Alice Sara Ott follows up the complete Chopin Waltzes – her highly successful international debut – with her first concerto recording on Deutsche Grammophon. The young artist presents two of the greatest hits in the repertoire: Tchaikovsky’s and Liszt’s First Piano Concertos.

Alice Sara Ott recorded this partly live (Tchaikovsky) album in her home town of Munich with the superb Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock, known as a modern interpreter with strong ideas (and a strong work ethic).

Alice says about the Tchaikovsky: “This piece is a revolution for me. It actually contains very different perspectives on life: the melancholy and gloomy, the majestic and, then again, the bright and light, lyrical and soaring. In any case it’s a challenge. A physical one, of course, but, in the end, really a mental one.” A challenge she has mastered, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung confirmed: “In the midst of Tchaikovsky’s avalanche of notes, Ott somehow manages to tease out the quiet passages, and with great poise to make room for lyricism and gently grazing the keys for a dreamy but distinct play of colours.”

The two concertos in this album are works that have accompanied Alice Sara Ott since her early youth. She played the Liszt before an audience the first time when she was 14 and the Tchaikovsky at 17. She has an intense relationship with both works, something clearly audible in the 21-year-old pianist’s vivid interpretations.