French pianist Pascal Rogé has long been associated with urbane repertoire from his own country, to which he brings a polished and understated style of playing. Yet his 1969 recording debut, at the age of 18, was with a fiery and impetuous performance of a notorious Romantic barnstormer, Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor (1853). Born in Paris in 1951, Rogé was first taught by his mother, and by the age of eight was sufficiently steeped in French repertoire to play Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major (1929-31) in front of the composer’s close associate, the pianist Marguerite Long. In 1962, aged 11, he was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris. After winning the Conservatoire’s top prizes for solo and chamber music playing at the age of 15, he studied with the Paris-based American pianist Julius Katchen who became his mentor. Having acquired the American’s astounding yet nonchalant delivery of virtuoso technique, Rogé was 17 when he made his London debut at Wigmore Hall; his performance of a Katchen-inspired program of Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel (1861), Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor (1854), and Dutilleux’s Sonata (1948) secured his exclusive recording contract with Decca. He has since been predominantly associated with French repertoire—notably Fauré, Debussy, Satie, Ravel, and Poulenc—but has also made occasional excursions into German and Austrian repertoire—recording works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven—as well as recording a complete set of the Hungarian Bartók’s Piano Concertos (rec. 1974-76).