Claude Helffer
This internationally renowned French pianist specialized in contemporary music, but he also excelled in the performance of traditional repertoire by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann. Helffer began his piano studies at the tender age of five. The famous Robert Casadesus was impressed by his playing and took him on as a student. During WWII, he pursued advanced studies at l'École Polytechnique. Helffer participated in the Resistance in the underground fighting at Vercors, for which he was awarded the Croix de guerre in 1944. (His other decorations include Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, Officier de l'ordre du Mérite, and Officier des Arts et Lettres). After the hostilities, Helffer was finally able to graduate from l'École and made a final decision to make music his career. He then studied harmony and counterpoint with René Leibowitz and gave his debut recital in Paris. In 1954, he became associated with the Domain Musical Orchestra and championed contemporary music by playing the works of Barraqué, Serocki, Evangelisti, Luciano Bério, Pierre Boulez, Philippot, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Compositions such as Epigrammes (1965) by Amy, a concerto by André Boucourechliev (1975), Stances (1978) by Betsy Jolas, Manoury's Chryptophonos (1974), Erikhton by Iannis Xenakis (1974), Luis de Pablo's Concerto No. 1 (1980), Envoi (1982) by G. Tremblay, and the Modifications (1983) by Jarrell (1983) bear dedications to Helffer. In 1962, he played for the first time in Latin America and made his American debut in 1966 with the Chicago Symphony. He debuted in Russia in 1968. In 1978, he was engaged as a professeur d'interprétation at the Music School of Vienna. Helffer made his debut in Australia in 1980 and in Japan in 1984. He has continued to perform throughout the world with many well-known conductors, including Barshai, Boulez, Bour, Gielen, Iwaki, Maderna, Marriner, Martinon, van Otterloo, Prêtre, Scherchen, Sebastian, and Tabachnik. Helffer also held master classes in piano music interpretation in Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Japan. He was a member of the editing committee on a critical edition of the works of Debussy for the Durand-Costallat publishing house, he presided over a revision of the composer's two books of preludes and the etudes, and published several volumes of pedagogical studies.
© TiVo
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Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Concerto For Piano And Orchestra, Op. 42 / Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11, And Suite For Piano, Op. 25
Classical - Released by Period Records on Jan. 11, 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Works for two pianos & four-hand piano
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Sep. 10, 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boulez: Trois sonates pour piano
Classical - Released by naïve classique on Jan. 1, 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoenberg: Complete Piano Works
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jan. 15, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Piano Works (Claude Helffer)
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jan. 11, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Pièces pour piano (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Quatuor à cordes, Sonate pour violoncelle & Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe (Mono Version)
Quatuor de Paris, Claude Helffer, Lucien Lavaillotte
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Piano Works
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jan. 11, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle No. 1 (Mono Version)
Gerard Jarry, Roger Albin, Claude Helffer
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Piano Works
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jan. 11, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Trio pour piano No. 7, Op. 97 "Archiduc" (Mono Version)
Gerard Jarry, Roger Albin, Claude Helffer
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonates pour piano Nos. 10 & 26 "Les adieux" (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonate pour piano No. 9 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas & 32 Variations in C Minor (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
L'évolution de la musique de piano (Mono Version)
Pierre Maillard-Verger, Claude Helffer, Babeth Leonet
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Sonate pour piano No. 2, Toccata & Visions fugitives (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Roussel: Le festin de l'araignée, Op. 17 & Concerto pour piano, Op. 36 (Stereo Version)
Orchestre Des Cento Soli, Serge Baudo, Claude Helffer
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Trio, M. 67 & Quatuor, M. 35 (Mono Version)
Claude Helffer, Quatuor Champeil
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo