Alexandre Tharaud (born 9 December 1968) is a French pianist. He is active on the concert stage and has released a large and diverse discography.

Life and career

Born in Paris, Tharaud discovered the music scene through his mother who was a dance teacher at the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, and his father, an amateur director and singer of

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s. Tharaud thus appeared as a child in theatres around northern France, where the family spent many weekends.''

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic Desautez is dep ...

'', n° 3083 du 11 février 2009, p. 14. Propos recueillis par Bernard Mérigaud His grandfather was a violinist in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. At the initiative of his parents, Alexandre started his piano studies at the age of five, and he entered Conservatory of the 14th Arrondissement, where his teacher was Carmen Taccon-Devenat, a student of

Marguerite Long Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long (13 November 1874 – 13 February 1966) was a French pianist, pedagogue, lecturer, and an ambassador of French music. Life Early life: 1874–1900 Marguerite Long was born to Pierre Long and Anne Marie Antoin ...

. He entered the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

at the age of 14 where he won first prize for piano in the class of

Germaine Mounier Germaine Mounier (7 February 1920 – 27 June 2006) was a 20th-century French classical pianist and music educator. Biography Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Mounier won First prize at the Conservatoire de Paris. She worked the piano with Yves Nat and ...

when he was 17 years old. With Theodor Paraskivesco, he mastered the piano, and he sought and received advice from

Claude Helffer Claude Helffer (18 June 1922 – 27 October 2004) was a French pianist. Early life 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 Casa ...

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most re ...

and

Nikita Magaloff Nikita Magaloff (russian: Никита Магалов; 26 December 1992) was a Georgian-Russian pianist. He was born in Saint Petersburg to a Georgian noble family named Maghalashvili. Magaloff and his family left Russia in 1918 for Finland. H ...

. In 1987, he won third prize at the Maria Canals International Competition in BarcelonaEn couverture: Alexandre Tharaud – Le métier de vivre. Interview with Nicolas Baron. Diapason 589, March 2011, p24-28. and, a year later, the

Senigallia Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian, Romagnol: ''S’nigaja'') is a ''comune'' and port town on Italy's Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona in the Marche region and lies approximately 30 kilometers north-west of the pro ...

Competition in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In 1989, he was awarded 2nd prize at the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition (german: link=no, Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD) is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and held once a year in Munich. Si ...

in Munich. His career developed quickly in Europe as well as in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 2009, he took part in a show devoted to

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

with actor François Morel. Alongside the singer Juliette, he organised a Satie Day at the

Cité de la musique The Cité de la Musique ("City of Music"), also known as Philharmonie 2, is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed with the nearby Conservatoire d ...

, recorded for France Télévisions. He has also worked with the French composer

Thierry Pécou Thierry Pécou (born 1965 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a modern French composer. Works *''L'homme armé'' *''Le Tombeau de Marc-Antoine Charpentier'' pour 3 chœurs à voix égales, orgue baroque, basse de viole, positif et cloches (1995) *''A Ci ...

, performing the première of his first

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

in October 2006 at the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

and later recording it.En couverture: Alexandre Tharaud. Interview with Vincent Agrech. Diapason, no 556, March 2008, p26-29. In 2012, Tharaud took part in the French film '' Amour'' by

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

where he played himself, alongside

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...

Emmanuelle Riva Emmanuelle Riva (; 24 February 1927 – 27 January 2017) was a French actress, best known for her roles in the films ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) and '' Amour'' (2012). Riva was nominated for a BAFTA Award for her role in ''Hiroshima mon ...

and

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

, although he said that it would not be the start of a film career for him.Interview with Alexandre Tharaud by Elizabeth Davis, 2012, on Classical Music . com website
accessed 4 December 2013. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described his Bach playing at a recital in 2005 as "crisply articulated and vividly etched". In 2015 Tharaud starred as the central performer at the

Prinsengrachtconcert The Prinsengrachtconcert is an annual open-air concert of classical music held annually in August since 1981 on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. The orchestra is situated on a pontoon anchored in front of the Hotel Pulitzer; much of the audience w ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Following ''Piano intime: conversations avec Nicolas Southon'' (Philippe Rey, 2013), in 2017 Tharaud published a second book entitled ''Montrez-moi vos mains'' (''Show me your hands'') (Grasset, 2017), in which he recounts his career, methods of working, relationships with colleagues, variations in audiences around the world, and his personal feelings about a musician's life.

Method of work

Tharaud refuses to keep a piano in his residence because he believes he would begin to prefer the pleasure of improvisation to the necessity of rigorous work. He practices on different instruments at friends' residences. He composes, but usually privately. Before each recording he lays flowers at the tomb of

Emmanuel Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery (french: link=no, Cimetière du Montparnasse) is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery ...

. When asked what a camera would record at his recording sessions, he replied that he sings, shouts, dances, and argues with the piano ("absurd behaviour"—''comportements ridicules'').

Awards

* Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)

Discography

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, ''Italian Concertos'',

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''ha ...

, 2005 * Bach, ''Keyboard concertos'',

Virgin Classics Virgin Classics was a record label founded in 1988 as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The unit, along with EMI Classics, was acquired by Universal Music in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Group, however the terms of the European ...

