At 150,000 copies sold, Symphonic Harmonium was such a resounding success that its producers decided the spectacle they were going to get from it could be nothing less than awe-inspiring.

Presented from May 24 to June 4 in Trois-Rivières, Histoires sans mots – Harmonium symphonique will magnify the music of Serge Fiori by providing him as amplifiers with an orchestra of 63 musicians, a choir of about forty voices, dancers, acrobats, video projections, a giant screen and a scenic structure that should, it is said, arouse wonder.

The luminous bracelets from the Montreal firm PixMob, which have already been used by stars such as The Weeknd, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, will also be used.

In short, it's the total.

What would the young, long-haired Serge Fiori of the 1970s think if he were told that such a production based on his music would be released... 50 years later?

"He would be knocked out. It's been two and a half years since we made the album and I still can't believe it. Is there anything more touching than making tunes at 17, with an acoustic guitar, and picking yourself up symphonic? Any sense. It really doesn't make any sense. »

“Listen, insists the happy septuagenarian, there will be 100 artists [115, more exactly] on the stage. It will be one of the biggest shows presented here. It won't just be a classical concert as usual. They put the package, there will be surprises everywhere, it will be beautiful. »

music lover

If he ruins his life, it is not just because of this symphonic treatment which transfigures the pieces of the Harmonium-The Five Seasons-The Heptade trilogy. It is also because first and foremost, Serge Fiori is deeply in love with music. This is what makes his heart beat, what makes him experience moments of crazy complicity with his lover.

“In the evening, my girlfriend and I go to the glass roof. We crunch the sound system into the carpet. Saint-Henri shake. We each choose a tune, everything is allowed, discovery. We stand up to dance. There is no such joy. Luckily there is music. »

Many Quebecers will retort: ​​a chance that there is Fiori.

On May 24 and 25, Serge Fiori will attend the first two performances of the show Histoires sans mots – Harmonium symphonique, at the Cogeco Amphitheater in Trois-Rivières, but don't count on him to stay in town afterwards. "After, do you know where I'm going? In Saint-Henri-de-Taillon. Running away from that. »

He himself is the first surprised: Serge Fiori, the city guy, the "finished city dweller" who has spent his life in Montreal and on its south shore, spins the perfect happiness in the countryside.

Four years ago, at the shrewd insistence of his girlfriend and her best friend, the 70-year-old musician discovered and bought a house nestled a few inches from the beach of majestic Lac Saint-Jean, in Saint-Henri-de -Taillon, a village of 820 inhabitants, northwest of Alma.

The decor is fabulous. The large windows of the house offer an almost panoramic view of the lake and allow him to admire breathtaking sunsets.

It has become his corner of paradise. A coffee, a cigarette and a view of the lake, that's what makes Fiori happy.

"I didn't think it was going to help me. In the summer, I'm always outside, I sit in the trees. I have been meditating for a long time, but this is much less forcing. It's natural. Nature and its calm get inside you. Apart from the neighbors who are doing work on their land, ”he slips, with a smirk, to the representatives of the Journal whom he kindly received at his home.

He may well complain about the noise, Serge Fiori recognizes that he discovered in Saint-Henri-de-Taillon a spirit of mutual aid that was unknown to him during his urban years.

“I had a nice house in Longueuil. We looked for help the whole time we were there. The world sends you packing. Do it, your lawn! We didn't even ask for it here. The first day, the neighbors landed, they were doing all their land, and the guy crosses with his mower, he doesn't say a word and he does my lawn. OK,” he says, still amazed.

Conducive to confidences

The beauty and serenity of the place invite confidences, and we are not just talking about those that Fiori generously shares with us during our interview. It is also here that he meets the guests of his eleven-episode web series Chez Padré, when he becomes the one who asks the questions.

A rural landscape, a little wine and good food and hop, the Michel Côté, Michel Barrette, Anne Dorval, Luc Picard, Isabelle Richer and all the others who travel to his haven of peace start talking about everything you're welcome.

"We have time, the site is disgusting, it makes them relax and confide. Before I started, I had three or four close friends in the gang, now I have eleven. »

Some didn't want to leave. Laughing and using words that the local priest does not want to hear, Fiori recounts the memorable passage of Michel Barrette. As usual, the comedian chained the anecdotes without downtime, from noon to midnight.

"At the end, we cuddled him outside," Fiori says.

I study them

In addition to Chez Padré, Fiori's Eden Jeannois will be the incubator for his next album. "Yes", he finally answers, after timidly beating around the bush, when asked for the umpteenth time if a Serge Fiori album will see the light of day sooner or later.

Even if he only admits with lip service that he is working on new songs, let's say that the presence of a brand new studio on his land betrays his intentions quite a bit. Otherwise, why have such a fully equipped infrastructure?

Fully equipped? In addition to a console and all the equipment needed to record music, the place has a room with an 80-inch TV to watch hockey "with a glass of scotch", and even a bedroom for children. evenings that go on forever.

Prominently on the windowsill, a series of Felix reminds us that we are at one of the pillars of Quebec music. On the walls, gold discs give the statistical measure of his success.

"You go to great lengths in your life to achieve this," Fiori observes, again smiling broadly.

wait for inspiration

So, when is this album due? It will depend on the inspiration.

Like a fisherman on Lac Saint-Jean, Serge Fiori is a patient guy. No question of pulling on the flower to make it grow faster.

"I'm pretty lazy. I wait. Me, the tunes come. There are people I know who get up every morning to write. I am unable to do this. Me, it's playing. It really is like a trance. You play, you play and at some point there is a phrase that comes, then a chord that comes. At the end of the day, you have half a song done. I'm waiting for that. »

When you are not just one musician among many others, you can afford it.

► The show Histoires sans mots – Symphonic Harmonium is presented at the Cogeco Amphitheater in Trois-Rivières, from May 24 to June 4.