Manitoba Live Music Event

About

Anne Manson & Jan Lisiecki
— the Reluctant Prodigy

At only 22 years old, Jan Lisiecki has been called a “prodigy” (CBC), “the most ‘complete’ pianist of his age” (BBC Music Magazine), and even a Mozart of our times.

Interviews suggest that Lisiecki rebuffs such labels. What’s certain is that those lucky enough to see him perform at this age are privy to a golden moment in the artist’s trajectory. While he’s achieved a level of musical mastery that would be the envy of most mature musicians, he can still be seen, luckily for us, playing in merry prairie venues — where the average concertgoer won’t be forced to squeeze into some far-off ‘standing-room’!

The rise of Lisiecki’s star has been meteoric. Born in Calgary to a Polish family of non-musicians, he began playing the piano at age five after a school counsellor suggested to his parents that they ‘impose’ conservatory music lessons on him. But apparently he did not, like so many of us, rebel against the rigours of this regime, quickly wowing his tutors with his natural musical talents. Six or seven years later, those talents caught the attention of musical heavyweight Howard Shelley, who went on to conduct Lisiecki in recordings of Chopin. Today Lisiecki shares the stage with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and James Ehnes on stages such as Carnegie Hall and the Philharmonic Concert Hall—in addition, of course, to Westminster Church, where he’s already performed with the MCO three times.

At our April concert, Lisiecki will strut his stuff, performing a piece that demands swagger: Ravel’s wonderfully flamboyant, jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G major.

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major

Composed (1929-1931) at a remarkable moment in music history when popular American jazz and European modern music struck up a fleeting affair, the concerto evokes the decadence and confidence of the Roaring Twenties. Notwithstanding its raunchy character, the work is the product of almost obsessive meticulousness.

“How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!” recalled Ravel. “The G-major Concerto took two years of work, you know. The opening theme came to me on a train between Oxford and London. But the initial idea is nothing. The work of chiselling then began.”

Tickets, at $35 for adults, $33 for seniors and $15 for students and those under-30 (incl. GST), are available at McNally Robinson, Organic Planet (877 Westminster Ave), and on MCO’s Ticketline at 204-783-7377.