J.Rancey
YVONNE LORIOD-MESSIAEN
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J.Rancey |
Yvonne Loriod was born 20 January 1924 in Houilles (Seine et Oise) [Parents Simone and Gaston Loriod and two sisters, Jacqueline and Jeanne Loriod].She began studying the piano at the age of six with her godmother Madame Eminger-Sivade and by the age of fourteen her repertoire included all the Mozart concertos, all the Beethoven sonatas, the Bach '48' as well as the standard classical and romantic works. When she entered the Paris Conservatoire she also studied harmony, fugue, orchestration and composition enabling her to proof read Messiaens' scores and compile the vocal score for Saint Francois d'Assise. Her teachers were Isidor Philipp, Lazare Levy, Marcel Ciampi, Simone Caussade, Joseph Calvet, C. Estyle as well as Messiaen and Milhaud. During her time at the conservatoire she had won seven premier prix.
Although Loriod wrote several works including Grains de cendre (1946) for Ondes Martenot, piano and voice, probably the only one to be performed in public was Trois Mélopées africaines for flute, ondes Martenot, piano and drum. This was performed with Ginette Martenot, Jan Merry, flute, and percussionist Jacques Boucher on 24th March 1945 at the Société Nationale.
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She performed 22 of Mozart's concertos in a single week with the Lamoureux Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, and Louis Martin and first performed with Messiaen in 1943 for the premiere of his Vision de l'amen. She and Boulez premiered Boulez's Structures, Book 2, in 1961 at Donaueschingen and she taught both at the Paris Conservatoire (1967-89 where she was the youngest professor) and at Darmstadt. Her American debut was the world-premiere performance of Messiaen's Turangalila Symphonie with Leonard Bernstein and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1949. Her phenomenal memory enabled her to learn Bartok's Second Piano Concerto in eight days ready for the first performance at Théatre des Champs-Élyées in Paris on 15th November 1945 with Orchestre National conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. |  |
Yvonne Loriod was one of the pupils in Messiaen's first class that he held at the Paris Conservatoire after repatriation on the 7th May 1941. She says of
that first encounter that 'all the students waited eagerly for this new teacher
to arrive and finally he appeared with music case and badly swollen fingers,
a result of his stay in the prisoner of war camp. He proceeded to the piano
and produced the full score of Debussys' Prelude á l'apres-Midi d'un Faune and began to play all the parts. The whole class was captivated and stunned and everyone immediately fell in love with him'.
Messiaen quickly saw in Yvonne Loriod somebody whose dazzling technique and phenomenal memory could interpret his music as he saw it and anything he wrote was possible to play through her. Messiaen once described her as 'unique, sublime and a brilliant pianist, whose existence transformed not only the composer's way of writing for the piano, but his style, vision of the world and modes of thought' (Goléa 1960). Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus, Visions de l'Amen, Catalogue d'Oiseaux, La Fauvette des Jardins, Petites esquisses d'oiseaux and most of the piano parts in his orchestral works are all dedicated to her.
Their working and personal relationship developed over the years and on the 1st July 1961 Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod were married.
She has edited Messiaen's massive Traité de rythme, de couleur et d'ornithologie and continued to perform through the 1990s adjudicating at competitions, including the triennial Concours Olivier Messiaen, Bayreuth, Paris, Munich, Leeds, Aspen and various Messiaen festivals and was Chair for Piano Masterclasses at the Badische Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe.
Her recordings achieved 12 Grand Prix du Disque awards.
Although retired from professional performing now, Yvonne Loriod still finds time to meet with and coach young pianists eager to perform Messiaen's piano music.
Yvonne Loriod (non Messiaen) Recordings Archive
As well as the recordings listed here, Yvonne Loriod made many other recordings
by composers other than Messiaen. Many I'm sure lay in various radio station archives
around the world.
Long since deleted items include:
Schumann - Davidsbundlertanze
Bach - Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor and Prelude in C sharp major. Pathé 78 PDT 110
Bach - Chaconne arr. Busoni. Pathé 78 PDT 149/150
Chopin - Barcarolle in F sharp Op.60. Pathé 78 PDT 152
Messiaen -Vingt Regards excerpts. Pathé 78 PDT 170/113
Messiaen - Preludes 5.1 & 3 Pathé PDT 132
The British Library Sound Archive also have a copy of Debussy -
En Blanc et Noir performed with Pierre Boulez recorded by the BBC in 1965.
| L001 | Mozart Piano Concertos 1/2/3/4 |
Yvonne Loriod piano / Orchestra Domaine Musical / Pierre boulez | Vega C30 A 353/4 |  |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L002 | Berg:Sonate op1 / Webern: Variations / Boulez: 2nd Sonate | Yvonne Loriod piano | Vega C30 A309 |  |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L003 | Charles Chaynes: Concerto for piano & Concerto for organ | Yvonne Loriod piano Marie-Claire Alain organ / Orch Radiofussion -TV France. dir. Serge Baudo |
Erato STU70451 |   |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L004 | Stravinsky: Petrouchka | Yvonne Loriod piano / Orch des Cento Soli, Paris dir. Rudolf Albert | The Record Soc RS23 Collection Festival CD B000FG5PKO |
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Vinyl/CD | |
| L005 | Debussy: 12 Etudes | Yvonne Loriod piano | Erato STU70432 |  |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L006 | Florilége du Piano: Mozart to Messiaen Fantaisie in d minor (Mozart) Romance (Mendelssohn) Sonata in Bb op106 (Beethoven) El Polo, Lavapies (Albeniz) Etude Op 25 (Chopin) Etude for the 8 fingers (Debussy) Le Loriot, Par Lui tout a été Fait (Messiaen) |
Yvonne Loriod piano | Erato STU70555/6 |  |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L007 | Albeniz: Iberia complete | Yvonne Loriod piano | Vega C30 127/128 Extracts on Ades CD14.071-2 |
  1955 Recording |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L008 | DeFalla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain / El Amor Brujo | Yvonne Loriod piano Paris Opera Orch dir. Manual Rosenthal | Ades / Vega C 30 A 192/Ades, ASIN : B00004UKZ1 |    1959 Recording |
Vinyl/CD | |
| L009 | Mozart: Rondo K485 / Sonata 11 K331 / 4 Fantaisies | Yvonne Loriod piano | Ades 13-204-2 From original Vega recording 1959 |
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CD | |
| L010 | Jean Barraqué. Sonate pour Piano / Sequence pour voix, batterie et divers instruments | Yvonne Loriod, piano Ethel Semser, sop Rudolf Albert, dir. |
Vega C30 A 180 |  |
Vinyl/CDR | |
| L011 | Boulez: Structures bk2 / Polyphonie X / Poésie pour pouvoir / Pli selon pli | Yvonne Loriod & Pierre Boulez pianos. | Col Legno |
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CD | |
| L012 | Varese:Hyperprism, Octandre, intergrales. Schonberg: Suite Op29 | Yvonne Loriod piano Pierre Boulez dir. |
Vega C30 A271 |  |
Vinyl/CDR | |
| L013 | Schumann: Novelettes Op21 | Yvonne Loriod piano | Vega C30 S170 |  |
Vinyl/CDR | |
| L014 | Chopin: Etudes Liszt: Sonata in b minor |
Yvonne Loriod piano | Vega C 30 MT 10.259 |   |
Vinyl/CDR | |
| L015 | Bach: Chaconne arr.Busoni | Yvonne Loriod piano | Pathé PDT 149/150 |  |
Shellac/CDR | |
| L016 | Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp Op.60 |
Yvonne Loriod piano | Pathé PDT 152 |  |
Shellac/CDR |
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