Lucille Chung

Works for Piano Solo and Duo

Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212045527
Catnr: SIGCD 455
Release date: 10 June 2016
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1 CD
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Label
Signum Classics
UPC
0635212045527
Catalogue number
SIGCD 455
Release date
10 June 2016
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
NL

About the album

Canadian pianist Lucille Chung is admired for her “stylish and refined performances.” (Gramophone Magazine) She first appears as a soloist on this release with Poulenc’s Improvisations, Novelettes and L’embarquement pour Cythere, before being joined by her duo partner and husband, Alessio Bax. Poulenc was not only an incredible composer, but also a virtuosic pianist. His style is characterized by color and clarity, and he is considered by many to be the finest French song composer since Faure.
Fantastische, kleurrijke en aanstekelijk pianomuziek van Poulenc
Poulenc bezat een oor voor melodie dat hem onderscheidde als de voortreffelijkste Franse liedcomponist sinds Fauré. Hij was een bekwaam pianist, die een speelstijl vormde die gekenmerkt werd door kleurrijkheid, helderheid, en precies gebruik van het rechterpedaal. Al deze kenmerken worden verwezenlijkt in zijn pianorepertoire.

De vermaarde Canadese pianiste Lucille Chung voert op dit album als solist de 15 Improvisations en 3 Novelettes van Poulenc uit. Daarnaast speelt ze samen met haar duo partner (en echtgenoot) Alessio Bax L’embarquement pour Cythère, de Sonate voor Vier Handen en het Concert voor Twee Piano’s.

Chung schreef over het album: “Het maken van dit album was een droom die uitkomt. Van de onweerstaanbare charme van de 15 Improvisations tot aan de onbedwingbare uitbarstingen van energie in het Concert voor Twee Piano’s, de omvang van de muziek en schoonheid van Poulenc had een fantastisch aanstekelijk effect op iedereen die bij het project betrokken was!”

Artist(s)

Lucille Chung (piano)

Canadian pianist Lucille Chung is renowned for her “blazing gutsy performance[s]” (The Washington Post). Born in Montréal, Canadian pianist Lucille Chung has been acclaimed for her “stylish and refined performances” by Gramophone magazine, “combining vigor and suppleness with natural eloquence and elegance” (Le Soir). Ms. Chung has been making her mark from an early age. At age ten, she had made her debut performance with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and a few years later, she claimed first place in the Stravinsky International Piano Competition. Since her early success, Ms. Chung has performed with over 60 leading orchestras around the world including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, KBS Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar,...
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Canadian pianist Lucille Chung is renowned for her “blazing gutsy performance[s]” (The Washington Post). Born in Montréal, Canadian pianist Lucille Chung has been acclaimed for her “stylish and refined performances” by Gramophone magazine, “combining vigor and suppleness with natural eloquence and elegance” (Le Soir). Ms. Chung has been making her mark from an early age. At age ten, she had made her debut performance with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and a few years later, she claimed first place in the Stravinsky International Piano Competition.

Since her early success, Ms. Chung has performed with over 60 leading orchestras around the world including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, KBS Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar, UNAM Philharmonic (Mexico), Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Flemish Radio Orchestra as well as all of the major Canadian orchestras. She has appeared with prestigious conductors including, Krzysztof Penderecki, Vladimir Spivakov, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Charles Dutoit, to name a few.

As recitalist, Lucille has performed in over 30 countries. She is often invited to chamber festivals and recent appearances include the Seoul Arts Centre Orchestra Festival in Korea, Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, and the Aruba Piano Festival. She regularly performs with her husband as a member of the Bax & Chung Piano Duo.

Ms. Chung has a discography of ten titles featuring solo, concerto, and piano duo recordings. Her most recent CD, Poulenc: Works for Piano Solo and Duo, was released on the Signum label in June 2016 to high acclaim. The new disc features works by Poulenc for solo piano and she is joined by Alessio Bax for the composer's piano duo works.