, 2011 * Emmanuel Chabrier, ''Complete works for piano'',

Arion Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...

, 2007 * Chopin, ''Préludes opus 28'', Harmonia Mundi, 2008 * Chopin, ''Journal intime'', Virgin Classics, 2009 * Chopin, ''Intégrale des valses'', Harmonia Mundi, 2010 *

Couperin The Couperin family was a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era (17th—18th centuries). Louis Couperin and his nephew, François Coup ...

, ''Tic toc choc'', Harmonia Mundi, 2007 * Grieg, ''Lyric pieces'', Disques Dante, 1993 * Kagel,

Æon , commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational holding company of ÆON Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.Saudades do Brazil'', ''La muse ménagère'', ''L'album de Madame Bovary'' (with

Madeleine Milhaud Madeleine Milhaud Milhaud (22 March 1902 – 17 January 2008) was a French actress and librettist. She was both cousin to and wife of composer Darius Milhaud. Madeleine Milhaud was born in Paris to Michel and Maria Milhaud. Her father was from ...

), Naxos *

, ''Outre-mémoire'', with the ensemble Zellig,

Æon , commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational holding company of ÆON Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

, survey of the chamber music (Sextet, Sonatas with piano for

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, violin,

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, cello), Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano, works for two pianos and piano four hands, ''Le Bal masqué'' (with Franck Leguérinel, baritone), ''L'histoire de Babar'' (French version with François Mouzaya; English version with Natasha Emerson), ''

L'Invitation au Château ''Invitation to the Castle'' (french: L'Invitation au château) is a 1947 satirical play by the French playwright Jean Anouilh. It was adapted in 1950 by Christopher Fry as ''Ring Round the Moon''. The play concerns twins, a cold, manipulative play ...

'' and ''Léocadia'' (with

Danielle Darrieux Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (; 1 May 1917 – 17 October 2017) was a French actress of stage, television and film, as well as a singer and dancer. Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's g ...

)) for Naxos France * Poulenc, Debussy, ''Complete works for cello and piano'', with

Jean-Guihen Queyras Jean-Guihen Queyras is a French cellist. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 11 March 1967, and moved with his parents to Algeria when he was 5 years old; the family moved to France 3 years later. He is a professor at the Musikhochschule F ...

, Harmonia Mundi, 2008 * Poulenc, ''Pièces pour piano'', Arion, 2008 *

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera an ...

, ''Suites en la et en sol'', Harmonia Mundi, 2001 *

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, Complete works for piano, Harmonia Mundi, 2003 *

Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conse ...

, ''Avant-dernières pensées'', Harmonia Mundi, 2009 * Scarlatti, ''Alexandre Tharaud plays Scarlatti'', Virgin Classics, 2011 *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, ''Moments Musicaux'', ''Sonatas'' D. 664 and D. 783, Arion, 2000 * Schubert, ''Divertissement à la hongroise'', with

Zhu Xiao-Mei Zhu or ZHU may refer to: *Zhu (surname), common Chinese surnames *Zhu River, or Pearl River, in southern China *Zhu (state), ancient Chinese state, later renamed Zou *House of Zhu, the ruling house of the Ming dynasty in Chinese history *Zhu (stri ...

, Harmonia Mundi, 2003 * Schubert, ''Arpeggione Sonata'', with Jean-Guihen Queyras, Harmonia Mundi, 2006 * Schubert, complete works for piano four-hands, with

* ''Autograph'' (2013) *

Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

, Jolivet,

Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...

, Varèse, ''Musique du XXe pour flûte et piano'', with Philippe Bernold, Harmonia Mundi, 2008 * Soundtrack of the film ''Amour'' (film of

). Franz Schubert, Beethoven, Bach. Virgin Classics, 2012 * Milhaud, ''Le Bœuf sur le toit''. With Juliette,

Madeleine Peyroux Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...

Natalie Dessay Natalie Dessay (; born 19 April 1965) is a French singer, known for her former career as an operatic soprano. She gained wide recognition after her portrayal of Olympia in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' in 1992, and then performing at leading stages, ...

Bénabar Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens, ...

Guillaume Gallienne Guillaume Gallienne (born 8 February 1972) is a French actor, screenwriter and film director. He has received two Molière Awards for his stagework and has won two César Awards, one for writing and the other for his performance in his autobiogra ...

, Jean Delescluse, Frank Braley. Virgin Classics, 2012

Filmography

* 2012: '' Amour'' - Himself * 2015 : ''Bach Goldberg Variations'' directed by Stéphan Aubé,

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; grc, Ἐρατώ) is one of the Greek Muses, which were inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius o ...

Books

* Piano intime: conversations avec Nicolas Southon (Philippe Rey, 2013) * Montrez-moi vos mains (Grasset, 2017) WorldCat entry for Montrez-moi vos mains by Alexandre Tharaud
accessed 21 July 2018.

References

Sources

* Interview dans ''

'', Number 3083: 11 February 2009, pp. 14 to 16

External links

*
Two interviews with Alexandre Tharaud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tharaud, Alexandre Living people 20th-century French male classical pianists 1968 births Musicians from Paris Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 21st-century French male classical pianists Harmonia Mundi artists Erato Records artists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition