Eric Le Sage is established as one of the leading pianists of his generation and a famous representative of the French piano school, regularly boasted for his very subtle sound, his real sense of structure and poetic phrasing. Already when he was 20 years old, the Financial Times had described him as “an extremely cultivated disciple of the great French tradition of Schumann piano”. In 2010, die Zeit, praised his “ideal French piano aesthetics and clarity”
In 2010 Eric Le Sage very successfully came to the end of a project that he had cherished and prepared for a long time: recording Robert Schumann’s complete works for piano He has been invited to perform in this context in various venues around the world including the Louisiana Museum of Arts in Denmark for a 10-concert series until 2010, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Salle Pleyel for a carte blanche in 2008, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for a recital in 2010, the Schumann Festival in Düsseldorf, La Roque d’Anthéron, la Folle Journée, St Magnus Festival, the Warsaw Beethoven Festival for the Schumann year, among other venues throughout the world. These recordings for the independent French label Alpha were awarded in the summer 2010 the very prestigious Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Reviewers from the world over have written elated comments about what is already cited as a reference in the history of Schumann recordings.
Eric Le Sage has performed recitals and chamber music concerts in such major venues as la Roque d’Anthéron, Festival International de Menton, Potsdam Sanssouci, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel, Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall, Carnegie Hall, Schwartzenberg’s Schubertiade, Ludwigsburg Festival, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Dublin’s celebrity series, Louisiana Museum of Arts, Cologne’s Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, ... as well as various venues in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United-Kingdom, South America, the United-States, Japan.
Eric is invited to perform as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Saint-Louis Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Gothenburg Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic,, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Zwickau Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, with conductors like Edo de Waart, Stéphane Denève, Louis Langrée, Michel Plasson, Michael Stern, Sir Simon Rattle…
Most of Eric Le Sage’s recordings for RCA-BMG, Naïve, EMI and now Alpha were highly acclaimed and awarded the most sought after rewards in France: Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Choc de l’Année Classica, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Grand Prix du Disque, Recording of the Month in Fono Forum and Gramophone, Victoire de la Musique.
Born in Aix en Provence, Eric Le Sage was the winner of major international competitions such as Porto in 1985 and the Robert Schumann competition in Zwickau, in 1989. He was also a prize-winner at Leeds International competition the same year, which allowed him to perform under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle.