A critic is always looking for the right qualifier to sum up a performance or, better still, the look of an artist on a work. In the case of Eric Lu’s Schubert, the terms that come to mind are “refined”, “delicate”, “intense”. Lu, highly esteemed pianist of Charles Richard-Hamelin, was 4e at the 2015 Chopin Competition. He then won the Leeds Competition in 2018, but the COVID-19 has somewhat hampered the flight of his career. We can only warmly thank Warner for persevering and continuing to believe in him, because this 25-year-old American, born in Massachusetts, is a rare and precious artist whom we look forward to seeing in recital in Montreal, on January 25 at Bourgie Hall. He is distinguished by his finesse of touch, an art of subtle transitions and a hypersensitivity that manages to never fall into artificiality or sentimentality. Facing a D.959 tragic and charged, the juxtaposition with the Sonata in A minor is a great idea, as the latter appears haunted and pale. Magnificent CD.
To see in video