Lise de la Salle plays Bach, Ravel, Debussy and Brahms

Lise de la Salle made her debut at the Louvre Auditorium in 2002. She started playing the piano at four years old and gave her first concert at nine. Nowadays, she pursues her career as a soloist both in France and abroad, performing in major concert halls in Europe, the United States and Asia. She has played with major conductors and major orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Orchestre National de France and many others. Her first disc dedicated to Ravel and Rachmaninov marked the beginning of her collaboration with the record label Naïve Classique in 2002; four more CDs followed, all receiving several awards and great reviews. Her last album was released in 2014 and was dedicated to Schumann.

The concert will open with Ferrucio Busoni's transcription for piano of Bach's Chaconne BWM 1004. Busoni's piece (1897) transcribes faithfully Bach's Chaconne while extending it to the possibilities offered by the piano. Then, Lise de la Salle will interpret Ravel's piano masterpiece: Gaspard de la nuit. Ravel used to name it "poems for piano." It was inspired by the poems of the Romantic poet Aloysius Bertrand. Next, Lise de la Salle will play Debussy's Preludes. These Preludes evoke atmospheres and states of sensitivity. They are musical intuitions. To close this recital, Lise de la Salle interprets Brahms' Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Haendel, Op. 24. This piece is perhaps the apex of the genre in Brahms' work—the composer devoted himself to the genre his entire existence. He borrowed the theme of this Variation from Lessons for Harpsichord by Haendel.

Lise de la Salle appears courtesy of Naïve Classique.

Musée du Louvre: Jean-Luc Martinez, president director; Monique Devaux, artistic director for the concerts.

Photo: © Lynn Goldsmith

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