Lucette Descaves (Piano)

Born: April 1, 1906 - Paris, France
Died: April 15, 1993

The French pianist, Descaves Lucette, was the daughter of Eugene Descaves (brother of writer Lucien Descaves) and goddaughter of Camille Saint-Saëns. She raughr piano from 1941 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) in Paris, succeeding her teacher Marguerite Long and Yves Nat. Until 1976 came out of her class several generations of top prize winner (Pierre Vozlinsky to Alain Jacquon). Among her students should be mentioned: Myriam Birger, Brigitte Engerer, Bruno Rigutto, Katia & Marielle Labèque, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Pascal Rogé, Géry Moutier, Caroline Assier, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Jacques Boisgallais (composer) and Georges Pludermacher. After her retirement from the Conservatoire de Paris, she continued her teaching at the Conservatoire de Rueil-Malmaison, headed by a former student, Jacques Taddei.

Descaves Lucette also had a career as a concert soloist under the baton of prestigious conductors as Charles Munch and André Cluytens. She has collaborated with many contemporary composers: Prokofiev (in 1932, she played the 3^rd Concerto in his presence in Paris), Martinu, Albert Roussel, and Arthur Honegger. With the latter two, she recorded their complete solo piano works on LP’s. André Jolivet composed especially for her his Danses Rituelles (1942) and Concerto pour piano, which she premiered in June 1951. She was married first with the conductor and pianist Georges Truc (died 1941), artistic director of Pathé-Marconi France; and second with the conductor Louis Fourestier.

Source: French Wikipedia Website (January 2011), English translation by Aryeh Oron (February 2011)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (February 2011)

Lucette Descaves: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Lucette Descaves (Wikipedia) [French]