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Jan Lisiecki interview with KUAF - Of Note

Interview with KUAF's Katy Henriksen

At the young age of 22, Polish-Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki already claims seven years as a recording artist on Deutsche Grammophon. His latest, Chopin: Works for Piano & Orchestra, marks his second release exploring a composer near and dear to him. "It has the capability to pierce through any armor and go directly to your heart," Lisiecki says of Chopin's music. The album comprises pieces in the so-called "brilliant style," a form of virtuosic pianism cultivated in the early 1800s by some of the leading performer-composers of the day, including Hummel, Kalkbrenner and Moscheles. During his formative years in Warsaw, Chopin applied the style to such works for piano and orchestra as the Grande Polonaise brillante Op.22 and Rondo à la krakowiak in F major Op.14. The notion of brilliance likewise governs his Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni Op.2 and the Fantasy on Polish Airs Op.13.

Find out more in Jan Lisiecki's interview with Katy Henriksen - KUAF: Fayetteville - Of Note host. LISTEN