ALAIN LEFÈVRE
Acclaimed as a “hero” (Los Angeles Times), a “spectacular pianist” (Fanfare), a
“smashing performer” (Washington Post), and an “artistic winner” (Music Week,
London), Alain Lefèvre won a JUNO Award this year, for his recording with the London
Mozart Players, featuring the CD premiere of André Mathieu’s Concertino No.2. Saluted
by the international press for his “phenomenal technique” ( The Spectator), his “sparkling
playing resulting in fascinating interpretations” (Kölner Stadt Anzeiger), his “sovereign
mastery” (Hamburger Abendblatt), his deep sensitivity and exhilarating personality,
Lefèvre is a pianist who “breaks the mold” (International PIANO, London), and who “truly
stands out from the typical trends and artifices offered on the international scene”
(Classica).
He pursues a sparkling international career and is one of Canada’s foremost virtuosos,
performing to prestigious venues in more than forty countries world-wide, in recital and
and with international orchestras and leading conductors, such as as Matthias Bamert,
Franz-Paul Decker, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Claus Peter Flor, Lawrence
Foster, Jaçek Kaspszyk, Bernhard Klee, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, JukkaPekka Saraste, Vladimir Spivakov, Carl St-Clair, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and Long Yu. He
toured in Japan with the Moscow Virtuosi, in Taiwan with the Malaysian Philharmonic
Orchestra and in UK with the London Mozart Players, besides his participation to
numerous International Festivals such as Cervantino in Mexico, Istanbul Festival in
Turkey, Epidavros in Greece, Wolf Trap, Irvine Meadows and Vermont Mozart Festivals
in the US, Lanaudière International Festival, and Mostly Mozart at Notre-Dame Basilica.
He has been guest soloist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall
and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the SWR in Stuttgart, the Komische Oper Berlin,
the Hambürg Symphony, the Stuttgart and Wuppertal Symphonies, the Nuremberg
Symphony, the Stattskapelle Sinfonie in Weimar, the Orchestre National de France at
the Théatre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Philharmonie de Lorraine, the Detroit
Symphony, the National Symphony (Washington D.C.), the Houston Symphony
Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the National
Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires,
the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, just to
name a few.
With over twenty-five CDs winning numerous prizes, and always on top of the best
selling charts in Canada, his discography covers a vast repertoire, including John
Corigliano’s remarkable Piano Concerto considered by many critics – and recently by
BBC Music Magazine - to be the reference version of all. His recording of the Liszt
Transcriptions of works by Bach and Wagner, recorded at the Megaron in Athens, was
chosen as a “ Télérama event” by Télérama magazine and Audiophile Audition asserted
this recital to be as “groundbreaking an illumination of Liszt’s transformational art as
Gould’s was of Bach’s pure art nearly half a century ago”. ”. He was invited by the
renowned American journalist and anchor Charlie Rose to appear on his show in New
York to share his passion for Mathieu and present his Concerto No.4, and described by
the international critic as a “masterpiece” and as a “national treasure”. When released,
the CD came in 2nd place on the American billboard and in 1st place in Canada
Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec, Chevalier of the Pléiade Order, Alain Lefèvre
is also winner of six Felix Awards. Last May, Alain Lefèvre opened the Canadian Pavilion
at Expo 2010 in Shanghaï, in a concert with the Shanghaï Symphony Orchestra,
followed the next day by the World Premiere of the motion picture on André Mathieu’s
life, “The Child Prodigy”. Lefèvre signs here his first motion picture as Music Director,
composer and pianist, performing all the featured Mathieu’s piano works. The film is to
be presented at the Hamburg Film Fest, and at the Sao Paulo International Film
Festival, amongst others.