Piano Sonata in B minor / Grandes Etudes de Paganini

Outstanding rendition of one of the most celebrated and technically demanding solo piano pieces in all music - Liszt's Sonata in B minor - played by Greek pianist and ECHO Rising Star George-Emmanuel Lazaridis. Equally mesmerising is his stunning interpretation of Liszt's Six Grandes Etudes de Paganini.

Born in Greece and now aged 28, George-Emmanuel Lazaridis has already embarked on a flourishing international career. Since his early teens he has been performing in prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Le Corum Montpellier, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Acropolis, the Athens concert Hall and played with leading orchestras including the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the Strasbourg Philharmonic and the Warsaw Symphony. Mentored by Yonty Solomon (RCM), he has performed under the direction of such distinguished luminaries as Sir Neville Marriner, Ingo Metzmacher, Theodor Guschlbauer and Michel Tabachnik among others and has collaborated with renowned ensembles and artists including the Medici Quartet, the Isaye Quartet, the Vienna Octet, the BT Scottish Ensemble, Leonidas Kavakos and Michael Tilson Thomas. He has also appeared at Harrogate, Athens and Montpellier international festivals and for the Springboard Concerts Trust at the Wallace Collection in London. His recent performances, including the Athens Concert Hall 'Great Interpreters' concert series, the Monterrei International Piano Festival, a recital in the Sala Maffeiana in Verona, Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Thessaloniki State Symphony and performances of works by Koumentakis in the Athens Festival and at the Megaron were all highly acclaimed both by audiences and critics. TSC (USA) and the BBC as well as the Greek National Television ERT have featured him in special broadcast profiles and his CD release of Schumann Piano Works has been selected as one of BBC Music Magazine's Top 10 recommendations.

In 2006 the artistic committee of ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) selected Lazaridis as the Megaron Rising Star candidate for the 2006/07 season. This distinction will include recitals in Amsterdam, Athens, Birmingham, Brussels, New York, Paris, Salzburg, Stockholm and Vienna.

Lazaridis is also active as a composer and has received commissions from the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Europa Cantat International Festival, The Cultural Capital of Europe 1997 Organisation, the Melina Merkouri Foundation etc. His work "Sleepwalking", recently performed at London's Wigmore Hall, was nominated for a Sony Award."The piano tone sounds sounds particularly well, and the first climactic section of the Sonata is thrilling in terms of both sound and performance" (MusicWeb Nov 2006)