Pianist Lise de la Salle in concert January 25, 2009

San Francisco Performances is proud to present young piano master Lise de la Salle in a program featuring works by Mozart, Liszt and Prokofiev.

The concert begins with Mozart's stunning "Piano Sonata in D Major, K.284" and is followed by Liszt's profound "Legend in E Major: St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves, S.175. No. 2" and "Two Concert Etudes, S.145." The second half of the evening features Prokofiev's classic "Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Opus 75" and his brilliantly powerful "Toccata in D minor, Opus 11."

De la Salle's playing is so inspiring that The Washington Post wrote, "For much of the concert, the audience had to remember to breathe ... the exhilaration didn't let up for a second until her hands came off the keyboard."

Her 2008-09 season includes performances in Berlin, London and Paris, at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with the Minnesota Orchestra, and recitals in San Francisco, for the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and at Duke University, among others. In 2008, de la Salle also garnered her second "Recording of the Month" from Gramophone Magazine for her Naive recording of first concertos of Liszt, Prokofiev and Shostakovich - a remarkable feat for someone not yet 20.

Born in Cherbourg, France in 1988, de la Salle began studying the piano at the age of 4 and gave her first concert at 9 in a live broadcast on Radio-France. She received special permission at age 11 to enter the Paris Conservatoire Superieur de Musique and study with Pierre Reach. At 13, she made her concerto debut with Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 2" in Avignon, and her Paris recital debut at the Louvre before going on tour with the Orchestre National d'Ile de France, playing Haydn's Concerto in D Major.

$32.

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