Lucas Debargue – Gershwin Variations

The programme is taken from solo piano works.

The Gershwin Variations by internationally renowned pianist Lucas Debargue present an ambitious and unprecedented project, born from the desire to explore a radically different universe after recording Scarlatti's sonatas and Fauré's complete works.

This double album is an ode to George Gershwin, an unclassifiable composer situated at the frontier between classical music and jazz, whose singularity inspired Lucas to in turn create a work impossible to categorise.

The album is structured into two parts, both equally grandiose and virtuosic…each with their distinct singularities.

The first, recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris on Stephen Paulello's unique SP/287 piano, features emblematic works by Gershwin, including the Concerto in F with the Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Elim Chan, the three piano preludes, and a personal version of Rhapsody in Blue enriched by the pianist's cadenzas.

The second part, recorded in the Paulello studio, is entirely dedicated to twelve virtuosic studies composed by Lucas based on Gershwin's most popular songs, traversing all chromatic keys.

This cycle represents to date the most ambitious creation of his career as a pianist, asserting a desire for freedom and invention, and is part of the tradition of great composers who wrote their own studies.

The Gershwin Variations are neither a classical nor a jazz album, but a hybrid work, reflecting the non-conformist spirit and the American dream embodied by Gershwin.

Lucas thus offers a bold and poetic reinterpretation, where counterpoint, shifting harmonies, and atypical rhythms reveal the richness of Gershwin's melodies.

He invites the listener to rediscover a repertoire where popularity is never synonymous with triviality, and where music becomes a space of freedom, audacity, and vitality.