Lucille graduated from both the Curtis Institute and The Juilliard School before the age of 20. She then furthered her studies in Europe at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Hochschule für Musik (Franz Liszt) Weimar and Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy, where she worked with the late Lazar Berman. The recipient of many prestigious awards, she was recently named Honorary Professor of the Jilin Arts College in China and is on the faculty of the Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas.

Lucille Chung is a Steinway Artist.


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Alessio Bax (piano)

Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt 'among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public' (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on five continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but also as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. Bax...
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Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt "among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public" (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on five continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but also as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden.

Bax explores many facets of his career in the 2019-20 season. Fall brings the release of Italian Inspirations, his eleventh recording for Signum Classics. Pairing works by Luigi Dallapiccola and Alessandro Marcello with Italian-themed pieces by Rachmaninov and Liszt, the album's program is also the vehicle for Bax's solo recital debut at New York's 92nd Street Y. A further debut follows with the Milwaukee Symphony, where he plays Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto under Han-Na Chang, and the same composer's Fourth Concerto and Choral Fantasy take him to the Santa Barbara Symphony. Placing especial focus on long-term collaborative projects, this season Bax undertakes Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) and on a forthcoming Signum Classics release, both with Paul Watkins of the Emerson String Quartet; plays trios in South America with Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto and French horn virtuoso Radovan Vlatkovic; and embarks on multiple U.S. and European recital tours with superstar violinist Joshua Bell. After headlining the North Carolina Symphony's season-opening concerts together, Bax and his regular piano partner, Lucille Chung, give duo recitals with CMS, at Atlanta's Spivey Hall, in the Yale Piano Series, and at Sala São Paulo in Brazil. Bax rounds out the season with a full summer of festivals, highlighted by his third season as Artistic Director of Tuscany's Incontri in Terra di Siena festival, which is fast becoming a major international destination for music-lovers.

Bax revisited the two concertos heard on Alessio Bax Plays Mozart for his recent debuts with the Boston and Melbourne Symphonies, both with Sir Andrew Davis, and with the Sydney Symphony, which he led himself from the keyboard. Other 2018-19 highlights include the pianist's Auckland Philharmonia debut, concerts in Israel, a Japanese tour featuring dates with the Tokyo Symphony, U.S. collaborations with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Edo de Waart, and two solo recitals marking his return to the prestigious Mozarteum Argentino series at Buenos Aires's Teatro Colón. Recent seasons have also seen Bax make his solo recital debut at London's Wigmore Hall, which aired live on BBC Radio 3, and give concerts at L.A.'s Disney Hall, Washington's Kennedy Center, and New York's Carnegie Hall. In 2009, he was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and four years later he received both the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists.

Bax is a staple on the international summer festival circuit, and has performed at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland; the Aldeburgh Festival, Bath Festival, and Southbank Centre's International Piano Series in England; the Risør Festival in Norway; the Salon-de-Provence Festival in France; the Moritzburg Festival, Ruhr Klavier-Festival, and Beethovenfest Bonn in Germany; and Le Pont International Music Festival in Japan. In the U.S., he makes regular appearances at Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and New York's Bard Music Festival. As a chamber musician, Bax has collaborated with Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Ian Bostridge, Lucille Chung, Sol Gabetta, Steven Isserlis, Daishin Kashimoto, Emmanuel Pahud, Lawrence Power, Paul Watkins, Jörg Widmann, and the Emerson String Quartet, among many others.

