Louis Lortie - Liszt at the Opera - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Paolo Restani's new recording effort, the result of a constant and very personal research work, guidesthe listener through various frameworks of piano literature, cornerstones of the history of music. Thealbum opens with two paraphrases of Liszt from Verdi the first from Aida, Danza sacra e duetto finale S.436, and the second from Rigoletto, Paraphrase de Concert S. 434, concentrated on the wonderful quartetof Act IV, where the different moods of the protagonists intertwine. From the world of Verdi we move onto Wagner with the Solemn March to the Holy Grail from Act I of Parsifal. This journey into the dynamismof a fascinating universe of references and relationships ends with the performance of four Nocturnes byChopin (123and Nocturnes in C sharp min. Op. posth.) and, again by Chopin, the most famous of Polonaise,the Polonaise in A flat. Magg. Op. 53 InchHeroiqueInch from 1842, with it's extraordinary central section.A recording that allows you to rediscover musical jewels, entrusted to the wise mastery of Paolo Restani.

Louis Lortie - Lortie Plays Liszt Comp Annees de Plerinage [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/29/2011

Having already mastered such French concertos as Poulenc's on record, the French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie and Edward Gardner now explore with the BBC Philharmonic the vigorous and progressive world of Camille Saint-Saëns, offering the first of two volumes to contain his complete piano concertos. The brilliance, virtuosity, and technical perfection of Louis Lortie's playing encapsulate these unusual, yet exhilarating works. While the spirited, unconventional Concerto No. 1 centers around a slow movement consisting of a dialogue between the sober orchestra and virtuosic piano, the technical requirements of No. 2 are so high that Saint-Saëns himself after it's premiere admitted that his fluent technique was not quite up to the challenge. Finally, the unusual form and mixed musical ideas of No. 4 make for a uniquely dramatic, passionate, and dream-like experience.