February 2, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cliburn at the Kimbell presents Louis Lortie on Tuesday,
February 17, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Program includes all twenty-seven Chopin etudes
"Louis Lortie's playing already displays that combination of
total spontaneity and meditated ripeness that only the greatest
pianists have" -The London Times
"Better Chopin playing than this is not to be heard, not
anywhere."
-Financial Times
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, February 2, 2009--Celebrated pianist Louis
Lortie will perform at the Kimbell Art Museum on Tuesday, February
17 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the 2008-2009 Cliburn Concerts
season.
The distinguished Canadian pianist will take on the challenge
of performing all twenty-seven Chopin etudes, which have been
described by the New York Times as "fiendishly difficult works,
designed to isolate individual technical hurdles on the keyboard
and drill them in punishing repetition."
Mr. Lortie's commanding technique and poetic musicianship have
charmed audiences and critics alike. Of his impressive talent, the
Seattle Times has remarked, "Lortie's piano magic soothes the
stressed." Also an accomplished recording artist, Mr. Lortie has
more than thirty CDs available on the Chandos label, including a
critically acclaimed recording of the complete Chopin
etudes.
Based in Berlin, Mr. Lortie frequently performs across North
America and Europe in recital and with the world's leading
orchestras. He also serves as an instructor at Italy's renowned
International Piano Academy in Imola.
TICKETS AND INFORMATION: Single tickets are $30 for members of
the Van Cliburn Foundation or the Kimbell, $35 for non-members, and
$15 for students. Tickets are available from Central Ticket Office
online or by calling 817.335.9000.
Concert information is available at
www.cliburn.org.
The Van Cliburn Foundation recognizes with gratitude Texas
Commission on the Arts for making possible this Cliburn at the
Kimbell performance.
ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor of the Van
Cliburn Foundation. American Airlines, Bank of America, City of
Fort Worth, J.P.Morgan, Star-Telegram, Steinway & Sons, and XTO
Energy Inc. are Official Corporate Sponsors, and RadioShack
Corporation is the Cliburn's Corporate Sponsor. Official Sponsors
are the Amon G. Carter Foundation, the Arts Council of Fort Worth
& Tarrant County, the Beaumont Foundation of America, the
Burnett Foundation, and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation.
Star-Telegram is the principal media partner and WRR 101.1 FM is
the official radio station of Cliburn Concerts.
LOUIS LORTIE
Praised for the individuality he brings to a broad spectrum of
repertoire, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montreal Symphony
at the age of thirteen, and with the Toronto Symphony three years
later. In 1984, he won first prize at the Busoni Competition, and
was also a prizewinner at the Leeds Competition.
In 2003, Mr. Lortie opened the Bonn Beethoven Festival playing
Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 with Kurt Masur conducting, and since
then has collaborated on several occasions with Maestro Masur,
including performances with the New York Philharmonic and the
Orchestre National de France. Other conductors with whom Mr. Lortie
has collaborated include Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Neeme
Jarvi, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Sanderling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Osmo
Vanska. He has also been involved in many chamber music projects,
working with Renaud and Galutier Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Leonidas
Kavakos, Gidon Kremer, and Frank Peter Zimmermann, among others.
His regular piano duo partner is fellow Canadian Helene Mercier,
with whom he has recorded on the Chandos label.
In May 2008, Mr. Lortie concluded a multi-year project to play
and conduct all twenty-seven Mozart piano concertos with the
Montreal Symphony. Other highlights last season include a third
recital as part of Carnegie Hall's "Great Artist" series, along
with performances of a multi-concert series devoted to works by
Wagner and Liszt in Berlin, Bordeaux, London, Milan, Warsaw, and as
part of the Weimar Festival.
Recent and upcoming engagements include a tour with the
Cleveland Orchestra, in addition to appearances with the Atlanta,
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Toronto Symphony
Orchestras, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He will also perform a
recital program devoted to the complete Chopin etudes at U.C.
Berkeley, the Kennedy Center, and at his Cliburn Concerts
performance. In Europe, season highlights include concerts with
Kurt Masur at Vienna's Musikverein, London's Royal Festival Hall,
and Rome's Santa Cecilia. He also tours Europe with the BBC
Orchestra, and performs with the Bournemouth Symphony and the
Warsaw Philharmonic, and at the Dresden Festival.
Mr. Lortie has made more than thirty recordings on the Chandos
label, ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky. His recording of
Beethoven's "Eroica" Variations won the Edison Award, and his CD of
works by Schumann and Brahms was named one of the best CDs of the
year by BBC Music Magazine. He has recorded Ravel's complete works
for piano and has almost completed the thirty-two Beethoven
sonatas. His recording of the complete Chopin Etudes, Opp. 10 and
25, has been cited by BBC Music Magazine's special Piano Issue as
one of "50 Recordings by Superlative Pianists." Mr. Lortie's most
recent CD release is the final recording in his three-disc series
of Liszt's complete works for piano and orchestra with the
Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. It was immediately named
"Editor's Choice" by Gramophone Magazine. Other recent releases
include To the Distant Beloved, with works by Beethoven, Schumann,
and Liszt; and Franck's Symphonic Variations with the BBC
Symphony.
Among Mr. Lortie's teachers was Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of
French pianist Alfred Cortot), with whom he studied in Montreal;
the noted Viennese Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber; and Leon
Fleisher. In 1992, he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, and
received both the Order of Quebec and an honorary doctorate from
Laval University. As his schedule permits, he teaches at Italy's
renowned piano institute at Imola. Mr. Lortie has lived in Berlin
since 1997 and also has a home in Canada. For more information,
visit www.louislortie.com.
PROGRAM
CHOPIN
Twelve Etudes, Op. 10
Trois nouvelles études, Op. Posth.
Twelve Etudes, Op. 25
Contact: Sevan Melikyan Dir. of P.R.
email: sevan@cliburn.org
phone: 817.738.6536
web:
