French Pianism: A Historical Perspective

The author, himself a noted pianist, studied with several proponents of the jeu perle, that uniquely French style of playing categorized by rapid, clean, even passage work, note after note "bright and perfectly formed, like each pearl on a necklace." Over a fifteen-year period, he conducted more than seventy interviews with notable French-trained pianists, many of them new to this edition and all of them frank and lively conversationalists, ranging from a ninety-six-year-old Paul Loyonnet - an important link to the traditions of the nineteenth century - to emerging young talents of today. Adding an element of specificity to this edition are the author's detailed recollections of his own lessons with such luminaries as Gaby Casadesus, Jeanne-Marie Darre, Monique Haas, Eric Heidsieck, and Magda Tagliaferro.