Description

CLAUDE HELFFER (PARIS, FRANCE, 18 JUNE, 1922 – PARIS, FRANCE, 27 OCTOBER, 2004)

 

 

 

 

Helffer was born in Paris, and began piano lessons at the age of five and from the age of ten until the outbreak of World War II he studied with Robert Casadesus. During the War he entered École Polytechnique and fought for the French Resistance during World War II. After the War, he studied theory and composition with René Leibowitz. He made his debut in Paris in 1948 and from 1954 appeared regularly in the concerts of the Domaine musical. Helffer gave many premières of new works and was the dedicatee of several notable works, including Erikhthon (Xenakis, 1974), Concerto (Boucourechliev, 1975), Stances (Betsy Jolas, 1978), Concerto no. 1 (Luis de Pablo, 1980), Envoi (Gilles Tremblay, 1982), and Modifications (Michael Jarrell, 1983). Conductors he collaborated with included Boulez, Bour, Gielen, Leibowitz, Maderna, Marriner, Martinon, Van Otterloo, Prêtre and Scherchen. His discography includes the complete piano music of Schoenberg (Grand Prix du Disque), Debussy and Ravel and the Sonatas of Boulez, Berg and Barraqué. Helffer taught master classes all over the world, most notably at the Salzburg Summer Academy from 1985 to 1998. Helffer married the noted ethnomusicologist, Mireille Helffer, whom he met at the Lycée Molière two years earlier, in June 1946.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Ludwig van Beethoven – Claude Helffer ‎– 26e Sonate En Mi Bémol Majeur, Opus 81 A / 10e Sonate En Sol Majeur, Opus N° 2

Club National Du Disque ‎– CND 53, Club National Du Disque ‎– C.N.D. 53

LP

France

Classical

26e Sonate En Mi Bémol Majeur, Opus 81 A

Les Adieux

L’absence

Le Retour

10e Sonate En Sol Majeur, Opus N° 2

Allegro

Andante

Scherzo (Allegro Assai)