French pianist Lucas Debargue, whose last appearance in Toronto in January 2020 was lauded by critics and audiences alike, will return to the city later this month. He’ll be playing a recital at Koerner Hall on October 29, presented by Show One/Cherry Orchard productions.
Lucas Debargue burst onto the classical music world as a classic outsider. He hadn’t studied at the usual schools or conservatories, and entered the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015 as a virtual unknown. By the time the competition was over, however, the world knew his name. He came in fourth overall, but won the coveted Moscow Music Critics Prize, “awarded to the pianist whose performance at the Competition has become an event of genuine musical significance, and whose incredible gift, artistic vision and creative freedom have impressed the critics as well as the audience.”
His performance, captured on video, became a sensation. He caught the attention of listeners all over the globe, who became captivated by his unique interpretive gifts.
Debargue has restarted a career with a busy performance schedule post-COVID, and his Toronto date comes just before an appearance at NYC’s legendary Carnegie Hall.
The Program
The program for the concert is entitled: Debargue in An Evening in Paris — works by Chopin, Mozart and Alkan.
As the name implies, the concert features works by composers who were either Parisians or who wrote the music while staying in the City of Light. Debargue has earned a reputation for unearthing the works of rarely performed composers. To the usual suspects, he’s added a piece by Valentin Alkan, a French Jewish composer and piano virtuoso whose works were as famous as that of his friends Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt in the 1830s and 1840s. He spent most of his life in Paris, and his works are notably difficult and unorthodox for his time.
Debargue will be performing:
- Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, KV 310
- Chopin: Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38; Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 45; Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, Op. 61
- Alkan: Concerto for Solo Piano, Op. 39 No. 8
As Show One producer Svetlana Dvoretsky said in a media release, “Lucas has built up a following in Toronto, of audiences eager to come along wherever he may take them.”
More information and tickets here.
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