Pianist Lucas Debargue Solo Recital Debut at Carnegie Hall

Performing Program of Artistic Milestones – Music by Scarlatti, Ravel, Chopin, Liszt, Presented by Cherry Orchard Festival & Show One Productions

“Since Glenn Gould’s visit to Moscow and Van Cliburn’s victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition in the heat of the
Cold War, never has a foreign pianist provoked such frenzy.” – The Huffington Post

New York, NY – Pianist Lucas Debargue, whose breakthrough performance at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 2015 put him on the map, will make his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage on Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 8pm, presented by Cherry Orchard Festival and Show One Productions. His program features music that he considers his artistic milestones, including Scarlatti’s Sonatas in A Major, K. 208 and K. 24, D Major, K. 491, and D Minor, K. 141; Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit; Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45, and Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat Major; and Liszt’s “Après une lecture du Dante” from Années de pèlerinage, deuxième année: Italie, No. 7.

Debargue last performed at Carnegie Hall in January 2020 with the American Symphony Orchestra, on the heels of the release of his recording of Scarlatti’s 52 Sonatas on Sony Classical. That album was praised by The New York Times and chosen by NPR as one of “the 10 classical albums to usher in the next decade.” NPR reported, “Purists who insist on hearing their Scarlatti sonatas played on the harpsichord might have a change of heart listening to this four-disc set performed on a modern grand piano by Lucas Debargue, an unconventional 29-year-old Frenchman who once played bass in a rock band.” 

For his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall, Debargue has chosen music that has been meaningful to him over the years. The Chopin pieces have been with him since he was a teenager, the Scarlatti sonatas for harpsichord were a welcome challenge to adapt for the modern piano and were featured on his celebrated 2019 recording, and the Ravel is a staple in his repertoire that he describes as a discovery every time he plays it. His affinity for Liszt’s “Dante” sonata comes from its marriage of music and literature. Debargue says, “My connection to music is very much influenced by my connection to literature. I am very much counting on the narrative dimension of music. That’s why I like to play long, epic pieces, because I like to tell a story. I like to tell the story that the composer wanted to tell, but I also like to recognize myself in some of the characters the composer created, to feel myself taken in the story.”

Sony Classical has released seven of Debargue’s albums with music of Scarlatti, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Ravel, Medtner and Szymanowsky, as well as Polish composer Miłosz Magin, a discovery of a fascinating musical personality, recorded with Kremerata Baltica and Gidon Kremer. His next releases will feature Mozart concerti as well as the complete piano works of Fauré. He regularly collaborates with Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrey Boreyko, Tugan Sokhiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Bertrand de Billy, and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. His chamber music partners include Gidon Kremer, Janine Jansen, and Martin Fröst. Debargue also devotes a large portion of his time to composition and has already created over twenty works for piano solo and chamber ensembles. These include Orpheo di camera concertino for piano, drums and string orchestra, premiered by Kremerata Baltica, and a piano trio that was composed under the auspices of the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. As a permanent artistic partner of Kremerata Baltica, Debargue has been commissioned to write a chamber opera on the subject of assisted suicide.

About the Producers: Lucas Debargue’s performance is presented by the Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation, in partnership with ShowOne Productions (Canada). Founded in 2013 in New York City, the Foundation seeks to celebrate international culture and to facilitate experiencing the arts as a unique opportunity for intercultural enrichment and engagement. Previously the Foundation has presented memorable performances by premier international theaters and globally-renowned musicians at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, New York’s City Center and national venues, reaching over 100,000 audience members of all ages. 

INFORMATIONS : 

WHAT: Lucas Debargue at Carnegie Hall: Solo Recital Debut

WHEN: Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 8 pm

WHERE: Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage

TICKETS: www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2022/11/05/Lucas-Debargue-Piano-0800PM

PROGRAM:

D. SCARLATTI Sonata in A Major, K. 208

D. SCARLATTI Sonata in A Major, K. 24

D. SCARLATTI Sonata in D Major, K. 491

D. SCARLATTI Sonata in D Minor, K. 141

RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit

CHOPIN Ballade No. 2 in F Major

CHOPIN Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45

CHOPIN Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat Major

LISZT “Après une lecture du Dante” (Fantasia quasi sonata) from Années de pèlerinage, deuxième année: Italie, No. 7