September 3, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, popularized in the 1996 film “Shine,” tops the bill in a concert showcasing music inspired by the human spirit during wartime as Music Director Carlos Kalmar conducts the Oregon Symphony with pianist Louis Lortie on Oct. 2, 3 and 4 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. There will be an additional performance on Oct. 5 at Smith Auditorium in Salem. This concert is sponsored by The Oregonian. Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for Oregon Symphony Classical Concerts.
Arguably one of the most popular piano concertos of all time, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 became known to a wider audience as the central work of “Shine,” a film about Australian pianist David Helfgott. Its brooding central theme recurs in various forms throughout the work, and its enormous technical requirements challenge the soloist to employ great virtuosic skill to present the work.
This concert also features powerful and moving music written in response to war: Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5 and the first Portland performance of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů’s “Memorial to Lidice.” Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5 expresses the terror and chaos of World War I sweeping over Europe, and its disordered aftermath, and features an improvised snare drum that almost drowns out the orchestra. “Memorial to Lidice” honors the men of the small Czech town of Lidice, all of whom were murdered in a single day in June, 1943 by the Nazis in retaliation for the murder of a high-ranking SS official.
Known for his original interpretations of a wide range of standard piano repertoire, Canadian pianist Louis Lortie continues to leave his mark on the classical piano canon, particularly the music of Chopin and Beethoven. After presenting Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas in Berlin, the newspaper Die Welt called his performances “possibly the most beautiful Beethoven since the times of Wilhelm Kempff.”
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Pre-concert Talks: KBPS host Shaun Yu and Music Director Carlos Kalmar will lead a discussion one hour before the concert of the works to be performed. Media support for “Pre-Concert Talks” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Saturday: Music Director Carlos Kalmar will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an added performance on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at Willamette University’s Smith Auditorium in Salem. Tickets range in price from $18 to $80 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has been praised for the fresh perspective and individuality he brings to a deliberately broad spectrum of the keyboard canon. He studied in Montréal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of French pianist, Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with the Beethoven specialist, Dieter Weber and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher, among others.
Mr. Lortie has performed the complete works of Ravel in London and Montréal for the BBC and CBC, and is also known for his interpretation of Chopin. Following a recital of Chopin’s complete Etudes in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Financial Times wrote: “Better Chopin playing than this is not to be heard, not anywhere.” Mr. Lortie has also performed a series devoted to the keyboard, chamber, and vocal music of Brahms and Schumann for CBC. Recently Mr. Lortie has performed works of contemporary composers such as Kurtag (a Bach/Kurtag program at Columbia University), Carter (his “Night Fantasies” on tour this season), and Adés (the German premiere of his piano quintet at the Moritzburg Festival).
Also celebrated for his interpretation of works by Beethoven, Mr. Lortie has performed the complete Beethoven sonatas in London’s Wigmore Hall, Toronto’s Ford Center, Berlin Philharmonie and the Sala Grande del Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. In Berlin, Die Welt called his performances “possibly the most beautiful Beethoven since the times of Wilhelm Kempff.” With the Montreal Symphony, he performed and conducted all five Beethoven Piano Concertos, performed the Beethoven Triple with Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth and conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. In the Beethoven Plus Festival, Mr. Lortie performed Beethoven’s 32 sonatas for piano, ten sonatas for violin and piano, five sonatas for cello and piano and six trios for piano, violin and cello with violinist James Ehnes and cellist Jan Vogler.
During the past season, Mr. Lortie replaced Maurizio Pollini to make his Carnegie Hall recital debut, performing the complete Chopin Etudes. The concert was such a resounding success that he was immediately re-engaged for a recital during the 2004-2005 season. His North American schedule also included orchestral appearances with the Calgary and Buffalo philharmonic orchestras, the Philadelphia and National Artist Centre orchestras and the Atlanta, Montreal, St. Louis, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras. In Europe he performed again at the London Proms and with the Orchestra National de Bordeaux, Orchestra de Lyon, Dutch Radio Symphony, Orquesta Nacional de España, La Scala Orchestra and Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI. He joined the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a three-city tour of Scotland, the London Mozart Players in a five city tour of England and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra at London’s Barbican Center. He performed recitals in London, Milan, Rome, Madrid, Seville, Rotterdam, Berlin, Bonn, Los Angeles, La Jolla, Washington D.C. and New York City.
This fall, Mr. Lortie will open the Bonn Beethoven Festival performing Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto with Kurt Masur conducting. Over the next four seasons Mr. Lortie will play and conduct the 27 Mozart Piano Concertos with the Montreal Symphony, culminating in 2006, the 250 th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Other 2003-2004 engagements included performances with the Chicago, Houston, Baltimore, Colorado, and Prague symphony orchestras, the Philadelphia, Ulster, Scottish Chamber, BBC Wales National orchestras, and recitals in New York’s Metropolitan Museum, Bethesda, Rotterdam, Dresden, Florence, Lisbon, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Ottawa and Hannover.
Mr. Lortie has made over 30 recordings on the Chandos label, ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky. His recording of Beethoven’s Eroica Variations won the Edison Award, and his disc of Schumann’s Bunte Blatter and other works by Schumann and Brahms was named one of the best CD’s of the year by BBC Music Magazine. He has recorded Ravel’s complete works for piano and has almost completed the 32 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-CD 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. In addition to the current Liszt recordings, other recent releases include “To the Distant Beloved,” with works by Beethoven, Schumann and Liszt, as well as Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the BBC Symphony.
Born in Montréal, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montréal Symphony at the age of thirteen and the Toronto Symphony three years later, which as a result engaged him for an historic tour of the People’s Republic of China and Japan. In 1984, he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition and was a prize-winner 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 Laval University. As his schedule permits, he teaches at Italy’s renowned piano institute at Imola. Mr. Lortie makes his home in Paris and Berlin.
