In just a few years, through her international concert appearances and her award-winning Naïve recordings, 26 year-old de la Salle has established a reputation as one of today’s most exciting young artists, and as a musician of uncommon sensibility and maturity. 

The members of the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra will accompany de la Salle in the virtuosic and demanding piece of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 which debuted in November 1909. Formidable virtuosity is perhaps the feature that strikes listeners the most, along with Rachmaninoff’s special gift for lush melodies over rich accompaniments.

A native of France, now living in Paris, de la Salle first came to international attention in 2005, at the age of 16, with a Bach/Liszt recording that was selected as “Recording of the Month” by Gramophone Magazine. De la Salle, who records exclusively with the label Naïve, was then similarly recognized in 2008 for her recording of Liszt’s, Prokofiev’s and Shostakovich’s first concertos – a remarkable feat for someone only 20 years old (at that time). Her most recent recording offers works of Schumann, including Kinderszenen and the C Major Fantasy, which was released in 2014.

De la Salle has played with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. She most recently made her London Symphony Orchestra debut with Fabio Luisi, who had invited her to become the first Artist-in-Residence of the Zurich Opera in 2014. In the U.S., de la Salle has played with the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others.

The overall mood of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major work is serene, and particularly pleasing to both play and hear (it’s a favorite symphony for many musicians). The melodic opening with basses and cellos, answered by the horns, and spiced with woodwinds, sets the tone for the full symphony that grows to a glorious conclusion.

Symphony performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Franco Center in Lewiston and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham. Tickets are $20 and available online at www.midcoastsymphony.org, also Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, Now You’re Cooking in Bath, or at the concert hall prior to the performance. For additional information, call 207-846-5378. Those 18 and younger admitted free.

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