Endorsed by the Leonard Bernstein Estate, the set features rare audiovisual footage of Bernstein as piano soloist, as well as historic performances including his final appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic performing Bruckner Symphony No. 9

On August 26-and in time for the Bernstein 90th Anniversary concert celebrations which begin in September- Medici Arts, distributed by Naxos of America, releases Leonard Bernstein a 5-DVD Anniversary set devoted to performances by the legendary conductor.

The set features performances of Brahms Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (1973); and the first DVD release of Bernstein conducting the Orchestre National de France in a 1976 performance of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor and Darius Milhaud’s ballets La Création du monde and
Le Boeuf sur le toit.

Additionally, the set includes rare audiovisual footage from a 1981 performance with the Vienna Philharmonic of Bernstein performing as piano soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453 (paired with Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543); the historic concert performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, recorded at Schauspielhaus Berlin on December 25, 1989 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall; and Bernstein’s final appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, a work he came to at the end of his life.

On August 26, ATMA-Classique releases the much-anticipated 10th recording by one of today’s most important young conductors: Montreal native Yannick Nézet-Séguin. For this recording, he leads the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal in a performance of Bruckner’s towering Symphony No. 9 (ATMA SACD2 2514). 32-year-old Nézet-Séguin, who has led the OM since 2000, has built the orchestra into a formidable ensemble. This recording marks their seventh for the ATMA label, and the second recording in their ongoing Bruckner cycle. ATMA released Nézet-Séguin’s recording of the Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 last year; Symphony No. 8 will be released in 2009.

This September, Nézet-Séguin will assume the role of Music Director at the Rotterdam Philharmonic, replacing Valery Gergiev, and will also become the Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic. In October, he embarks on a five-concert tour of Spain with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Additionally, 2008 marks Nézet-Séguin’s debut at the Salzburg Festival in Austria, where he will be conducting nine performances of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and one performance of the Mozart C minor Mass, K 427.

During the 2008-09 season, Nézet-Séguin makes his U.S. debut, with engagements scheduled for The Philadelphia Orchestra in December, the Boston Symphony in February, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in March.

Nézet-Séguin’s return engagements this year include the Staatskapelle Dresden, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de France, Vienna Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As of June 2008, he is leading the Rotterdam Philharmonic on a tour of Japan, Korea, and China, including concerts in Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Taipei, Yokahama, and Tokyo. Throughout all this, he continues as Artist Director of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and will conduct them in a full season of concerts in and around their home city.

“Scholl‘s voice is pure and beautiful in sound, his taste exquisite, his pitch and diction immaculate. It is inadequate to compare Andreas Scholl to many other countertenors now working, even the finest of them. Instead one is put in mind of legendary past masters.” - Fanfare Magazine 

In August, Arthaus releases a unique DVD chronicling the career of countertenor Andreas Scholl. Including performances of Dowland’s “I saw my Lady weep” and “Flow, my tears”, Buxtehude’s “Muβ der Tod denn auch entbinden” and “Mi palpita il cor” by Handel, the film portrait offers a very personal, inside look at the man with the inimitable voice who describes his success and responsibilities as more of “a calling” than a career. Through Scholl’s performances, interviews in his private apartment in Basel, Switzerland, interviews with his father, and video of Scholl coaching one of his young students, we begin to understand how Scholl’s charisma, talent and education led him to where he is today. “That is the purpose of art”, said Scholl, “to move and educate people, to enable people to learn something. And that has everything to do with the fact that music communicates on two levels: on a composition’s intellectual level, so that I am able to recognize its complexity; and on an emotional level, so that it moves me.”

Born on November 10, 1967, Andreas Scholl began singing with the Kiedricher Chorbuben - a boys’ choir with a history dating back more than 650 years - when he was 7 years old. The choir practiced for an hour everyday and School received one hour of private voice instruction per week. According to Scholl this was very important to his developing voice. His voice broke at age 13 or 14, and by 17 he was told that he sounded like a countertenor for the first time. Scholl listened to recordings of other countertenors such as Paul Esswood and James Bowman, which prompted him to seek instruction on being a professional singer. This led him to Basel and to teacher Richard Levitt, who is still Scholl’s teacher today. By the time Scholl had his diploma from Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, he was in demand from almost every major orchestra, conductor and concert venue for his performances of Baroque repertoire. He has collected prizes from the Conseil d’Europe and the Fondation Claude Nicolas Ledoux, awards from Switzerland’s Association Migros and Ernst Göhner Foundation, and was the first countertenor ever to be invited to perform at The Last Night of the Proms in 2005.