Marcel Darrieux (18 October 1891
– 2 September 1989) was a French classical violinist, particularly known for premiering Sergei Prokofiev's
1st Violin Concerto in 1923.
Biography
Born in
Bordeaux, Darrieux graduated from the
Conservatoire de Bordeaux (1906) then from the
Conservatoire de Paris (1912).
Henri Berthelier
Henri Berthelier (real name Jean-Baptiste, 27 December 1856 – 1918) was a French classical violinist and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Limoges, Berthelier graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris, where he was a pupil of Jean-Pierre Mauri ...
and
Lucien Capet were among his teachers.
From 1921 he belonged to the orchestra of the
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...
. Simultaneously, in the early 1920s he was
concertmaster of the Concerts Koussevitzky orchestra under the direction of
Serge Koussevitzky
Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...
. He is best known as the first interpreter of Prokofiev's
1st Violin Concerto premiered on 18 October 1923. After the refusal of several well-known violin virtuosos (in particular,
Bronisław Huberman) to approach this concerto, the composer entrusted the soloist part to the first solo violin of the orchestra. As Darrieux wrote in a letter to Prokofiev, "the musician was until then in absolute darkness, and since he played your concerto with Koussevitzky, I received an invitation to perform it in Paris 3 times during the season, not counting the invitations to the provinces."
In the second half of the 1920s, Darrieux collaborated with the conductor
Walther Straram. From 1926, he was the first violin of his orchestra (). On 11 June 1925, Darrieux and Straram premiered
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
's Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra, Op. 12. Similarly, on 24 February 1927, they premiered
Dimitrios Levidis's ''Poème pour violon et orchestre''. In the 1930s, Darrieux was part of the
Concerts Colonne. In 1937, he was a member of the jury of the
Queen Elisabeth Competition.
With the flutist
Marcel Moyse and violist
Pierre Pasquier
Pierre Pasquier may refer to:
* Pierre Pasquier (businessman)
* Pierre Pasquier (colonial administrator)
* Pierre Pasquier (violist)
Pierre Pasquier (14 September 1902 – 1986) was a French violist.
Born in Tours, Pasquier was a student of Mau ...
, he recorded
Ludwig van Beethoven's Serenade for flute, violin and viola in D major Op. 25. These three musicians participated in the recording of
Manuel de Falla's
Harpsichord Concerto. Accompanied on piano, he also recorded isolated pieces by
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
,
Isaac Albéniz,
Gabriel Pierné and others in the 1920s.
Darrieux died in
Saint-Jean-de-Luz on 2 September 1989.
Bibliography
* .
Distinctions
* Chevalier of the
Légion d'honneur
* Chevalier of the
Order of Léopold
References
External links
''Lettre de Marcel Darrieux à Eugène Wagner, Paris, 25 septembre 1920''(
WorldCat)
Discography(
Discogs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darrieux, Marcel
1891 births
1989 deaths
Musicians from Bordeaux
20th-century French male classical violinists
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur