A musical ballade takes a listener on a journey through varied landscapes and introduces casts of sharply defined characters. Pianist Louis Lortie opens his program for The Four Arts with searching, ethereal ballades by French masters Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy. The concert continues with lyrical, youthful ballades written by Johannes Brahms and closes with a set of thrilling, virtuosic ballades by Franz Liszt that take the pianist on a tour of the whole keyboard.