The Montreal Symphony Orchestra, formally the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, has secured a place among North America’s leading ensembles. Successive world-renowned music directors have taken the group on global tours, supported solo recitals and opera productions, and earned widespread praise for its recorded catalog. Rafael Payare assumed the music directorship in 2022 and, two years later, led the OSM through the album Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Mahler: Rückert-Lieder featuring soprano Sonya Yoncheva.
The ensemble originated in 1934 as the Concerts Symphoniques de Montréal, after several earlier attempts to establish a permanent orchestra in the city between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had collapsed. Athanase David, then Secretary of the Province of Quebec, provided the necessary financial backing. Wilfrid Pelletier served as the first music director, launching community programs that featured youth matinee concerts and the Festival de Montréal, whose free public performances continued until 1964. Désiré Defauw succeeded him in 1940 and began engaging international soloists. Defauw left in 1952; the following year the organization adopted its present name, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.
Igor Markevitch became music director in 1957, championing contemporary repertoire and instituting an annual series of commissions from Canadian composers. Under his leadership the OSM attained fully professional status. Zubin Mehta took the podium in 1961, during whose tenure the orchestra achieved international prominence. He conducted the first European tour by any Canadian orchestra in 1962, and in 1963 the ensemble inaugurated its new home, the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts, with its first opera production, Puccini’s Tosca. Franz-Paul Decker replaced Mehta in 1967, extending touring activities to Japan in 1970 and introducing a series of pop concerts aimed at broader Montreal audiences. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos held the post from 1975 to 1976, leading the OSM to its debut Carnegie Hall appearance in New York; he departed after public disagreements and issued an apology in 2002.
Guest conductors subsequently filled the roster until Charles Dutoit was appointed music director in 1977, beginning a partnership that lasted nearly twenty-five years. Shortly after his arrival the orchestra signed with Decca; its first release for the label, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, brought international attention. Dutoit guided tours across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Two Grammy Awards followed: one in 1996 for Berlioz’s Les Troyens and another in 2000, shared with Martha Argerich, for an album of Prokofiev and Bartók piano concertos. Relations with the musicians soured, prompting Dutoit’s resignation in 2002; he returned as a guest conductor for the first time in 2016.
Jacques Lacombe served as principal guest conductor from 2002 to 2006, overseeing the interim between Kent Nagano’s 2003 appointment and the start of his tenure in 2006. Under Nagano the OSM resumed international touring, opened the Maison Symphonique, and introduced a webcast series. The orchestra received the Diapason d’Or for its 2016 Decca recording of Honegger and Ibert’s opera L’Aiglon. Nagano remained until the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season. Two albums appeared in 2019: an Analekta release of the Chopin concertos with Charles Richard-Hamelin and The John Adams Album on Decca. In 2021 the OSM named Rafael Payare its next music director, effective 2022. His first recording with the ensemble, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, appeared in 2023; the following year he returned with soprano Sonya Yoncheva for the Strauss and Mahler disc.
