Pianist Lise de la Salle Makes Chicago Symphony Center Debut

Famed French pianist Lise de la Salle makes her Symphony Center debut in the Symphony Center Presents PowerShares QQQ Piano series on Sunday, March 6, at 3:00 p.m. One of the most promising young artists in the international classical piano scene, de la Salle performs a program of works by Bach and Ravel, as well as a rich assortment of showpieces by Liszt.

The program opens with an exceptionally challenging arrangement of Bach's Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004, arranged for solo piano by Ferruccio Busoni in 1893. Following is Ravel's imaginative and technically spectacular Gaspard de la nuit, described by the composer as "three romantic poems of transcendental virtuosity."

De la Salle, who has featured Liszt extensively in her discography, will complete her program with a tour de force of works by the composer, including his rousing Dante Sonata, and arrangements of themes by Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, and Wagner including the "Lacrimosa" from Mozart's Requiem and Isolde's "Liebestod" from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde.

A native of France, de la Salle was propelled to global fame after recording a Bach/Liszt album at the age of 16, which was selected as "Recording of the Month" by Gramophone Magazine. She was likewise recognized for a 2008 recording of the first concertos of Liszt, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

De la Salle has already played with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the London Symphony.

Her most recent recording, an all-Rachmaninov album with Fabio Luisi and the Zurich Opera Orchestra, was released in the fall of 2015.

Tickets for all Symphony Center Presents PowerShares QQQ Piano series concerts can be purchased by phone at (800) 223‑7114 or (312) 294‑3000; online at CSO's official website or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604.

Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call (312) 294-3040.