Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal ("Montreal Symphony Orchestra") has established itself as one of the best orchestras in North America. With the leadership of several world-class music directors, the OSM has toured the world, accompanied soloists and opera productions, and received acclaim for many of its recordings. Rafael Payare has been the orchestra's music director since 2022. In 2024, Payare led the OSM on the album Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Mahler: Rückert-Lieder with soprano Sonya Yoncheva.
The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal was founded in 1934 as the Concerts Symphoniques de Montréal (several Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal's were founded and failed in the late 19th to early 20th centuries). The CSM came to be through the financial support of Athanase David, the Secretary of the Province of Quebec. The orchestra's first music director was Wilfrid Pelletier, who began the CSM's community outreach with youth matinee concerts and the Festival de Montréal, which offered free concerts to the public until 1964. Désiré Defauw became the music director in 1940, and he began to draw in international soloists to perform with the orchestra. Defauw departed the CSM in 1952, and in 1953, the orchestra was renamed Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. In 1957, Igor Markevitch became the music director, bringing with him an advancement of contemporary music and beginning the yearly commissioning of new works from Canadian composers. During Markevitch's tenure, the OSM became a fully professional orchestra.
Zubin Mehta was named the music director in 1961, and it was during his tenure that the orchestra became an international success. Mehta led the OSM on the first-ever European tour by a Canadian orchestra in 1962. In 1963, the orchestra opened a new residence, the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, in the Place des Arts. In this venue, the OSM performed its first opera production, Puccini's Tosca. Franz-Paul Decker succeeded Mehta in 1967 and continued the orchestra's touring activities, taking the OSM to Japan in 1970. Under Decker, the OSM began a series of pop concerts to reach a broader audience in Montreal. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos served as the music director from 1975 to 1976, taking the orchestra to New York for its first performance at Carnegie Hall. Frühbeck de Burgos' tenure ended following public disagreements, for which he apologized in 2002.
With Frühbeck de Burgos' departure, the OSM performed under guest conductors. One of these, Charles Dutoit, was named the new music director in 1977, beginning a nearly 25-year partnership. Shortly after the appointment of Dutoit, the OSM signed with the Decca label. The orchestra's first recording with Decca, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, was an international success. Dutoit would lead the OSM on tours throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Under Dutoit, the orchestra won two Grammy Awards, for Berlioz's Les Troyens in 1996 and, with Martha Argerich in 2000, for an album of Prokofiev and Bartòk piano concertos. In 2002, Dutoit stepped down following animosity with the musicians of the OSM; he returned for the first time as a guest conductor in 2016.
Jacques Lacombe served as principal guest conductor from 2002-2006, leading the OSM in the interim period between the announcement of new music director Kent Nagano in 2003 and the beginning of his tenure in 2006. Under Nagano, the OSM resumed its international tours, opened the Maison Symphonique, and launched a webcast series. Under Nagano, the orchestra won the Diapason d'Or for its 2016 Decca release of Honegger & Ibert's opera L'Aiglon. Nagano remained with the OSM until the close of the 2019-2020 season. The OSM issued two albums under Nagano in 2019: an Analekta release of Chopin concertos with Charles Richard-Hamelin and The John Adams Album on Decca. In 2021, the OSM announced the appointment of Rafael Payare as its next music director, beginning in 2022. Payare made his recording debut leading the OSM in 2023 on a recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 5, returning the following year with soprano Sonya Yoncheva on a recording of Mahler's Rückert-Lieder and Strauss' Ein Heldenleben.
© Keith Finke /TiVo
Discography
112 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Danse Macabre
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 30 Sep 2016
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben - Mahler: Rückert-Lieder
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Rafael Payare, Sonya Yoncheva
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 15 Mar 2024
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande & Verklärte Nacht
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Rafael Payare
Symphonies - Released by PENTATONE on 11 Oct 2024
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Danse Macabre
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 30 Sep 2016
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Rafael Payare
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 3 Mar 2023
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5
Till Fellner, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 5 Mar 2010
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5
Till Fellner, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 5 Mar 2010
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Chopin: Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Charles Richard-Hamelin, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Concertos - Released by Groupe Analekta, Inc on 22 Feb 2019
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 Op. 40 (Original 1926 version) - Scriabin: Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, Op. 60
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Alain Lefèvre
Classical - Released by Analekta on 20 Mar 2012
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
The John Adams Album
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 13 Sep 2019
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Saint-Saëns : Complete Violin Concertos
Andrew Wan, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Concertos - Released by Groupe Analekta, Inc on 23 Oct 2015
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Holst: The Planets (Classic FM: The Full Works)
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) (Classics) on 21 May 1996
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Holst: The Planets
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 21 May 1996
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Ginastera – Bernstein – Moussa: Works for Violin and Orchestra
Andrew Wan, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by Groupe Analekta, Inc on 23 Oct 2020
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Penderecki: St. Luke Passion (Live)
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Classical - Released by BIS on 5 Jun 2020
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Histoires sans paroles - Harmonium symphonique - Musique du film (LIVE)
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
French Music - Released by GSI Musique on 25 Oct 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Bébé symphonique
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Children - Released by GSI Musique on 16 Sep 2022
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Chopin : Concerto pour piano n° 1 & 2
Martha Argerich, Charles Dutoit, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Mar 1999
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
Charles Dutoit, Choeur de l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jun 1981
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Bruch: Violin Concerto; Scottish Fantasia
Kyung Wha Chung, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1982
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto / Bruch: Violin Concerto / Scottish Fantasy
Kyung Wha Chung, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1982
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo