Paris 1790: The music of Monsieur Vidal, the latest album from guitarist Pascal Valois, is dedicated to this guitarist, whose first name, date and place of birth are unknown. Vidal wrote the first guitar concerto in the history of the instrument, and remains the only guitarist to have performed at the prestigious Concert Spirituel des Tuileries, in 1776.

"Nagano is a model of interpretative responsibility, meaning that she maintains a restrain appropriate to the anti-virtuoso path that's been chosen here." - Gramophone (Analetka)

Schubert: Architect by pianist Mathieu Gaudet is the eighth volume from his remarkable collection The Complete Sonatas and Major Works for Piano of the great Austrian composer Franz Schubert. Schubert revered Beethoven and regarded his piano sonatas, string quartets, and symphonies as models of coherently elaborated architecture, harmonious works with affirmed individuality. This album features the great Sonata in C minor, D. 958 that reminds us of Beethoven. There is the ardent, tragic tone, deployed by the Bonn master in his great masterpieces. The whole work exudes fervour and heroism. Its slow movement is at once exquisitely tender and dramatic, and its first and fourth, especially, display peerless compositional virtuosity.

This is the third of four albums to be released that will form a recording cycle that explores the closely intertwined personal and artistic connections between three musical giants: Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Robert Schumann’s and Johannes Brahms’ symphonies will be paired and combined with Clara Schumann’s chamber works and orchestral pieces, including some special gems. “I have always loved these symphonies and saw many links between them. It has always been my dream to record them and release them together. No story of these two composers is complete without Clara, as famous in her lifetime as her husband, and a strong influence on both Robert and Johannes. ?We crafted this vision with Clara Schumann scholar Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers, to combine the symphonies with pieces by Clara in ways that provide an insightful narrative to the intertwined lives and works of these three Romantics.” – Alexander Shelley

At the height of her art, the composer and jazz pianist Lorraine Desmarais offers a new work that celebrates the estuary of St. Lawrence River, connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Reminiscences of landscapes surveyed and loved, of people met and appreciated feed the movements of the music suite with pictorial accents. Requisitioning the full potential of the piano, an instrument that is at once melodic, harmonic, and percussive, Lorraine Desmarais paints a fresco with an extensive palette, sometimes figurative, sometimes abstract.

Noted for having “an extraordinary range of color” (Montreal Gazette) and “poetic brilliance” (Toronto Star), pianist Francine Kay is acclaimed for the beauty of her sound and the intensity and depth of her interpretations. Ms. Kay has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall, the Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, Salle Gaveau in Paris, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. She has also appeared on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts and the Bargemusic series in New York City, and she has been a soloist with orchestras across Canada and the United States. Ms. Kay’s recordings have received international accolades. She dedicates this new album to important Czech composers, highlighting this rich musical culture: evocative melodies, inspired harmonization, dance rhythms, and a variety of moods.

Schubert: The Wanderer by pianist Mathieu Gaudet is the seventh volume in his wonderful collection The Complete Sonatas and Major Works for Piano of the great Austrian composer Franz Schubert. This album features Schubert’s Fantasy in C major, D. 760. Majestic, brilliant, powerful, virtuosic, exciting; a panoply of superlatives comes to mind when considering the summit that is this piano masterpiece, commonly known as Wanderer Fantasy. A versatile, passionate musician, Mathieu Gaudet has pursued a remarkable career as a soloist, chamber musician, and conductor for the past 20 years. He commands a vast repertoire of works and has performed across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. His concerts and recordings are regularly broadcast on the French and English services of the CBC.

After recording the sonatas for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, a triptych that won numerous awards, including the Juno for Classical Album of the Year - Small Ensemble (2022) and an ADISQ award, Andrew Wan and Charles Richard-Hamelin continue their fruitful collaboration by performing the complete sonatas for violin and piano by Robert Schumann (1810-1856). A perfect work to highlight the complicity that has developed between the concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the pianist who won the silver medal at the 2015 Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition.

The threads that weave through this entire music program, and indeed that inspired it, are 15 fugues taken from the 95 such works covering the eight church modes written by Pachelbel as preludes to settings of the Marian Magnificat canticle sung at vespers at St. Sebaldus. As scholar Ewald V. Nolte observes, these fugues – most transcribed and arranged here by director Amanda Keesmaat for various combinations of cellos, archlute, and organ – show Pachelbel as a keen, pragmatic, yet sensitive contrapuntist.

Montréal’s Baroque bass band, Space Time Continuo, held its first concert in 2019 in the series of La Nef at Salle Bourgie. The group’s ever-changing personnel brings bass instruments into the spotlight by emphasizing the various textures and functions of Baroque continuo instruments. The musicians are members of Montréal’s ‑ flourishing Early Music scene (Arion, SMAM, Infusion Baroque, Ensemble Caprice, Pallade Musica, Les Idees Heureuses).

Transcending language barriers, Ottoman music was born out of vast empires as musicians from Persia, Cairo, Andalusia and beyond, traveled from court to court. Inspired by these multi-layered influences, Lamia Yared revives a rare repertoire of the Levantine region, covering from classical Arabic, the Muwashahat, to the Turkish Sanat Sarkilar, to the Sephardic songs. As an interpret and oud player, she collaborates with outstanding musicians from various cultures on Canadian stages as well as abroad. Ottoman Splendours explores the music shared along an axis that stretches through time and space, linking Asia Minor and the modern-day Balkans to the Medieval Iberian Peninsula.

