Lucas Debargue / Gidon Kremer / Kremerata Baltica ZAL

 

ZAL

 

Janine Jansen / Mischa Maisky / Lucas Debargue SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 1

 

PIANO TRIO NO. 1

Lucas Debargue SCARLATTI 52 Sonatas

52 SONATAS

Martin Fröst / Lucas Debargue / Janine Jansen / Torleif Thedéen MESSIAEN Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps

The Quartet for the End of Time is intensely personal music and it deserves an equally personal response from anyone playing it now. When Martin Fröst overheard a rehearsal through an open window as a teenager at a music camp, he was transfixed: ‘I was bewitched … and I ended up walking away from the house that day with a different view on the world.’

It was the first work he played with Janine Jansen when they met 16 years ago and the cellist on that occasion was Thorleif Thedéen. This was a transforming experience for all three musicians. Martin Fröst remembers it as ‘one of life’s rare and profound musical moments, when everything comes together and you are left with a deep sense of connection not only to the piece, but to each other – we have been trying to find the right circumstances to record the piece together ever since.’

Finally, these musicians have brought this cherished project to fruition, joined by the brilliant pianist Lucas Debargue. The deep expressive power of the Quartet was brought home to them once again – and the time was right too: ‘As the world has been marking and reflecting upon the several anniversaries of the World Wars in recent years, it felt that now was the perfect time to get this project off the ground, especially too as I feel the music, is still as relevant in today’s political climate as it was in 1941.’
 

Lucas Debargue SCHUBERT - SZYMANOWSKI

For his eagerly anticipated third Sony Classical album, Lucas Debargue continues his passionate exploration of unfamiliar and unexpected repertoire. On his new recital he recorded a monumental but rarely-performed work: Karol Szymanowski’s Sonata No. 2 (1911) and two so-called ‘little’ sonatas by Schubert: D664 in A major and D784 in A minor. “I am feeling like a very deep duty is to go as deep as possible in some pieces that are very well known by the musicians and the audience, like the Schubert sonatas – mostly the A major one – but also to give the opportunity to some audiences to get to know some pieces that they don’t have the opportunity to hear very often”, says Debargue.

Lucas Debargue BACH - BEETHOVEN - MEDTNER

In 2015 the French pianist Lucas Debargue became the most talked-about artist of the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition. 

Despite being placed 4th, his muscular and intellectual playing, combined with an intensely poetic and lyrical gift for phrasing, earned him the coveted Moscow Music Critics’ Award as ”the pianist whose incredible gift, artistic vision and creative freedom have impressed the critics as well as the audience”. He was the only musician across all disciplines to do so. Soon after the competition Debargue was signed by Sony Classical, and recorded a live recital for his debut release with music by Ravel, Liszt, Chopin and Scarlatti in his native city of Paris.

Debargue was born in 1990 in a non-musical family. In 1999 he settled in Compiègne, about 90km north of Paris and began his initial piano studies at the local music school at the age of 11. 

At 15 Debargue ceased piano studies having found no musical mentor to help him share his passion with others and having become frustrated at playing solely for himself. He began to work, successfully for his Baccalaureate at a local college and joined a rock band. At 17 he relocated to the capital to study for a degree in Arts and Literature at Paris Diderot University and, remarkably, ceased playing the piano altogether for three years. 

In 2010 he was asked to play at the Fête de la Musique festival in Compiègne, and this marked his return to the keyboard. Shortly after he was put in touch with his current mentor and guide, the celebrated Russian professor Rena Shereshevskaya, who is based at both the Rueil-Malmaison Conservatory and the École Normale de Musique de Paris ‘Alfred Cortot’. Seeing in Debargue a future as a great interpreter, Professor Shereshevskaya admitted him into her class at the Cortot School to prepare him for grand international competitions. It was at the age of 20 when Debargue started formal piano training. 

Only four years later he entered the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015, and the world instantly took note of a startling and original new talent. “There hasn’t been a foreign pianist who has caused such a stir since Glenn Gould’s arrival in Moscow, or Van Cliburn’s victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition,” said The Huffington Post. 

A performer of fierce integrity and dazzling communicative power, Debargue draws inspiration for his playing from many disciplines, including literature, painting, cinema and jazz. The core piano repertoire is central to his career, but he is also keen to present works by lesser-known composers such as Nikolai Medtner, Samuel Maykapar and Nikolai Roslavets.

Lucas Debargue SCARLATTI - CHOPIN - LISZT - RAVEL

Pianist Lucas Debargue quickly became the most talked about competitor at this year's International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, garnering praise for the emotional expression in his playing and his musical individuality and integrity.
The London Spectator called Debargue 'the real winner' of the competition, due to the Moscow Music Critics Association prize bestowed on the 4th prize recipient.
Debargue began piano studies at age 11 at the Compiegne Conservatory under Christine Muenier. He gave up formal studies at age 16, but always maintained an admiration for virtuoso repertoire. After three years completing his Bachelor of Science at Paris 7 Diderot University, two of which spent famously not touching a piano, Debargue began studying at the Beauvais Conservatory under Philippe Tamborini. There he met his current professor Rena Shereshevskaya at the Rueil-Malmaison Conservatory and this encounter became decisive to him. They soon prepared for his entrance examinations at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris, where he was admitted with unanimous approval to study with Professor Jean-François Heisser and ultimately obtained his bachelor’s degree in piano performance in 2015. Seeing in Debargue a future as a great interpreter, Professor Shereshevskaya admitted him into her class at the Cortot School to prepare him for grand international competitions.
An introspective and insightful artist who draws inspiration across disciplines, in literature, painting, cinema and jazz, Debargue seeks to foster a deeper sense of musical appreciation among his audiences and develop personal interpretations of a carefully selected repertoire, including works by some lesser-known composers, like Nikolai Medtner, Samuel Maykapar and Nikolai Roslavets. (Columbia Artists Management Inc.)