Bax's celebrated discography for Signum Classics includes Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" and "Moonlight" Sonatas (a Gramophone "Editor's Choice"); Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto; Bax & Chung, a duo disc with Lucille Chung that includes Stravinsky's original four-hand version of the ballet Pétrouchka as well as music by Brahms and Piazzolla; Alessio Bax plays Mozart, comprising Piano Concertos K. 491 and K. 595 with London's Southbank Sinfonia and Simon Over; Alessio Bax: Scriabin & Mussorgsky (named "Recording of the Month . and quite possibly . of the year" by MusicWeb International); Alessio Bax plays Brahms (a Gramophone "Critics' Choice"); Bach Transcribed; and Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies (an American Record Guide "Critics' Choice 2011"). Recorded for Warner Classics, his Baroque Reflections album was also a Gramophone "Editor's Choice." He performed Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata for maestro Daniel Barenboim in the PBS-TV documentary Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclass, available as a DVD boxed set on the EMI label.

Alessio Bax graduated with top honors at the record age of 14 from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, where his teacher was Angela Montemurro. He studied in France with Francois-Joël Thiollier and attended the Chigiana Academy in Siena under Joaquín Achúcarro. In 1994 he moved to Dallas to continue his studies with Achúcarro at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts. In fall 2019, Bax joins the piano faculty of Boston's New England Conservatory. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with Lucille Chung and their five-year-old daughter, Mila. Beyond the concert hall he is known for his longtime obsession with fine food; as a 2013 New York Times profile noted, he is not only notorious for hosting "epic" multi-course dinner parties, but often spends his intermissions dreaming of meals to come.


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Composer(s)

Francis Poulenc

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. Poulenc's wealthy family intended him for a business career in the Rhone Poulenc family company and did not allow him to enrol at a music college. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc soon came under the influence of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. This group of French composers from the 1920s aimed to clear music of the impressionism of Claude Debussy, and German influences such as the Romanticism of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Their motto was 'L'art pour l'art': they composed music for the sake of...
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Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. Poulenc's wealthy family intended him for a business career in the Rhone Poulenc family company and did not allow him to enrol at a music college. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc soon came under the influence of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. This group of French composers from the 1920s aimed to clear music of the impressionism of Claude Debussy, and German influences such as the Romanticism of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Their motto was "L'art pour l'art": they composed music for the sake of music, without any 'meaning' or extramusical intents. In his early works Poulenc became known for his high spirits and irreverence. During the 1930s a much more serious side to his nature emerged, particularly in the religious music he composed from 1936 onwards, which he alternated with his more light-hearted works.

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Press

Play album
01.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 1 in B minor
01:35
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
02.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 2 in A-Flat Major
01:37
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
03.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 3 in B minor
01:36
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
04.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 4 in A-Flat Major
01:30
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
05.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 5 in A Minor
01:45
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
06.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 6 in B-Flat Major
01:35
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
07.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 7 in C Major
02:44
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
08.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 8 in A Minor
01:36
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
09.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 9 in D Major
01:29
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
10.
15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 10 in F Major,
02:11
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
11.
15 Improvisations, FP 113: No. 11 in G Minor
00:51
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
12.
15 Improvisations, FP 113: No. 12 in E-Flat Major,
02:10
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
13.
15 Improvisations, FP 170: No. 13 in A Minor
02:23
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
14.
15 Improvisations, FP 170: No. 14 in D-Flat Major
01:28
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
15.
15 Improvisations, FP 176: No. 15 in C Minor,
03:23
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
16.
Three Novelettes, FP 47: Novelette in C Major
02:43
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
17.
Three Novelettes, FP 47: Novelette in B-Flat Minor
02:01
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
18.
Three Novelettes, FP 173: Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla
02:40
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung
19.
Sonata for Four Hands, FP 8: I. Prelude
02:01
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
20.
Sonata for Four Hands, FP 8: II. Rustique
01:48
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
21.
Sonata for Four Hands, FP 8: III. Final
01:58
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
22.
L'embarquement pour Cythère FP 150
02:16
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
23.
Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, FP 61: I. Allegro ma non troppo
07:31
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
24.
Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, FP 61: II. Larghetto
05:24
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
25.
Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, FP 61: III. Finale
05:55
(Francis Poulenc) Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax
show all tracks

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