Les Arrivants is an ensemble composed of Amijai Ben Shalev (bandoneon), Abdul-Wahab Kayyali (oud) and Hamin Honari (tombak, daf, frame drums), three musicians who moved to Montreal during the COVID-19 pandemic. The repertoire developed by "Les Arrivants'' therefore reflects their experience of adaptation, which has had a lasting impact on their artistic and social lives. It is steeped in the traditional styles that the instrumentalists have mastered over the course of their careers: Argentinean tango, classical Arabic music, traditional Persian rhythms. This album is part of the Collection du Centre des musiciens du monde, a place where professional artists from an array of musical traditions, exchange ideas and share experiences.

Buzz Brass’s third album under Analekta label presents masterpieces from Aram Khatchatourian, Paul Dukas, Camille Saint-Saëns, George Gershwin, Lew Pollack, Claude Bolling and Astor Piazzolla. This Brass quintet has been travelling the world and captivating classical-music lovers since 2002. Whether alone or with guest artists, Buzz Brass’s highly original performances never fail to leave an impression. The ensemble has performed over 1,700 concerts for more than 400,000 music lovers across North America, Europe, and China. The innovative arrangements for brass quintet and guest musicians add new shades to the original colors of this music program.

REVIEW

World-renowned Canadian quintet Buzz Brass was formed in 2002. Here eight tracks of genre-spanning compositions are arranged for their brass instrumentation and occasional special guest musicians.

Buzz Brass’ own arrangement of Khachaturian’s Gayaneh: Sabre Dance showcases their tight clear ensemble work in performing the composer’s famous steady groove beat, descending melody sliding glissandos and contrasting higher-pitched section. Guest arrangers of the remaining tracks complement their brass sound. François Vallières’ arrangement of Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre has guest harpist Valérie Milot adding colourful plucks against brass legato themes and detached notes. His intricate arrangement of Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, with guest pianist Philip Chiu, is a bouncy, uplifting and true to classic rendition. Arranger/friend Javier Sebastián Asencio provides a bras-only arrangement of Piazzolla’s dance Milonga del ángel. The melodies and rhythm sounds generated by the bandoneon bellows air movement translate successfully to breathing into brass instruments especially in held notes and loud volumes. His Montréal Hora Cero five-piece medley adds vibraphone with unexpected vibe and horn slides, drums, and slower brass tunes with vibe backdrop. His Claude Bolling swinging brass Toot Suite: Allègre arrangement opens with trumpet solo in a mix of Baroque and jazz ideas like fast horn lines, ringing vibraphone tones, electric bass and short drum solo/accompaniments. Paul Dukas and Lew Pollack composition arrangements by Enrico O. Dastous and Steve Cooper respectively are enticing too.

So many clear brass sounds to listen to here as each Buzz Brass member is an awe-inspiring passionate musician alone and in ensemble.

— The Whole Note (Canada)

Percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham, the two members of the duo SHHH!! Ensemble, have carved a space for themselves as compelling performers and commissioners of electrifying new music. The music of Meanwhile is visceral and colorful, exploring a wide range of percussion instruments, including piano, prepared piano, marimba, vibraphone, crotales, cymbals, gongs and bells, tom-toms, timpani, and more. Meanwhile is a celebration of big, bold sonority and is the result of four years of collaborations with some of Canada’s most creative voices, such as Jocelyn Morlock, Kelly-Marie Murphy et John Beckwith.

Following her passion for seeking out rare musical gems, Angèle Dubeau presents Portrait: Alex Baranowski, the 6th opus in her series of albums dedicated to contemporary composers, which began in 2008 with Portrait: Philip Glass. A successful young composer based in London, multiple award winner and graduate of Paul McCartney's LIPA, Alex Baranowski offers beautiful and generous music, rich in sound atmospheres. Under the breathtaking interpretations of Angèle Dubeau and her remarkable ensemble, La Pietà, these works reveals wonderfully expressive and sensitive writing for the violin. The album includes several key works from Baranowski's repertoire as well as three previously unreleased pieces, including Wiosna, a commission that the composer describes as one of his most intimate works.

Louise Bessette has been renowned over her 35 year career for the excellence of her performances and for her commitment to promoting contemporary music. Numerous organizations and international competitions have seen fit to reward her talent, and her reviews are constantly laudatory. She has recorded a wide variety of repertoire both as a soloist and with chamber ensembles, appearing the world over with distinguished orchestras and by invitation to many first-rate festivals. Many composers write especially for her. Beyond her exceptional performance career, Mrs. Bessette is a significant figure in the musical world, promoting contemporary music every chance she gets, and creating the opportunity for composers to showcase their talents alongside performers, in activities and collaborations that essentially enrich our cultural panorama. After Wim Statius Muller’s Caribbean, Louise Bessette turns to Astor Piazzolla's Argentina for the second part of her “Piano Around the World” series, which explores sophisticated music with popular roots.