Lucas Debargue: To Music [Blu-ray]

A performer of fierce integrity and dazzling communicative power, young French pianist Lucas Debargue became the most talked-about artist of the fifteenth International Tchaikovsky Competition. Placed Fourth in the final round, he was however awarded the coveted Moscow Music Critic s Prize as a player whose incredible gift, artistic vision, and creative freedom have impressed the critics as well as the audience. This film offers unique insights into Debargue s life as a musician at the beginning of a remarkable career, with rehearsals and concerts from Moscow to Chicago via Weimar and Salerno, revealing talents as a composer and jazz improvisor and his first-time entry into a world of recording studios, touring and fame, in a crucial year of discoveries.

The documentary unveils the first steps of a young artist discovering a life of touring, back-to-back concerts, studio recordings, after-concert parties, and autograph-signing sessions; an artist learning to work with conductors and chamber music partners. As we get to see, the first year was a whirlwind, but Lucas never lost sight of what is most important: the music. Performing, improvising, and composing occupy a key place in this new life.