Alice Sara Ott celebrates the 2021/22 season with her tenth album on Deutsche Grammophon; Echoes Of Life; released on 6 August. She approaches Chopin’s 24 Préludes op. 28 from a fresh perspective, finding a personal thread that parallels the music’s dramatic arc and wide-ranging moods. Ott frames the Préludes within a contemporary context by interspersing them with seven works by 20th- and 21st-century composers. For the project Alice Sara Ott expands her artistic horizons by collaborating with award-winning architect Hakan Demirel. Together they have created an album-length digital video installation to accompany Echoes Of Life live in concert. The multi-sensory experience lends a physical dimension and visual narrative to the music, taking us on a virtual journey through the microcosm of Echoes Of Life.
“Echoes Of Life is a personal reflection on the thoughts and moments that influence and change our lives. It also portrays the journey and transformation I took to become the person and artist I see myself as today. In interpreting music from composers who, in their own time, challenged the system and redefined music, I see it as my role as a classical musician to carry this spirit forward by not insisting on reproducing bygone traditions and limitations.” – Alice Sara Ott
“She has the most delicate touch, the first movement cadenza pirouetting with the grace of a music-box ballerina… She transformed the finale into a playful Scherzo, playing cat and mouse with the orchestra.”
“German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott shades the most photosensitive pieces of French Impressionism — Debussy’s dreamy Suite bergamasque and Ravel’s ghoulish Gaspard de la nuit — with a seemingly limitless capacity to lend warmth, depth and color.”
“Her technique is dazzling, her tone wonderfully varied, from crystalline purity to powerfully raw, and the energy propelling her playing seems unstoppable.”