Lortie’s Chopin!
We are being flooded with Chopin recordings in this, the bicentennial year of the composer’s birth. One of the things that is nice about French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie is that he celebrates the Chopin anniversary with an album of Nocturnes and Scherzos for solo piano, concluding with the famous Sonata in B flat minor. What I enjoyed was the fact this recording has the diversity of the shorter compositions, rather than 14 tracks of Nocturnes, which can become monotonous.
Lortie plays with great emotion and passion. It is a good idea to have the pairings of the Nocturnes and the Scherzos. The slow vs. the brisk allows the listener to experience something different with each piece. The Frederic Chopin Sonata in Bb minor is, of course, the highlight of the CD.
Overall, Louis Lortie’s program is excellent, and his playing shows both sensitivity and terrific technique. His Chopin is wonderfully natural, and flowing with lovely phrasing.
Here is Mr. Lortie playing a portion of the Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique”.