Stellar replacements have been found for two pianists recently forced to cancel their scheduled appearances in recital at the National Arts Centre.

Renowned French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard replaces Louis Lortie in the ‘Great Performers’ concert on February 7, 2012. Mr. Collard will perform six Préludes by Debussy, replete with rich, unusual and daring harmonies; Chopin’s Scherzo No. 3 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 39, Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1, and Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; and Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, arguably his finest composition and one of the greatest piano sonatas ever written. Mr. Collard’s most recent appearance at the National Arts Centre was in January of 2006, performing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with Eri Klas on the podium.

Alice Sara Ott replaces Yundi in the concert on March 20, 2012. Ms. Ott will perform Mozart’s Variations on the Minuet of J.P. Duport in D major; Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3; Chopin’s Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 1 and No. 2; and Transcendental Etudes No. 11 and No. 12; and Rigoletto-Paraphrase by Liszt. This recital is Ms Ott’s Canadian debut.

Christopher Deacon, Managing Director of the NAC Orchestra, says, “The National Arts Centre is committed to presenting the very best performers to our audiences. We sincerely regret these two cancellations which were both initiated by the artists and are beyond our control. Having two recitalists cancel on the same series at the same time is very rare and, to the best of my knowledge, has never occurred at the NAC before. We have taken pains to find replacements that are every bit as good as those artists who have had to cancel. We sincerely hope our audiences enjoy these recitals.”

OPTIONS FOR TICKET-HOLDERS

• Patrons may use their tickets for the concerts, as the artists have changed, but the concert dates and times remain the same.
• If they wish, patrons (both subscribers and single ticket buyers) may exchange their tickets prior to the performance date for a voucher or for tickets to any other NAC-produced performance in the 2011-2012 season. There is no fee for the exchange.
• Prior to the performance date, patrons may request a full refund for their tickets.

How to exchange tickets or obtain a refund

JEAN-PHILIPPE COLLARD
French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard has complete mastery of French concerto literature, and his interpretations of works by Bartok, Brahms, Gershwin, Haydn, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky have met with great acclaim.

Born into a musical family, Mr. Collard was admitted to the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris at a young age. At sixteen he was unanimously awarded the Conservatory’s First Prize, and subsequently he has won many others, including the Grand Prix du Concours National des Artistes Soloistes, Prix Albert Roussel, Prix Gabriel Faure, Prix du Concours International Marguerite Long/Jacques Thibaud, and Grand Prix du Concours International Cziffra. Mr. Collard was named Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur in 2003.

In addition to recitals throughout Europe, North and South America, Russia and the Far East, Mr. Collard has appeared as soloist with the world’s greatest orchestras. He has collaborated with such renowned conductors as Semyon Bychkov, Marek Janowski, Eugen Jochum, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, Simon Rattle and Charles Dutoit. He has also performed at the London Proms Concerts, and the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Bad Kissingen, Salzburg, Bath, Caramoor, Newport, and Saratoga Festivals, and his recitals are eagerly-awaited events all over the world.

A prolific recording artist with more than thirty titles to his credit, Mr. Collard’s discography includes the Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux and Brahms Hungarian Dances (with pianist Michel Beroff), both named Stereo Review’s ‘Record of the Year’ in their respective years; the Ravel Concerti with Lorin Maazel and the Orchestre National de France, cited by Gramophone Magazine as ‘Best Concerto Recording’; and the Chausson Concert, Op. 21 (with Augustin Dumay and the Muir String Quartet) which won the ‘Grand Prix du Disque’. He has recorded all five Saint-Saens Piano Concerti with Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the first recordings of Mozart’s arrangements of the six French melodies with baritone Jose van Dam. Other recordings include a disc of Chopin Ballades and the Sonata No. 3, and a Liszt recital disc including the B minor Sonata. Jean-Philippe Collard lives in Paris with his wife and five children.

ALICE SARA OTT
At 23, German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott is already considered one of the best interpreters of Chopin alive today. In November 2010, Ms Ott stepped in to replace Lang Lang for a concert at London’s Barbican Centre. Tim Ashley, writing in The Guardian said, “Liszt’s Concerto plays fast and loose with form … the soloist, replacing Lang Lang at short notice, was Alice Sara Ott, who gave the kind of gawp-inducing bravura performance of which legends are made. The heft of her playing contrasts with the elegance of her platform manner…” In November 2011, The Telegraph (London) wrote of  “the maturity of her playing – the dazzling technique, the breathtaking range of tone, the confidence …”

Alice Sara Ott has gained critical acclaim for her performances at major concert halls worldwide. At the age of thirteen, she was hailed ‘Most Promising Artist’ at the Hammerstein International Piano Academy Competition, and two years later – as the youngest contestant -- she went on to take the top prize at the Silvio Bengalli International Piano Competition.

Recent concerts have seen Alice Sara Ott perform with the Münchner Philharmoniker, London Symphony and Tokyo Symphony orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, as well as the Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and Royal Scottish National orchestras. Alice has also toured with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding, and she made her BBC Proms debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Sakari Oramo in August 2011.

Orchestral debuts this season include concerts with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Euskadi Symphony Orchestra, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra and Tonkünstler Orchester, as well as returning to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Sinfonieorchester and Danish National Symphony Orchestra. In summer 2012, Alice tours Japan with the hr-Sinfonieorchester and Paavo Järvi, and will embark on a major European recital tour of venues in Paris, London, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Nürnberg, Brussels, Zaragossa, and Bilbao.

In addition to her solo activities, Alice is a keen chamber musician, appearing at festivals such as Heimbach, Moritzburg, Davos, and Schwetzingen, alongside artists such as Lars Vogt, Gustav Rivinius, Tadjana Masurenko, Peter Sadlo, and Jan Vogler. Ms Ott appears frequently in recital at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She made her debut at the Lucerne Festival in autumn 2010 and in summer 2012 she makes her first appearance at the Verbier Festival.

Alice has recorded exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon since 2008, with her highly successful debut recording of Liszt’s 12 Études d’exécution transcendante quickly followed by a second album of the complete waltzes of Frédéric Chopin. This second release entered both the German and the U.S. Classical iTunes charts at Number 1. Alice’s debut orchestral recording featuring Piano Concertos by Tchaikovsky and Liszt (with the Münchner Philharmoniker and Thomas Hengelbrock) was named ‘Editor’s Choice’ in both International Piano and Classic FM Magazine. Her recent recording of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas was released in August 2011. Alice was awarded the prize for ‘Young Artist of the Year’ at the Klassik Echo Awards for her Chopin recording in October 2010. Alice Sara Ott currently resides in Munich.

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Information:   
Gerald Morris
Communications Officer, NAC Music
613-947-7000, ext. 335
[e-mail]  gerald.morris@nac-cna.ca