Mozart’s two piano quartets are both masterpieces and among the greatest chamber works in the repertoire. The Rondo concertante is arranged from the last movement of the piano sonata K333, which unusually has a cadenza passage, which lead pianist Dejan Lazić to make a version for piano and orchestra.
On this recording a version for piano quintet brings the music in another fresh guise and you’d be hard pressed to know it wasn’t by Mozart himself.
Lazić is joined by friends he has performed with for years but this is actually his first recording of chamber music in a long recording career. The result is joyful, intimate music making, of the sort only musicians who have a lifetime of performing together can achieve. (Onyx Classics)
WATCH HERE THE MAKING-OF VIDEO (featuring behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, insights into the rehearsals, recording sessions, and the live concert atmosphere on site):
Beethoven’s transcription for piano of his violin concerto was made at the request of London based Muzio Clementi. Beethoven admired Clementi as a pianist and found his business as a publisher of use. Johann Baptiste Cramer was a composer and pianist also admired and respected by Beethoven and he settled in London . Both these composers played significant roles in the development of the piano, something Beethoven followed keenly. This fascinating album contains Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in D op61a, Clementi’s Piano Sonata in B minor op40/2, and Cramer’s Piano Sonata in E op62 ‘Le retour à Londres’.
Dejan Lazić’s fantastic Liszt recital has been released in April 2017
“A fascinating portrait of Liszt as composer, arranger and restless traveller. A must for all lovers of great piano playing, and who wish to explore the wonders of Liszt’s music.” (Onyx Classics, 2017)
Dejan Lazić; on this, his first album for ONYX, pays tribute to a composer and his legacy as a piano virtuoso, organist, improviser, arranger, conductor, teacher, author, philanthropist and traveller.
Liszt lived life to the full, and this recital captures that love of life, his genius as a pianist and composer, a traveller with a restless and curious mind. Liszt’s respect for the music of other composers is to be found in his arrangements for piano of orchestral, operatic and other vocal works. From Wagner’s operas to Schubert Lieder via Beethoven Symphonies, his deep love for the music is apparent and such arrangements gave this music a wider audience in both the salons and domestic settings that lives on today.
“Embarking on a recording project like this obviously required a substantial amount of preparation time. But once the date has come it was of a tremendous importance to capture and to honour the spontaneity of Liszt’s versatile, eclectic, and revolutionary genius”, writes Dejan in his introduction to the recital, captured at a live performance at Hohenhems, and one further day in studio conditions.
Sonata in C major, K. 420 – Allegro
Sonata in f minor, K. 58 – Fuga
Sonata in F major, K. 82 – Allegro
Sonata in D major, K. 491 – Allegro
Sonata in D major, K. 430 – Non presto ma a tempo di ballo
Sonata in C major, K. 159 – Allegro
Sonata in d minor, K. 9 – Allegro
Sonata in F major, K. 17 – Presto
Sonata in a minor, K. 3 – Presto
Sonata in E major, K. 380 – Andante comodo
Sonata in E major, K. 135 – Allegro
Béla Bartók (1881 – 1945)
3 Rondos on Slovak Folktunes, Sz 84, BB 92;
7 Sketches, Sz 44, BB 54 (op. 9b);
Funeral March from symphonic poem ‘Kossuth’, Sz 21, BB 31 (arranged for piano by the composer);
6 Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm (from ‘Microcosmos’ – Vol. 6), Sz 107, BB 105
Gigue in G major, K. 574;
Fantasia and Fugue in C major, K. 394 (383a);
Sonata in C major, K. 330 (330h);
Minuet in D major, K. 355 (594a; KV6:576b);
Sonata in G major, K. 283 (189h);
Fantasia in d minor, K. 397 (385g);
9 Variations in D major, after a Minuet of Jean-Pierre Duport, K. 573;
Minuet in G major, K. 1 (KV6:1e);
Minuet in C major, K. 1, Trio (KV 6:1f)
Mozart’s two piano quartets are both masterpieces and among the greatest chamber works in the repertoire. The Rondo concertante is arranged from the last movement of the piano sonata K333, which unusually has a cadenza passage, which led pianist Dejan Lazić to make a version for piano and orchestra. (Onyx Classics)
Dejan Lazić performs live at the National Béla Bartók Concert Hall in Budapest his own “Istrian Dance” for piano solo, Op. 15. This was the encore after performing there Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Budapest Festival Orchestra & Iván Fischer, as a part of their European tour. There also exist versions for ...
Live from Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Dejan plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488 (No. 23), with Jan Willem de Vriend & Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. (Cadenza: Dejan Lazić)
Ahead of his concerts with Netherlands Chamber Orchestra & Gordan Nikolić, Dejan plays a clip from Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as well as some football — renownedly also Shostakovich’s other passion…
Watch here the preview of Dejan’s performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, filmed live at the National Béla Bartók Concert Hall — Müpa Budapest on 1 April 2017, as a part of the recent European tour with Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer. Budapest, 1 April 2017
Excerpts from J. Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major: *Allegro appassionato (fade out) *Allegretto grazioso (fade out) Filmed live in Helsinki Music Centre, Finland, on 17 October 2014
Here you can watch a short film about the creative process during rehearsals, concerts and recording sessions of Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano, Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra in C major, op. 56 (‘Triple Concerto’). Cellist and host of Germany’s beloved TV-show ‘KlickKlack’, Sol Gabetta talks to Dejan, ...
F. Liszt: ‘Totentanz’ (‘Dance of the Dead’) for piano and orchestra – excerpts Dejan Lazić, piano Budapest Festival Orchestra Iván Fischer, conductor Conservatorio di Milano, Sala Verdi – a cura di OLO Creative Farm (English & Italiano)
Here he talks to cellist and moderator of the show Sol Gabetta about his recent arrangement of Brahms Violin Concerto and in a musical exchange with violinist Benjamin Schmid the two compare the original version with present arrangement, all accompanied by several live-clips filmed recently at the Amsterdam Premiere in Concertgebouw! (Deutsch)
Brahms / arr. Lazic: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major (after Violin Concerto, op. 77) Featuring: Zen Hu, violin Pianist en componist Dejan Lazić laat zien en horen hoe hij het Vioolconcert van Brahms bewerkte voor piano en orkest. De vraag is: wat doet een violist, wat de pianist niet kan? Maar ook: hoe […]
Dejan was a special guest on German TV show ZDF-Afternoon Journal at the station’s Broadcasting Center in Mainz, Germany. Here you can watch an interview followed by a coverage of his life in Amsterdam, his early years in Zagreb and Salzburg, his passion for music and football, plus his debut appearance at the world famous ...
Dejan demonstrates at the piano and talks about the process of the arrangement, followed by clips from rehearsals with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, interviews with Dejan Lazić and Robert Spano, and much more – all filmed on location in Atlanta, USA and in Sydney, Australia. (English)
In Amsterdam Dejan appeared on VPRO’s popular TV show ‘Free Sounds’. There he presented his recent Brahms CD and performed Brahms’ Rhapsody in B minor, op. 79 no. 1 live in studio. (English with Nederlands subtitles)