For immediate release
18 Oct 2023

Having enjoyed an illustrious international career spanning 25 years and counting, French pianist Alexandre Tharaud has established himself as a true icon of the French piano school, and is widely acclaimed for his virtuosic flair and sensitive pianism. In his long-awaited return to Hong Kong, he will join hands with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and conductor Roberto Forés Veses on 4 Nov (Sat) to present his authoritative interpretation of Ravel’s radiant, jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in G, as well as give a solo recital on 2 Nov (Thu), where he will present an exquisite all-French programme of Debussy, Satie, Ravel and Rameau. Tickets are selling fast on URBTIX; enjoy a 20% discount when purchasing standard tickets to both performances.

A two-time winner of the prestigious “Instrumental Soloist of the Year” award at the French Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2012 and 2021, Alexandre Tharaud has appeared with renowned orchestras around the world such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris. He has chosen to bring to Hong Kong his rendition of one of Ravel’s most celebrated works – his Piano Concerto in G, written after being introduced by George Gershwin to New York’s iconic jazz scene, and premiered in 1932 by the legendary Marguerite Long. The concert programme will also feature Shostakovich’s inspired Symphony No 1, and award-winning English composer Christian Mason’s An Ocean of Years, commissioned by the Berlin Konzerthaus and written as the third and final part of his orchestral cycle Time and Eternity.

In the recital on 2 Nov, Tharaud will perform a stunning programme of French keyboard music spanning three centuries, starting from Rameau and moving on to some of the most well-loved works by Debussy, Satie and Ravel, such as Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un Faune, Gymnopédie No 1 and La Valse.

Hong Kong Sinfonietta

Great Piano Concertos: Alexandre Tharaud Plays Ravel

4 Nov 2023 (Saturday) | 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
$480, $340, $200

Conductor: Roberto Forés Veses
Piano: Alexandre Tharaud

Programme
Christian Mason – An Ocean of Years (2020-2022) (Asian première)
Ravel – Piano Concerto in G
Shostakovich – Symphony No 1 in F minor, Op 10

HKS Recital Series: Alexandre Tharaud Piano Recital

2 Nov 2023 (Thursday) | 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
$420, $280, $160

Piano: Alexandre Tharaud

Programme
Rameau – Suite in A minor, RCT5 (excerpts)
Debussy – Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un Faune (transcribed by Tharaud)
Debussy – Préludes, Book 1 (excerpts)
Satie – Gymnopédie No 1
Satie – Avant–dernières Pensées
Satie – La Diva de l’Empire
Satie – Gnossiennes Nos 1, 3 & 4
Satie – Je Te Veux
Ravel – À la Manière de Chabrier
Ravel – Pavane pour une Infante Défunte
Ravel – La Valse (transcribed by Tharaud)

• Half-price tickets available for full-time students, senior citizens, people with disabilities and their minder, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients
• 10% discount for group bookings of 4 or more standard tickets
• Get a 20% off discount when you purchase standard tickets to both programmes
• Suitable for 6 years old or above
• Tickets at URBTIX
• Tickets online at POPTICKET (no handling fee)

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Roberto Forés Veses                                                                                                               Conductor

A winner of the Evgeny Svetlanov Conducting Competition and Luigi Mancinelli International Competition for Opera Conductors, Valencia-born conductor Roberto Forés Veses conducts many of the world’s leading orchestras and opera houses. Recent débuts and returns have included the English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano (formerly “La Verdi”), Israel Camerata Jerusalem, Seville Symphony Orchestra, Basque National Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Pays de la Loire and Moravian Philharmonic. He also helmed major opera productions at the opera houses of Zurich and Lausanne.

From 2011 until 2021, Forés Veses was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchestre National d’Auvergne where he presided over a chamber orchestra tradition famous across France and internationally. Under his directorship, the orchestra became much-in-demand as a recording orchestra, making many recordings mainly for Warner Classics and the boutique label Aparté, while launching their own label in 2019. He has led the orchestra on several international tours, including to Japan, South America and Brazil.

The many other orchestras Fores Vesés has conducted include the NHK Symphony, Saint Petersburg Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov”, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, Residentie Orkest, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Opera is also close to his heart – he has conducted at the Bolshoi Theatre, Teatro Regio Di Torino, and the opera companies of Montpellier, Helsinki, Lyon, Rouen, Saint-Étienne and elsewhere.

Fores Vesés regularly performs at many international festivals including La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo, La Chaise-Dieu, Murten Classics, Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, Stresa Festival, Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Festival de la Vézère, Festival Polignac, Festival Bach en Combrailles and Berlioz Festival. In 2018, he was invited to join other selected Svetlanov Competition winners in a special festival marking the 90th anniversary of Svetlanov’s birth, at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Forés Veses has made more than a dozen recordings. Recently releases include Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Alena Baeva on Warner Classics; Strauss’ Metamorphosen and Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht; Mahler’s arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden; and symphonies by Roussel, Honegger and Jean Rivier. Coming soon on Warner Classics is Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1, one of the final recordings with Nicholas Angelich.

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Alexandre Tharaud                                                                                                                           Piano

In a career spanning 25 years, Alexandre Tharaud has become a unique figure in the classical music world and a key exponent of French pianism. His extraordinary discography of over 25 solo albums, most of which received major awards from the music press, features repertoire ranging from Couperin, Bach and Scarlatti, through Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms and Rachmaninov, to the major 20^th century French composers. The breadth of his artistic endeavours is also reflected in collaborations with theatre makers, dancers, choreographers, writers and film makers, as well as with singer-songwriters and musicians outside the realm of classical music.

Tharaud is a sought-after soloist, appearing with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Recent highlights include concerts with Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Lille, Les Violons du Roy, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Other highlights include the world première of Ramon Lazkano’s Piano Concerto with the Orchestre National de France and a Spanish tour of the Concerto with the Basque National Orchestra, a European tour with cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and solo recitals at the Paris and Berlin Philharmonie, and London Kings Place.

Tharaud is an exclusive recording artist of Erato Records. His most recent album of Ravel’s Piano Concertos was released in October 2023. Other recent recordings include Cinéma, Schubert’s Impromptus D899 and Moments Musicaux D780, and the albums Chanson d’Amour with Sabine Devieilhe and Le Poète du Piano. His discography reflects an eclectic affinity to many musical styles, with recordings including Versailles, which pays tribute to composers associated with the courts of the French kings Louis XIV, XV and XVI, a tribute to singer-songwriter Barbara, a Brahms duo album with Jean-Guihen Queyras (a regular chamber music partner for 20 years), and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2. Over the course of his career, he has made critically acclaimed recordings of Rameau, Scarlatti, Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Italian Concerto, Beethoven’s three final sonatas, Chopin’s 24 Preludes and Ravel’s complete piano works.

In 2017, Tharaud published Montrez-moi Vos Mains, an introspective and engaging account of his daily life as a pianist. He had previously co-authored Piano Intime with journalist Nicolas Southon. He is the subject of a film directed by Swiss film-maker Raphaëlle Aellig-Régnier: Alexandre Tharaud, Le Temps Dérobé, and appeared in the role of the pianist “Alexandre” in Michael Haneke’s celebrated 2012 film Amour.

In 2021, Tharaud won the “Instrumental Soloist of the Year” award at the French Victoires de la Musique Classique.

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Alexandre Tharaud (Piano)
©Marco Borggreve

Alexandre Tharaud (Piano)
©Marco Borggreve

Alexandre Tharaud (Piano)
©Marco Borggreve

Roberto Forés Veses (Conductor)
©Josep Gresa