DISCOGRAPHY

Alain Lefèvre made glorious debuts on disc in 1994,  after meeting with John Corigliano, the great American composer whose Piano Concerto he recorded under the direction of Carl St. Clair. The reviews were raving: “Alain Lefèvre’s performance was spectacular. He has an enormous sound and a prodigious technique” (Fanfare Magazine). During an interview in New York, while both artists were discussing the musical approach to this work, John Corigliano took the opportunity to express his enthusiasm, declaring that Alain Lefèvre was a gem for composers. That version of Corigliano’s Piano Concerto continues to be the benchmark version and BBC Music Magazine was recently recommending it, placing it in first place.

After this early recording success, over 15 CDs have followed, all of them high points, in recital or with orchestra, where Alain Lefèvre has been described as “one of the world’s foremost solo pianists” (Kathiremini, Athens). He has been nominated for Juno and Indie Awards several times, and has won 5 Félix (ADISQ) between 2001 and 2007, in the categories “Classical Album of the Year, Orchestra and large ensemble”, “Classical Album of the Year, Soloist and small ensemble” and “Instrumental Album of the Year”. He has also received a 2004 Classical Internet Award, in the “Discoveries” category for his recording of Concerto de Québec by André Mathieu, whose memory he rehabilitated. That CD had an outstanding success in Canada, being in the Top 5 and Top 10 on the Canadian Classical Best-Selling CDs for more than 69 weeks after it came out. In France, his CD of Liszt’s Transcriptions was anointed “Telerama Event”.

His discography covers an extensive repertoire, encompassing, amongst others, works by Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Liszt, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Rameau, Scarlatti and Soler. Alain Lefèvre’s very personal way of giving each composer the quintessence of the text he interprets, never ceases to amaze. This virtuoso pianist, mindful and respecful of the score, offers himself with the same passion and the same rigour, be it in Mozart’s Concerto No. 23, for which he won a prize, or in Rachmaninov’s Variations on a Theme By Paganini, also awarded a prize.

Alain Lefèvre’s recording world would not be complete without mentioning the importance of the composer he has become in recent years, with his 3 CDs featuring his own compositions, among which the last one, Fidèles Insomnies, has earned him a Félix at the last ADISQ Gala. “Intimate letters at the piano” (La Presse), his compositions, much like snapshots of life, are tonal and their pianistic writing, “absolutely gorgeous and musically sophisticated” (Times Argus).

Classical repertoire

Alain Lefèvre
Schubert / Rachmaninov

“A formidable technician… Alain Lefèvre draws themusic from behind each note – a sonority that is full and warm, with moderation and, most of all, a great deal of intelligence in a corpus that demands plenty of inspiration.”  5/5*****
Christophe Rodriguez, Le Journal de Montréal

Selected works

This recording, available exclusively at Archambault, features a selection of works already released on the Analekta label. Works by composers André Mathieu, Liszt, Modest Moussorgski, Rachmaninov, Richard Addinsell and Walter Boudreau are included.

Rhapsodies

Winner of a Félix (from ADISQ) in the “Best Classical Album of the Year, Orchestra and Big Ensemble” category in 2007. BBC Music Magazine gave it 5***** and chose it as one of its musts of the year.  

“Lefèvre will assure a brilliant return to recording for the OSM.”
Claude Gingras, La Presse

Hommage à André Mathieu, solo piano works

CD of the Month – June 2005: International Consensus – 10/10, awarded by ClassicsToday.com and ClassicsTodayFrance.com.

“Let’s first give homage to Alain Lefèvre… André Mathieu, the child, is an incredible genius. An important legacy disc.”
Christophe Huss, Le Devoir

Concertos, Mathieu – Addinsell – Gershwin

Winner of a Félix (from ADISQ) in the the “Best Classical Album of the Year, Orchestra and Big Ensemble” category and of a Classical Internet Award (CIA) in the “Discovery” category in 2004.

“ Alain Lefèvre plays with surging lyricism and power… this is not just another mechanically virtuosic young pianist, but an authentic romantic artist.”
American Record Guide

Liszt : Transcriptions Bach, Wagner

Named “Télérama Event” in France.

“This brilliant recital, out of time, by the young Canadian pianist is as inspired and revolutionary as Liszt’s transformational art, as was Gould’s take on Bach… Lefèvre likewise enters Bach’s emotional word with a rarely encountered intensity.” 
Audiophile Audition

Moments musicaux/Pictures at an Exhibition

Winner of a Félix (from ADISQ) in the “Best Album of the Year, Classical, Soloist and Small Ensemble” in 2002.

“A new personality that asserts itself outside the fads and tricks of the international scene. A recital that, we hope, will not go unnoticed, because here is a real musical personality to be discovered.”
Classica

Mozart

Winner of a Félix (from ADISQ) in the category “Best Album of the Year Classical, Orchestra and Big Ensemble” in 2001.

