Quartom (as in quatuor d’hommes) – an irresistible vocal quartet that combines perfectly mastered polyphony with delightful charm – enchanted the audience at the chamber music concert at Église Sainte-Pétronille on Île d’Orléans on July 18.

The talented a capella singers – Julien Patenaude (baritone), Benoit Le Blanc (baritone), Emmanuel Hasler (tenor) and Philippe Martel (baritone-bass) – took those gathered in the sanctuary of the historic church on a delightful musical voyage with classical works by Palestrina, de Lassus, de Victoria, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Poulenc and Arbeau. After intermission, they included a rambunctious barbershop quartet version of “Baby Face” by Harry Akst, “Hello Montreal” by Harry Warren, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, “Moi, mes souliers” by Félix Leclerc and “La chanson des vieux amants” by Jacques Brel.

The four men ended the evening with “La donna é mobile” from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto as an encore. Le Blanc explained the Italian song means “women are fickle” and is based on a phrase attributed by playwright Victor Hugo to 16th-century French King Francis I, who, after being betrayed by one of his many mistresses, supposedly wrote, “Souvent femme varie, bien fol qui s’y fie” (“Women are often fickle; whoever trusts them is a fool.”).

The next concert in the Musique de chambre à Sainte-Pétronille series on July 25 features Montreal-based Canadian pianist Richard Raymond. For details, visit musiquedechambre.ca.