Louise Bessette

Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has been praised by critics for the originality and freshness of his interpretations of major works from the piano repertoire, deliberately chosen across a broad range of styles and eras. He studied in Montreal with Yvonne Hubert (herself a pupil of French pianist Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber, and later with, among others, Leon Fleisher, a disciple of Arthur Schnabel.

Lortie has performed the complete works of Ravel in London and Montreal for the BBC and Radio-Canada, and is also acclaimed for his interpretations of the music of Frédéric Chopin. Following a recital of the complete Chopin Études at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Financial Times wrote: “There is nowhere else in the world where you will hear better Chopin playing than from Louis Lortie.” He frequently performs major works of the contemporary repertoire and has recently turned his attention to pieces by British composer Thomas Adès.

Louis Lortie is equally admired for his interpretations of Beethoven. He has performed the complete Beethoven piano sonatas at London’s Wigmore Hall, Toronto’s Ford Centre, the Berlin Philharmonie, and the Sala Grande of Milan’s Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. In Berlin, Die Welt described his performance as “possibly the most beautiful Beethoven since Wilhelm Kempff.” With the Montreal and Quebec Symphony Orchestras, he has performed and conducted all five Beethoven piano concertos. As part of Montreal’s Beethoven Plus Festival, he performed the 32 piano sonatas as well as the complete violin and cello sonatas and trios.

In May 2008, Lortie completed his multi-year project of performing Mozart’s 27 piano concertos, while continuing to appear in orchestral programs featuring a wide range of composers. In 2006–2007, he began a Wagner/Liszt series at London’s Wigmore Hall, later presenting it in Berlin, Milan, the Domaine Forget festival, the Weimar Festival, Bordeaux and Warsaw. He also gave his third recital in Carnegie Hall’s Great Artists series.

Louis Lortie has performed under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Järvi, Sir Andrew Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Osmo Vänskä. He has been involved in numerous chamber music projects with artists including Frank Peter Zimmermann, Leonidas Kavakos, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Jan Vogler, Augustin Dumay and Gidon Kremer. He performs regularly in a piano duo with fellow Canadian Hélène Mercier, with whom he has recorded several albums. His own discography includes some thirty recordings, ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky.

Born in Montreal, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13 and, three years later, with the Toronto Symphony, which led to a landmark tour in China and Japan. In 1984, he won first prize at the Busoni Competition and was a laureate of the prestigious Leeds Competition. In 1992, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 1997 he was named a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec—the same year he received an honorary doctorate from Université Laval. Louis Lortie has lived in Berlin since 1997 and maintains a residence in Canada.