For the second volume of his Chopin cycle, Louis Lortie prefaces major pieces such as the Four Ballades with Nocturnes, contrasting a sense of improvisation with weightier, more concentrated works. And throughout his recital you will hear playing of the most patrician poise, fluidity and tonal finesse. Even Chopin’s most violent nerve-storms, while fully acknowledged, are seen within a lucid and contained perspective. There is drama and passion but never violence or neurosis, and even those accustomed to a more volatile view…will surely agree that Lortie’s balance of sense and sensibility…is impeccable.

In the Op 9 E flat Nocturne, his rubato has all the delicacy and fragrance of a born Chopin pianist, a subtle give and take and musical breathing. His way with the Berceuse in particular is a marvel of iridescence, unruffled technique and musicianship. As one critic put it, ‘He is forever colouring, shading, emphasising, minutely adjusting’, and the result is personal but never egocentric. A celebrated English pianist was once described as ‘a virtuoso of dreaming’. The same could be said of Louis Lortie. © 2012 Gramophone Read complete review on Gramophone