Lise de la Salle, piano 05/02/07
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
7:30 p.m.
Concert Hall, Center for the Arts
Still in her teens, pianist Lise de la Salle won the Young Concert Artists International Audition 2004 and has played debut recitals under the auspices of Young Concert Artists in both New York and Washington. This season, she plays recitals in prestigious venues in Vancouver and Atlanta. She has already made two recordings on the excellent Naïve label: one of works by Rachmaninov and Ravel, the other of works by Bach and Liszt. The latter recording won Gramophone’s Recording of the Month Award in the summer of 2005. Her Middlebury program includes Mozart and Prokofiev. “The exhilaration didn’t let up for a second until her hands came
off the keyboard.”—Washington Post.
Performing Arts Series Director Paul Nelson commented, “We read about Lise de la Salle in a Gramophone review of one of her recordings; the editors made it one of their selections of the month at the time. She has since won the Young Concert Artists International Audition in New York, leading to debut recitals in New York and Washington. A reviewer in the Washington Post wrote, “For most of the concert, the audience had to remember to breathe ... the exhilaration didn’t let up for a second until her hands came off the keyboard.” Besides her Middlebury recital, she plays this year at Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Miami International Piano Festival, the People’s Symphony Concerts in New York City, and London’s Wigmore Hall. We received a Wigmore Hall brochure that includes photographs of performers who will play there this spring; some of the others besides Lise de la Salle are Richard Goode, Grigory Sokolov, and Andras Schiff—auspicious company for a pianist who will turn 18 a few days after her Middlebury recital.”
General Admission: $15/12/5. http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets or 802-443-MIDD (6433).
Concert Program:
MOZART Sonata in D Major, K.284
Allegro
Rondeau en polonaise: Andante
Tema: Andante, Va. 1-X11
Rondo in A minor, K 511
MOZART Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai je maman” (Twinkle, Twinkle) K.265
Intermission
PROKOFIEV Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28
Allegro tempestoso - Moderato - Allegro tempestoso
PROKOFIEV Six pieces from Roméo et Juliette, Op.75
The Young Juliet
Minuet
Masks
The Montagues and Capulets
Mercutio
Romeo Bids Juliet Farewell
PROKOFIEV Toccata, Op.11
For program notes, please contact Events and Residency Manager Allison Coyne Carroll at carroll@middlebury.edu
Artist Biography:
Pianist LISE DE LA SALLE’s playing is so inspiring that The Washington Post wrote, “For much of the concert, the audience had to remember to breathe...the exhilaration didn’t let up for a second until her hands came off the keyboard.”
North American engagements during the 2006-07 season include recitals in New York, Vancouver, Quebec, St. Paul, and Miami among others. In April 2006, Ms. de la Salle made her
Lincoln Center debut, performing Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted by Keith Lockhart. Her other U.S. performances that season included Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (NC) and Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 with the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. She gave recitals throughout France and Germany, and makes concerto appearances in Lisbon, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, and Lyon.
Ms. de la Salle won the 2003 European Young Concert Artists Auditions in Paris and the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, and the Young Concert Artists Series presented her New York and Washington, DC debuts in October 2004. She was also awarded the Rhoda Walker Teagle Prize, which sponsored her New York debut, the Mary Van Nes Prize, the Miriam Brody Aronson Prize, the Mortimer Levitt Career Award for Women Artists, The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle Prize, the Usedomer Musikfestival (Germany) Prize, the Slomovic Orchestra Soloist Prize, the John Browning Memorial Prize, and the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Prize.
Ms. de la Salle made her first tour of Japan in the spring of 2004 with the Auvergne Orchestra. She has participated in several European festivals, including performances as soloist with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Orchestra at the St. Riquier Festival. She also appeared at the Festival du Haut Limousin and the Roque d’Anthéron Festival in France.
In 2000, Ms. de la Salle won First Prize and the Bärenreiter Award at the Ettlingen International Competition in Germany. She has won First Prize in many French piano competitions, including the Steinway, Sucy, Vulaines, and Radio-France Competitions. In 2003, she won the “Groupe Banque Populaire Natexis” Prize, for which she received a three-year scholarship.
Born in Cherbourg, France in 1988, Ms. de la Salle was surrounded by music from her earliest childhood. She began studying the piano at the age of four and gave her first concert at nine in a live broadcast on Radio-France. At 13, she made her concerto debut with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in Avignon, and her Paris recital debut at the Louvre before going on tour with the Orchestre National d’Ile de France playing Haydn’s Concerto in D Major.
After receiving special permission to enter the Paris Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique, studying with Pierre Réach, at the age of eleven, Ms. de la Salle graduated in 2001 and is currently enrolled in the postgraduate cycle with Bruno Rigutto. She has worked closely with Pascal Nemirovski since 1997 and also studied with Genevieve Joy-Dutilleux.
Ms. de la Salle’s most recent recording of works by Bach and Liszt was selected as The Gramophone’s Recording of the Month for August 2005. Her first recording of works by Ravel
and Rachmaninov also received critical acclaim. Both CDs are available on the Naïve label.
Web-site: http://www.lisedelasalle.com/
Press Quotes:
"Ms. de la Salle is eminently musical; she offers depth as well as virtuosity." --The New York Times
"...a talent in a million" --Gramophone
"De la Salle played so well that, for much of the concert, the audience had to remember to breathe...the exhilaration didn't let up for a second until her hands came off the keyboard and everyone could finally come up for air." --The Washington Post
"It takes a pretty special talent to secure a record contract, and an even more remarkable one to attain CD of the Month, especially if you're still a teenager. At 16, de la Salle offers a
programme of Bach and Liszt that demonstrates, as well as a superb technique, a really engaging musicality and vivid personality." --The Gramophone, U.K.
