Zoufris Maracas Métropolitain

In honour of Remembrance Day and the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, Canadian composer Jaap Nico Hamburger presents two symphonies recorded in November 2019. While these two works confront serious and challenging themes, they are nonetheless imbued with hope and optimism.

Canadian composer Jaap Nico Hamburger presents his first recording with Leaf Music. Recorded at the Maison symphonique de Montréal under the direction of Vincent de Kort with pianist Assaff Weisman and Orchestra Métropolitain de Montréal.

Boy Azooga’s debut album, 1, 2 Kung Fu, is piloted by Davey Newington, a young man with much musical heritage. One of his granddads was a jazzer who played drums for the Royal Marines. Davey’s dad (violin) and his mum (clarinet) both played, and met, in the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales. Davey himself also enjoyed orchestral engagement, playing in various Welsh Orchestra’s and Jazz bands as a teenager.

Au fil de l’art en musique is a musical companion to the stunning international collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art in the new Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace.
The 16 pieces selected for this recording were inspired by the Museum’s 800 works, which include landscapes, sacred scenes, portraits, genre scenes, and still life. The music spans several centuries — from a motet by the late medieval composer John Dunstable to Astor Piazzolla’s tango, Loving. Music by Gabrieli, Praetorius, Schütz, Chopin, Wagner, Debussy, Weill, and Rota, among others, were chosen to correspond to a specific era, region, or artistic movement reflected in the Museum’s collection.

Silver Medal winner Beatrice Rana was praised for her 'intensely personalized music-making' (Dallas Morning News) that 'had an electrical current running through virtually every measure' (The Plain Dealer). Already a rising star, Rana was named 'One to Watch' by International Piano magazine just before her Cliburn appearance. In addition to a tour of the United States arranged by the Cliburn, highlights of Rana's 2013–14 season include invitations to perform with Yannick Nézet-Seguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain, Miguel Harth-Bedoya with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Fayçal Karoui with the Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

Three exceptional artists join forces for an operatic treat! Star tenor Rolando Villazón, who was just named artistic director of Salzburg Mozart week, Ildar Abdrazakov, one of the most sought-after young basses in the operatic world (Vanity Fair), who is debuting on Deutsche Grammophon with this album and the in-coming music director of the Metropolitan Opera Yannick Nézet-Séguin – a conductor full of vim and vigor – with Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal.

The Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal directed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin comes to a conclusion of a 10 year project to record the complete symphonies of Anton Bruckner. The Fifth Symphonies was recorded in 2017 and is being released for the first time individually, in digital format only. Bruckner’s symphonies are often called ‘cathedrals of sound’ and the spiritually profound fifth symphony fully deserves this label. As with the seventh, eighth and ninth symphonies, Bruckner uses an even larger orchestra for this work.

On his debut ATMA recording, Québécois pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre revives André Mathieu’s Concerto de Québec alongside Rachmaninov’s colossal Piano Concerto No. 2. This album features the Orchestre Métropolitain under Alain Trudel, and was recorded live during the 2017 Festival Classica.