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Artist: Lucas Debargue
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Lucas Debargue:

Faure - Complete Music for Solo Piano

For his latest release on Sony Classical, pianist Lucas Debargue turns to one of the unsung treasuries of the piano repertoire - the works of Gabriel Fauré. In a remarkable undertaking, Debargue has recorded every note of his compatriot’s piano music - all on a newly designed piano rarely heard on record until now.

For many years, Debargue was mystified by what he describes as the ‘gentle melancholy and harmonic sophistication’ of Fauré’s piano music. He played the French composer’s early piano works but steered clear of the Bagatelles, Nocturnes and Preludes that enjoy a special reputation among certain pianists.

The turning point came when Debargue encountered Fauré’s Nine Preludes Op 103. These elusive masterpieces, written in 1910-11, ‘revealed the profound originality and mastery’ of the composer, says Debargue. They encompass, the pianist believes, ‘a vast emotional range from serene contemplation to extreme anguish.’

For his new recording, Debargue has reexamined Fauré’s entire output for piano, starting from the beginning. Across 4 CDs, he ‘retraces the journey that the composer had taken from his earliest works for the piano to his last contribution to the medium.’ Recording it, reports the pianist, has ‘transformed my life both as a person and as a musician.’

Lucas Debargue:

Scarlatti - 52 Sonatas

Lucas Debargue breathes new life into the harpsichord sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and presents works outside the standard piano repertoire.

The Parisian pianist has already climbed the pinnacle of piano artistry with Beethoven, Liszt and Ravel and unleashed full-blown romantic thunderstorms with Schubert's A-minor Piano Sonata no. 14 and the madcap finale of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit.

Now, on his new album, Debargue devotes himself completely to Domenico Scarlatti. He already played four of this Italian master's sonatas on his highly acclaimed début album. Germany's Der Spiegel waxed ecstatic: "Debargue's Scarlatti recalls his mighty predecessors. He displays the subtle touch and feeling once bestowed on these miniatures by Vladimir Horowitz and imparts new sound to Scarlatti's keyboard music. … Debargue touches the outer limits of expression between joylessness and rapture: one may find it overwrought, but it's never less than gripping. And then there's the gentle Glenn Gould touch."