Claude Helffer
Claude Helffer (born June 18, 1922 in Paris ; † October 27, 2004 there ) was a French pianist .
Life
Helffer played the piano from the age of five and had lessons from Robert Casadesus from 1930 to 1939 . After attending the École polytechnique , he studied harmony and counterpoint from 1947 with René Leibowitz .
The focus of Helffer's repertoire was on the works of composers of the 20th century. He recorded all the piano works by Ravel , Debussy and Schönberg , as well as Bartók's Mikrokosmos , the three piano sonatas by Boulez and the piano sonata by Jean Barraqué .
Helffer gave the world premieres of numerous works dedicated to him, such as the Erikhthon by Iannis Xenakis (1972), the piano concerto by André Boucourechliev (1975), the stances by Betsy Jolas (1978), and the first piano concerto by Luis de Pablo (1980) Envoi by Gilles Tremblay (1982) and the modifications by Michael Jarrell . He performed Schönberg's piano concerto with both the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras . For Durand Verlag he edited Debussy Preludes and Etudes as an Urtext edition.
Since 1976 Helffer has given monthly master classes for piano students from all over the world, between 1985 and 1998 he taught for three weeks a year as part of the summer academy of the Salzburg Mozarteum .
For participating in the Resistance during the Second World War, Helffer was awarded the Croix de guerre ; He was also made a Knight of the Legion of Honor , an officer of the Ordre national du Mérite and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres .
He is the father of the mathematician Bernard Helffer .
Web links
- Claude Helffer (French)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Helffer, Claude |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French pianist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 27, 2004 |
| Place of death | Paris |