“The new Mozart from Rivest and Lefèvre is out – spellbinding. The pianist’s playing is always refined and crisp at the same time.”
Claude Gingras, La Presse

Cadenza

“This anthology of popular piano classics, is of greater interest to the collector. … so exquisitely realized that the disc comes across as strongly individual.” The Gazette

“A recording one listens to with real pleasure, whether a neophyte or an informed music lover.”
VOIR

Poetic confidences

“An absolute accomplishment: Alain Payette’s 12 Preludes performed by Alain Lefèvre. (…) with generous phrasing and rich sonority, (Alain Lefèvre) transforms these 12 pieces into absolutely irresistible gems (…): deliberately tonal and romantic (…) through cascading arpeggios coming from Rachmaninov’s hands.” Claude Gingras, La Presse

The Secret

Alain Lefèvre joins forces with singer Gino Quilico, in this single recording, featuring works by Gabriel Fauré, Henri Duparc, Reynaldo Hahn and Alain Payette. A magnificent recording and warm cooperation.

Ballads

Chosen as one among around a hundred recommended new recordings by Classical Music Magazine.

An “oustanding” recording, in which “Lefèvre brings to life the dramatic side of the works, too often ignored. All interior voices are heard… a fabulous technique that disregards technical difficulties…” Classical Music Magazine

Fandango

“There is not a single moment of insipid, routine music-making on Fandango, a recital of works by Soler, Rameau and Domenico Scarlatti brilliantly played by the young pianist Alain Lefèvre. The words « dazzling », «stunning » and « intense » are certainly appropriate for Mr. Lefèvre’s playing.” The Citizen’s Weekly

“His Soler is an amazement” American Record Guide

Corigliano – Ticheli – Carl St. Clair
Pacific Symphony Orchestra

BBC Music Magazine has recently consecrated this 1994 recording of Corigliano’s Piano Concerto as being the reference version, even today.

“Alain Lefèvre is spectacular. He has steely fingers and an enormous sound.  He brings great intelligence to his already prodigious technique. Run out and buy it.” Fanfare Magazine


Compositions and collaborations

Lylatov

Great admirers of Alain Lefèvre’s talent as a composer, Guy A. Lepage (TV shows Tout le monde en parle and Un gars, une fille) and his manager, Jacques K. Primeau produced this very first CD of Alain Lefèvre’s compositions, Lylatov, which has continued to find new followers since its launch in 2000.

“He is a great virtuoso, as exceptional a performer of the classical world as Mick Jagger is of rock and roll. He is truly a great artist.”
Guy A. Lepage

Carnet de notes

Carnet de notes is the natural continuation of Lylatov. Eleven pieces are featured here, eleven musical portraits, eleven steps of a journey which is sometimes contemplative, sometimes joyful. An album like a great sailboat leading the listener from the Charlevoix coasts (Songe à Charlevoix) to Greece, a country Alain Lefèvre loves “like a mythical sister” painting it beautifully in the fluid Thalassa. He then sets sail to Russia and the Barents Sea, dedicating his piece Balalaïka to the victims of Koursk, the submarine that became the coffin of 118 young sailors. From the cries of the heart to the private daydreaming, a thread runs from the beginning to the end of this Notebook, a delicate link between music, meetings and travels.

Blissfully Sleepless

Winner of a Félix (from ADISQ) in the category “Best Album of the Year Instrumental” in 2006. For the first time Alain Lefèvre’s talent as composer is rewarded here. Splendid virtuoso and poet of the piano, he uncovers the many colours of his sleepless nights. It’s a journey through time, where the important chapters of the pianist’s life are revealed through melodies, each telling a part of the artist’s history of how love, passion, friendship, gratitude and death have filled his life.

Montréal Variations
MontréaL Jazz Club Session 3

This album is an incursion into the world of jazz. This very special collaboration, led by Philippe Dunnigan, wishes to celebrate Montreal and his neighbourhoods, side by side with eight renowned jazz pianists. In addition to a variation, improvised on the Expo 67 theme, Alain Lefèvre presents the irresistible Ville Émard, la belle, in homage to the neighbourhood of his youth,

“… a piece not to be missed”, 10/10,
Len Dobbin, Mirror

Effusions, Diane Dufresne

“Diane Dufresne and Alain Lefèvre knew each other only through their respective works. They admired each other madly, of course, but didn’t dare dream of the impossible: this voice, this piano, together. An angel intervened and the encounter took place, blessed by the gods. The album is called Effusions and it splashes – colours, blood, love… and notes. Let’s celebrate.”
Sylvain Cormier, Le Devoir