Louis Lortie, Piano

Friday, March 7, 2014 | 8:00 pm

Baldwin Auditorium

The Los Angeles Times praised French Canadian pianist Louis Lortie for “his bravura, amazing display of color, and beautiful way with a melodic line,” calling “each an awesome aspect of a monster technique.” For select programs, he summons all of his technique and skill to perform just a single concert-length masterpiece.

At Duke Performances, Lortie offers a rare complete performance of the first two books of Franz Liszt’s magnum opus Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). In virtuosic passages that swing between serene and stormy, the great Romantic composer conjures up memories of his love-struck younger years in Switzerland and Italy.

Program