Analekta is

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's largest independent

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

recording label. The label, which takes its name from the

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word ''analekta'' ("a collection of the finest works"), was founded in 1988 by the Canadian music industry manager and entrepreneur François Mario Labbé, who is its owner and president. It is based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and has released more than 500 classical albums in the past 26 years. Its first three CDs were an album by the Canadian violinist Angèle Dubeau, the first

digital recording In digital recording, an audio signal, audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or Color, chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is s ...

of the Red Army Choir, and a recording of the soundtrack of ''The Music Teacher'' starring

José van Dam Joseph, Baron Van Damme (born 25 August 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone, described as having "a magnificent resonant and expressive voice" and being "an excellent actor". Life and career At the age of 17, h ...

History

In 1988, while François Mario Labbé was producing shows around the world, he had in mind three recording projects, including one from violinist Angèle Dubeau. The multinationals at the time rarely agreed to produce music from Canadian artists, hence Labbé's motivation to create a recording company that would be focused on them. The label's initial CD was by Angèle Dubeau, followed by the world's first digital recording of the Red Army Choir, and the soundtrack to '' The Music Teacher'' starring

. The success of these three recordings, both nationally and internationally, led to more signings, and in 1995 the company released 40 albums. In April 2022,

Outhere Outhere Music is a Belgian classical music and jazz publisher, directed by Charles Adriaenssen, which owns several formerly independent labels, many of them boutique early music specialists: * Fuga Libera, a Belgian label founded in 2004 under t ...

, a Belgian classical music and jazz publisher, acquired Analekta.

Founder

Labbé is the founder and CEO of the Canadian classical recording label Analekta. He was honored in 2010 with the title of Knight of

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

for his contribution to the cultural development of Quebec.

Artists

Its catalogue includes recordings from major Canadian artists such as Angèle Dubeau, Alain Lefèvre,

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the Hamburg State Opera (until 2025). Early life and education Nagano was born in Berkeley, ...

and the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Anton Kuerti,

Gryphon Trio The Gryphon Trio is a Canadian classical music ensemble that has been nominated for several and has won three Juno Awards for its classical recordings released by the Analekta label. Its members are Annalee Patipatanakoon (violin), Roman Borys ( ...

, Ensemble Caprice, Stick&Bow, I Musici de Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Classical music record labels Canadian independent record labels Record labels established in 1988