François-René Duchâble (born 22 April 1952, in Paris) is a French

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. He studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

, and at the age of 13 won the institution's first prize in piano. Three years later, he placed 11th at the

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

in Brussels, and in 1973 won the Prix de la Fondation Sacha Schneider. At that time, Duchâble caught the attention of

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, who encouraged him to pursue a solo career and helped secure his first important engagements. Since then, Duchâble has had a successful concert career in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. Duchâble has had in his repertoire the concertos of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, Bartók, Saint-Saëns and

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 ...

, and solo piano works of

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

, Chopin, and

Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

. He has appeared at many music festivals, including those of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, Berlin, the London Proms, Lockenhaus, and the Flanders Festival, and has presented concerts at London's Royal Festival Hall, the Philharmonie in Berlin, and the Musikverein in Vienna. As an orchestral soloist, Duchâble has performed with the

London Philharmonic The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the exist ...

, the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

, the

Rotterdam Philharmonic The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO; ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orchestras of international standing, se ...

, the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

, the

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History ...

, and the

Montreal Symphony The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the current ...

. Among his musical collaborators was Micheline Ostermeyer. In 2003, Duchâble stated that he would end his classical recital career, in protest at what he saw as the elitism of the classical music system. He had planned three concerts where in two of them, he would destroy two grand pianos, and in one, he would burn his formal concert dress. He said that he would instead tour with an electronic keyboard around France to give informal concerts. Duchâble was the classical music technical advisor for the

Danièle Thompson Danièle Claude Renée Tannenbaum, also known as Danièle Thompson (born ) is a Monaco, Monegasque film director and screenwriter. Thompson is the daughter of film director Gérard Oury, and actress Jacqueline Roman. Life Thompson was born ...

film '' Fauteuils d'orchestre'' (2006), and performed the solo piano works for the soundtrack. The fictional character of "Jean-François Lefort" in this film incorporates elements of Duchâble's own expressed attitudes towards the classical music world.

References

External links

Daily Telegraph 1 August 2003

'Quits in Style'

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchable, Francois-Rene 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists 1952 births Living people Musicians from Paris Conservatoire de Paris alumni Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Erato Records artists