Louis Lortie Plays Chopin, Vol. 7 Louis Lortie

• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Quatre mazurkas, Op. 17:
• 1 Chopin: Quatre mazurkas, Op. 17: I. Vivo e risoluto 02:24
• 2 Chopin: Quatre mazurkas, Op. 17: II. Lento ma non troppo 01:51
• 3 Chopin: Quatre mazurkas, Op. 17: III. Legato assai 04:09
• 4 Chopin: Quatre mazurkas, Op. 17: IV. Lento ma non troppo 04:31
• Rondo à la Mazur, Op. 5:
• 5 Chopin: Rondo à la Mazur, Op. 5 08:24
• Bolero, Op. 19: Boléro, Op. 19:
• 6 Chopin: Bolero, Op. 19: Boléro, Op. 19 07:35
• Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68:
• 7 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68: I. Vivace 01:50
• 8 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68: II. Lento 02:27
• 9 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68: III. Allegro ma non troppo 01:29
• Rondo, Op. 16:
• 10 Chopin: Rondo, Op. 16 09:40
• Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 30:
• 11 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 30: I. Allegretto non tanto 01:32
• 12 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 30: II. Allegretto 01:16
• 13 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 30: III. Allegro non troppo 02:42
• 14 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 30: IV. Allegretto 03:40
• Tarantelle, Op. 43:
• 15 Chopin: Tarantelle, Op. 43 03:22
• Trois Mazurkas, Op. 63:
• 16 Chopin: Trois Mazurkas, Op. 63: I. Vivace 02:27
• 17 Chopin: Trois Mazurkas, Op. 63: II. Lento 01:32
• 18 Chopin: Trois Mazurkas, Op. 63: III. Allegretto 02:08
• Polonaise, Op. 53 "Héroïque":
• 19 Chopin: Polonaise, Op. 53 "Héroïque" 07:45
• Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68:
• 20 Chopin: Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 68: IV. Andantino 02:07
• Total Runtime 01:12:51

Info for Louis Lortie Plays Chopin, Vol. 7

For the seventh volume of his Chopin project, the Canadian pianist and exclusive Chandos Artist Louis Lortie has built a programme that includes works from the earliest to the latest period in the composer’s life, all of which are linked by their evocation of ‘nationality’ – Italy, Spain, and of course Chopin’s beloved Poland.

The Rondo à la Mazur, op.5, and Rondo, op.16, are examples of the longer form that was linked with the ‘brilliant’ style of piano writing popular in the 1820s. Chopin soon moved away from this, in search of a more progressive compositional style. Composed around the same time as the op.16 Rondo, the Boléro, op.19, evokes the exoticism of Spain, whilst the Tarantelle, op.43, reflects the Parisian vogue for the southern Italian dance sparked by Auber’s grand opera La Muette de Portici. Now one of his most celebrated works, the Polonaise, op.53, represented for Chopin the culmination of his project, begun with the two Polonaises, op.26, to imbue the genre with powerful national symbolism.

These works are interspersed with four sets of Mazurkas, opp. 17, 30, 63, and 68. Chopin almost single-handedly introduced the Mazurka to Paris when he arrived there in the late 1820s, and continued to compose them throughout his life, transforming this Polish dance into some of his most dazzling and memorable compositions.

Louis Lortie, piano

Louis Lortie
French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has attracted critical acclaim throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. He has extended his interpretative voice across a broad range of repertoire rather than choosing to specialize in one particular style. The London Times, describing his playing as "ever immaculate, ever imaginative", has identified the artist's "combination of total spontaneity and meditated ripeness that only great pianists have".

Mr. Lortie has performed complete Beethoven sonata cycles at London's Wigmore Hall, Berlin's Philharmonie, and the Sala Grande del Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. Die Welt described his Berlin performances as "possibly the finest Beethoven since the time of Wilhelm Kempff." As both pianist and conductor with the Montreal Symphony, he has performed all five Beethoven concertos and all of the Mozart concertos. Mr. Lortie has also won widespread acclaim for his interpretation of Ravel and Chopin. He performed the complete works of Ravel in London and Montreal for the BBC and CBC, and is renowned all over the world for his performances of the complete Chopin etudes.

Louis Lortie celebrated the bicentenary of Liszt's birth in 2011 by performing the complete Années de pèlerinage at international music capitals and festivals, and he returns to Carnegie Hall in 2014 to perform it there. His Chandos recording of this monumental work was named one of the ten best of 2012 by the New Yorker magazine.

In 2013-2014 Mr. Lortie tours in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and returns to the BBC Proms, the orchestras of St. Louis, Atlanta, Dallas, Vancouver, Detroit, the Suisse Romande, Nurnberg, BBC Philharmonic, Dresden and Hamburg, play/conducts a Mozart program for the Toronto Symphony, and performs recitals in the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia, Warsaw, Montreal, Bournemouth, the Casals Festival, the Sydney Opera House, the National Arts Center, Duke University and in Milan.

Last season he performed Gershwin in Sao Paulo with Tortelier, Liszt with NHK Tokyo and Dutoit, Chopin with the Cleveland Orchestra and Van Zweden, Schubert and Liszt with Krivine in Utrecht, Mozart with the Royal Philharmonic and Dutoit; toured with the La Scala Orchestra playing Brahms 2 and with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn playing Beethoven 4 and 5. He returned to Chicago's Orchestra Hall and other important venues to perform a recital program of opera transcriptions called "Lortie goes to the Opera". Other recitals included Copenhagen, Osaka, Cremona and Dresden.

Louis Lortie has performed with the world's leading conductors, including Riccardo Chailly, Lorin Maazel, Jaap Van Zweden, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Järvi, Sir Andrew Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Mark Elder, Hannu Lintu, and Osmo Vänskä. He has also been involved in many chamber-music projects with such musicians as Frank Peter Zimmermann, Leonidas Kavakos, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, the Takács Quartet, and Gidon Kremer. His regular piano-duo partner is fellow Canadian Hélène Mercier.

He has made more than 30 recordings for the Chandos label, covering repertoire from Mozart to Stravinsky, including a set of the complete Beethoven sonatas and the complete Liszt's Années de pèlerinage. His recording of the Lutosławski Piano Concerto and Paganini Variations with Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony was released last year, as well as his latest Chopin album, which was named one of the best recordings of 2012 by the New York Times. Future recording include a disc of Liszt's transcriptions.

Mr. Lortie's recording of Beethoven's Eroica Variations earned him an Edison Award. His disc of works by Schumann and Brahms was named one of the best CDs of the year by BBC Music Magazine, which also named his disc of Chopin etudes one of "50 Recordings by Superlative Pianists." His interpretation of Liszt's complete works for piano and orchestra with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague was a Gramophone Editor's Choice. For the Canadian label ATMA Classique, he has recorded Mendelssohn concertos with the Orchestre symphonique de Quebec and, as conductor, Mendelssohn's "Reformation" Symphony.

Louis Lortie studied in Montreal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of the legendary Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber, and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher. He made his debut with the Montreal Symphony at the age of 13; three years later, his first appearance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra led to an historic tour of the People's Republic of China and Japan. In 1984, he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition and was also prizewinner at the Leeds Competition. In 1992, he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, and received both the Order of Quebec and an honorary doctorate from Université Laval. He has lived in Berlin since 1997 and also has homes in Canada and Italy.

Booklet for Louis Lortie Plays Chopin, Vol. 7