestra and the conductor gave the starting downbeat. Beethoven’s 7th. I’d diligently prepared my part but hadn’t listened to the work. I was completely stunned by what I heard. What an experience! I have to say that discovering such a work while playing it is a luxury and an irreplaceable joy.

My favourite passage
There are more than one. The first movement for its power, the finale for its insane frenzy (I’m a fan of faster versions) and, of course, the slow movement for its great beauty and the strength it finds in what is basically a very simple statement. I do recall that I didn’t like the slow part of the scherzo. I didn’t understand it.

My favourite recording
I don’t necessarily have a favourite version. It changes with my mood and the passing years. But the disc I had at the time was the performance conducted by Sir Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Yukari Cousineau has been the concertmaster of the Orchestre Métropolitain directed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin for 22 years. A member of the orchestra since 1998, she first held the position of assistant concertmaster and then associate principal viola. She is also a member of the Magellan Ensemble and the Ensemble Jean Cousineau.

As a chamber player, she is a member of the Trio Cousineau and the Quatuor Molinari. In 2008, she founded the Quatuor La Muse. She has been invited to perform at many festivals, including the Festival de Lanaudière, Mountain View Festival, Concerts aux Îles du Bic and Un Été à Bourges, where she has twice given concerts of works for solo violin. She has appeared in recitals with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Alvaro Pierri, Jean Saulnier and Julien LeBlanc.

Immersed in music from a very early age, Yukari is the daughter of Jean Cousineau, founder of the École Les Petits Violons. She has been principal violin or viola with, among others, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de chambre Appassionata, La Pietà and the Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil. Yukari was also a coach at the École Les Petits Violons, taught violin and viola at UQAM for several years and is regularly invited to give master classes. She has been a visiting professor at the Université de Montréal since September 2018.

Yukari Cousineau

Premier mouvement : Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op.92 - 1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace

Deuxième mouvement : Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op.92 - 2. Allegretto

Troisième mouvement : Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op.92 - 3. Presto - Assai meno presto

Quatrième mouvement : Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op.92 - 4. Allegro con brio