Portland Ovations to Welcome Pianist Alexandre Tharaud, 1/22

Portland Ovations brings pianist Alexandre Tharaud to Hannaford Hall on the USM Portland campus for a recital Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 7:30pm.

Alexandre Tharaud is a French pianist who has an international reputation as an artist of unique vision and originality. Tharaud is heralded for his brilliantly conceived programs and bestselling recordings that range from Bach, Chopin, Rameau, and Ravel to music inspired by 1920s Paris cabaret life. His playing has been praised by The New York Times as "exquisite, crisp and beautifully textured" and noted for its "refinement and daring." He made his Carnegie Hall debut during the 2012-13 season in a sold-out program of Scarlatti and Liszt. That year also saw Tharaud star in and provide the soundtrack to the film Amour, which took the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His Ovations debut will include works by Mozart, Couperin, Schubert and Beethoven.

One hour prior to the performance at 6:30pm Ovations Offstage offers the pre-performance lecture Why the Piano Reigns Supreme with James Parakilas, professor of music and chair of the Humanities Division at Bates College, focusing on Alexandre Tharaud's program as he discusses the capacity of the piano to take listeners across musical and cultural boundaries, to translate the sounds of other musical media into its own terms, and to remind us of all the places music can have in our lives.

Tickets for Alexandre Tharaud are $37.80 for Ovations Members and $42 for the general public with a limited number of $10 student tickets also available. To purchase tickets, visit www.portlandovations.org, contact PortTIX at 207.842.0800 or stop by the box office window at Merrill Auditorium.