PROGRAM NOTES
LOUIS LORTIE PLAYS CHOPIN
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Courtesy of BSO
Elias Photography
Mario Venzago Louis Lortie
Mario Venzago was the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bern Symphony Orchestra for 11 years unitl the summer of 2021 . Before , he led as General Music Director the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra , the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra , the Basque National Orchestra in San Sebastian , the Basel Symphony Orchestra , the Graz Opera und Graz Philharmonic Orchestra , the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Frankfurt ( now Bremen ), the Theatre and Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Heidelberg and the Musikkollegium Winterthur . From 2010 to 2014 he was Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia , from 2010 to 2019 Artist in Association of the finnish Tapiola Sinfonietta and from 2000 to 2003 Artistic Director of the Baltimore Summer Fest , as successor to Pinchas Zukermann and David Zinman .
For over three decades , French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has performed world-wide , building a reputation as one of the world ’ s most versatile pianists . He extends his interpretative voice across a broad spectrum of repertoire , and his performances and awardwinning recordings attest to his remarkable musical range .
Lortie has established long-term partnerships with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra , BBC Philharmonic , Orchestre National de France and Dresden Philharmonic in Europe , and the Philadelphia , St Louis , Dallas Symphony Orchestras , and San Diego Symphony and New Jersey Symphonies in the US . In his native Canada he regularly performs with the major orchestras in Toronto , Vancouver , Montreal , Ottawa and Calgary . Further afield , collaborations include the Shanghai Symphony , the Hong Kong Philharmonic , the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan , the Adelaide and Sydney Symphony Orchestras , and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo in Brazil .
In recital and chamber music , Louis Lortie appears in the world ’ s most prestigious concert halls and festivals , including London ’ s Wigmore Hall , the Philharmonie de Paris , Carnegie Hall , Chicago Symphony Hall , the Beethovenfest Bonn , and Liszt Festival Raiding . Recent special projects have included performances of Liszt ’ complete Années de Pèlerinage in one evening and a complete Beethoven sonata cycle filmed at Salle Bourgie in Montreal , and broadcast on Medici TV in 2021 .
Experience the Performance Again A livestream of this program is available for a limited time .
JAN-FEB 2023 / OVERTURE 13