Louis Lortie - Lortie Plays Liszt: Comp Annees de Plerinage - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The exclusive Chandos artist and award-winning pianist, Louis Lortie continues his critically acclaimed exploration of piano works by Liszt, turning to opera transcriptions, paraphrases and fantasies that with their technical innovation revolutionized composition for the piano.

Patrick Sweany - Baby, It's Late [VINYL LP] 180 Gram date 08/01/2025

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.