The Grande Dame of the Russian Piano School releases her newest Album Paris with works by Ravel, Enescu and Debussy; a programme that takes us back in time and makes us live, even if for just a moment, in the Ville Lumière, strolling the streets of Montmartre.

Between very well known works like Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales and some Préludes by Debussy, she offers us the less known, rhapsodic First Sonata in F sharp minor by Georges Enescu, a work that has accompanied her since the age of 18, when she won the George Enescu Competition in Bucharest. But above all, with this album, Elisabeth Leonskaja stays once more true to her commitment as a musician, never imposing herself on the music she plays.

‘Enescu’s F sharp minor Sonata is a sphinx which, this pianist persuades us, has real secrets at every turn. If his first movement felt like an improvisation, it was one with miraculous modulations and hints of themes that he could have developed, had he so chosen. A presto whirls us into the streets before a tolling, entombed finale which eventually comes up for air.

‘Around it we needed the concentrated flights of Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales and three Debussy Préludes. The Ravel was all about the subtlest of waltz-rubatos – they would be writ large in the Brahms – while Leonskaja kept her bigger, blueprint sonorities in check for Enescu. With perfect symmetry, her second encore would restore us to French 3/4 in a serious take on Debussy’s La plus que lente. Refreshingly, there was not a hint of dry ice in either of these phantom ballrooms, nor in Debussy’s wind that sweeps majestically across the plains. His Girl with the Flaxen Hair was more an imperious Mona Lisa than a Greek kore; we would have to wait for the Brahms sonata for Leonskaja’s hypnotic way with seemingly simple meditations.’ – David Nice

For decades now, Elisabeth Leonskaja has been among the most celebrated pianists of our time. In a world dominated by the media, Elisabeth Leonskaja has remained true to herself and to her music, and in doing so, is following in the footsteps of the great Russian musicians of the Soviet era, such as David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels, who never wavered in their focus on the quintessence of music despite working in a very difficult political environment. Her almost legendary modesty still makes her somewhat media-shy today. Yet as soon as she walks out on the stage, audiences can sense the force behind the fact that music is and always has been her life’s work.

 Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to a Russian family, she was regarded as a child prodigy and gave her first concerts as early as age 11. Her exceptional talent soon brought her to study at the Moscow Conservatory.

Her newest CD Paris with works by Ravel, Debussy and Enescu was released by the Berlin-based Label eaSonus and was awarded Solo CD of the year 2014 at the ICMA prizes. A complete recording of the Schubert Sonatas will follow, also due to be released on eaSonus.

In her adopted home, the Republic of Austria, Elisabeth Leonskaja’s outstanding achievements have also gained her great recognition. She has been made an Honorary Member of the Konzerthaus of Vienna. In 2006, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor, First Class, for her services to the cultural life of the country – the highest award of its kind in Austria. Today the “Lioness of the Keyboard” has matured into an exceptional pianist, one who is above emphasizing her virtuosity and who enjoys the warmest of receptions wherever she appears.