Lise de la Salle BACH UNLIMITED

In just a few years, through her international concert appearances and her award-winning Naïve recordings, 29 year-old Lise de la Salle has established a reputation as one of today’s most exciting young artists and as a musician of uncommon sensibility and maturity. Her playing inspired a Washington Post critic to write, “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.” 

A native of France, Ms. de la Salle first came to international attention in 2005, at the age of 16, with a Bach/Liszt recording that Gramophone Magazine selected as „Recording of the Month.“ Ms. de la Salle, who records for the Naïve label, was then similarly recognized in 2008 for her recording of the first concertos of Liszt, Prokofiev and Shostakovich – a remarkable feat for someone only 20 years old. Recent recordings offered works of Schumann and the Complete Works of Rachmaninoff for Piano and Orchestra with Fabio Luisi and the Philharmonia Zurich. 

The 2017-2018 season will see the release of a Bach-focused disc on Naïve including the Italian Concerto, the Liszt Fantasy & Fugue on the Theme B.A.C.H. and the Bach/Busoni Chaconne.

“Bach…where everything begins.”

Since the 18th century, a number of composers have paid hommage to Jean-Sebastian Bach, often considered the musical touch-stone: the perfect balance between science, form, expression and emotion.

Preludes and Fugues; transcriptions; or the musical motif made from the letters of his name: these hommages have come in many forms. In the captivating and fascinating programme by Lise de la Salle, we find works by Bach himself, Poulenc, Busoni, Roussel and Liszt. And then, like a fresh breath of air from the heart of our current century, interspersed between the works of the masters we find four new pieces commissioned from the pianist Thomas Enhco. The result is an essential, modern recording, an unprecedented journey into the essence of music, in which Lise de la Salle exhibits all her pianistic talent, as well as a profound intellectual knowledge.

It’s a long-considered recording, subtle yet powerful, that marks the 15th anniversary of the rich collaboration between Naïve and Lise de la Salle.