Frédéric Chopin - Louis Lortie plays Chopin, Vol. 8

Information

Composer: Frédéric Chopin

• Introduction & Polonaise brillante in C Major, Op. 3, B. 41
• Rondo in C Minor, Op. 1 B. 10
• Variations brillantes, Op. 12, B. 80
• Mazurkas, Op. 50, B. 145
• Mazurkas, Op. 56, B. 153
• Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65, B. 160

Louis Lortie, piano

Truls Mørk, cello

Date: 2025

Label: Chandos

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Louis Lortie’s eighth and final Chopin volume presents a programme spanning the composer’s entire career, from the teenage Rondo, Op. 1, to his last published work, the Cello Sonata, Op. 65. Highlights include the Introduction and Polonaise brillante, Op. 3, inspired by Prince Antoni Radziwiłł’s estate, and Variations brillantes, Op. 12, based on a theme from the forgotten opera Ludovic. The album also features two sets of mazurkas (Op. 50 and Op. 56) from Chopin’s peak in Parisian salons. Composed between 1845 and 1847 during personal and health struggles, the Cello Sonata reflects Chopin’s search for a new style and remains a central work in the repertoire.

Louis Lortie, born 27 April 1959 in Canada, is a celebrated pianist who studied with Yvonne Hubert in Montreal, Dieter Weber in Vienna, and Leon Fleisher. He won First Prize at the 1984 Busoni Competition and was a prizewinner at the Leeds Competition. Lortie has performed internationally with leading orchestras, including the OSESP São Paulo, Chicago Symphony, and BBC Symphony, and has toured extensively in Europe, Australia, and beyond. He has recorded over 45 albums for Chandos, including complete Beethoven sonatas, Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage, and all of Chopin’s solo piano works, earning critical acclaim from New Yorker, New York Times, and Fanfare. He also records for Onyx with violinist Augustin Dumay and serves as Master in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels.