Airat Ichmouratov (b1973) is a Tatarstan-born, Canadian-resident composer. He has lived in Montreal since the 1990s but his musical roots are Russian to the core. The overture Youth (2016) is a light, fun concert-opener, rather in the manner of some of Shostakovich’s lighter overtures. It was commissioned by the Orchestre de la Francophonie and Jean-Philippe Tremblay, who play it here with relish, audibly enjoying the theatrical atmosphere, almost circus-like in places.

At almost 14 minutes, Youth is a touch overlong, a fault he avoided in the other overture here, Maslenitsa (2016). The title translates as ‘Pancake Week’ and refers to the week-long pre-Lent festival in the Orthodox calendar. A vibrantly orchestrated homage to Glinka and Mussorgsky, a little after four minutes in there is an imaginatively scored passage that reminded me of the Sibelius of the theatre scores, before the music transmutes seamlessly into Ichmouratov’s standard manner.

The Symphony in A minor, On the Ruins of an Ancient Fort, is an example of Ichmouratov drawing inspiration from his adoptive homeland, the edifice in question being Fort Longueil. Commissioned by the Longueil Symphony Orchestra, the symphony is colourful and descriptive rather after the manner of, say, Kalinnikov or Steinberg, a touch prolix in places (it runs here past 47 minutes in duration). Attractive if not great music, the first three movements evoke in turn the 17th-century fort (and its commander, Baron de Longueil), the bustling modern city and the founder of the local convent, Mother Marie-Rose Durocher (as well as the composer’s then recently deceased mother); the finale gathers up the various expressive threads. Composed in 2015-17, composition dates of a century earlier would not have surprised me. The Orchestre de la Francophonie under Jean-Philippe Tremblay perform it and the overtures more than capably, and with affection. Excellent sound, as usual.