Claire Désert (born 1967) is a French classical pianist.

Biography

Born in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

, Désert began learning the piano at the age of five. At fourteen, she joined 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 ...

(CNSMDP), where she was awarded the premier prix in piano by unanimous decision of the jury in the class of Vensislav Yankoff. A student of French composer Jean Hubeau, she also won the First prize for

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. In 1985, she was unanimously awarded the first piano prize by the jury. She then enrolled in the class of the Bulgarian pianist Ventsislav Yankov. In the same year, she was admitted into the piano improvement cycle. She obtained a scholarship from the French government and went to study for one year at the Tchaïkovski Conservatory of Moscow, in the class of

Yevgeny Malinin Yevgeny Malinin (8 November 19306 April 2001), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian pianist. Biography Malinin was born in Moscow. A disciple of Heinrich Neuhaus, he began his career while a student at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1949 he won (ex ...

. Back in France, she joined the class of

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Roland Pidoux and further perfected her chamber music skills.

Career

Since the early 1990s, the musician has performed on stages such as the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

, the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

and the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

as well as in international festivals at the invitation of

La Folle Journée La Folle Journée is a French annual classical music festival held in Nantes. It is the largest classical music festival in France. The festival's name refers to the Pierre Beaumarchais play ''The Marriage of Figaro'', whose alternative title i ...

, the , the Lille Piano(s) Festival, the , the , the Stavelot Festival and the George Enescu Festival in Bucarest. In 1997, she was named "New Talent of the Year" at the Victoires de la musique classique for her performance of the Czech composer

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

's and the Russian pianist and composer

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, scientific transliteration: ''Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin''; also transliterated variously as Skriabin, Skryabin, and (in French) Scriabine. The composer himselused the French spelling "Scriabine" which was a ...

's concertos, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. Désert is also a professor of piano at the Conservatoire de Paris

Collaborations

As a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

ist, she regularly accompanies renowned symphonic formations such as the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Orchestre philharmonique de Paris, the Orchestre national de Lille, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the

Orchestre national d'Île-de-France The Orchestre national d'Île-de-France is a French symphony orchestra with its administrative base in Alfortville. The orchestra, made up of ninety-five permanent musicians, gives around a hundred concerts each season, thus offering Ile-de-France ...

. Her musical career has led her to play and record alongside the musicians of the , cellists Anne Gastinel, Gary Hoffman, violinists Tedi Papavrami,

Philippe Graffin Philippe Graffin (born 1964 in Romilly-sur-Seine) is a French violinist. Pupil of Josef Gingold, Philippe Hirschhorn and Viktor Liberman. He has made several recordings for Hyperion Records as well as "Avie Records" and "Onyx". He was born in R ...

and Nemanja Radulović and pianist Emmanuel Strosser.

Discography

Personal albums

* 2007:

Robert 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 ...

's ''Davidbünderltänze Op 6'', Mirare * 2010: Robert Schumann's '' Abendmusik'', Mirare

Collaborations

* 1999: ''Œuvres pour piano à quatre mains : Variations (8) / Op.35 - Allegro / op.144 'Lebensstürme'...'' by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

with Claire Désert and Emmanuel Strosser, Aria Music * 2000: ''Musique de chambre'' by

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

with Patrick Gallois, Michel Lethiec,

Arto Noras Arto Noras (born 12 May 1942, in Turku) is a Finnish cellist who is one of Finland's most celebrated instrumentalists and amongst the most outstanding internationally acknowledged cellists of his generation. At the age of 8, Arto Noras starte ...

, Gérard Poulet and Amaury Wallez, Arion * 2000: Saint-Saëns's ''

The Carnival of the Animals ''The Carnival of the Animals'' () is a humorous musical suite of 14 movements, including " The Swan", by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. About 25 minutes in duration, it was written for private performance by two pianos and chambe ...

'' with Francis Blanche, Vincent Coq, Claire Désert, Philippe Meyer, Raphaël Pidoux and Léa Weber. * 2001: ''Quintette pour piano et vents - Ma mère l'Oye'' by

Maurice 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

André Caplet André Caplet (23 November 1878 – 22 April 1925) was a French composer and conductor of classical music. He was a friend of Claude Debussy and completed the orchestration of several of Debussy's compositions as well as arrangements of severa ...

, Claire Désert and the Moragues wind quintet,

Le Chant du Monde Le Chant du Monde was a French music publishing house. It was created in 1938 by Léon Moussinac and was supported in the beginning by classical composers Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Charles Koechlin, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Alber ...

* 2001: ''Cello Concerto in A minor'' by

with Anne Gastinel and Louis Langrée (conductor), Valois * 2002: ''Les Œuvres pour flûte'' by

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...

with Mathieu Dufour, Adrienne Krausz, Michel Moraguez, Julie Palloc,

Sandrine Piau Sandrine Piau (born 5 June 1965) is a French soprano. She is particularly renowned in Baroque music although also excels in Romantic and modernist art songs. She has the versatility to perform works from Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart to Schumann, Deb ...

and the Moraguès Wind Quartet, Saphir * 2004: ''Duos pour piano'' by

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

and

with Emmanuel Strosser, Virgin Classics * 2005: ''Arpeggione'' by

, with Anne Gastinel, Naïve * 2005: ''Piano Quartets'', compositions by Alexis de Castillon,

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a building contractor who made his fortune assisting Ba ...

and

Guillaume Lekeu Jean Joseph Nicolas Guillaume Lekeu (; 20 January 1870 – 21 January 1894) was a Belgian composer. Life Lekeu was born in Heusy, a village near Verviers, Belgium. He originally studied piano and music theory under Alphonse Voss, the director ...

with the Kandinsky quartet, Virgin Classics * 2005: ''In the shade of forests'', compositions by

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

and

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

with Claire Désert and

, Avie * 2005: Mendelssohn Bartholdy's ''

Songs Without Words ''Songs Without Words'' (') is a series of short lyrical piano works by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre. Music The ...

'' with Claire Désert and David Walter, Polymnie * 2007: ''Danses slaves, Op 46 and Op 72'' by

with Claire Désert and Emmanuel Strosser, Mirare * 2007: Mozart's ''3 préludes pfor piano - 3 strophes sur le nom de Sacher'' - Dutilleux's ''

Ainsi la nuit ''Ainsi la nuit'' (''Thus the Night'') is a string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. Th ...

'' with Claire Désert, Desmons, Hery, Perraud, Erol * 2008: ''Arpeggione'' by

, Claire Désert, Anne Gastinel, Édition collector naïve 10 ans * 2013: ''L'enfance - Piano à 4 mains'' with Claire Désert and Emmanuel Strosser, Mirare * 2013: ''Moments musicaux - Pieces for Paul Klee - Suonare - All ungarese'' by Bruno Mantovani with Claire Désert and the

Trio Wanderer The Trio Wanderer is a French piano trio made up of Vincent Coq, piano, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin, and Raphaël Pidoux, cello, who graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1988 they won the ARD International Music Competition ...

, Mirare * 2015: ''Œuvres pour piano à 4 mains'' by Franz Schubert, Claire Désert, Emmanuel Strosser, Mirare * 2017: ''Brahms: Cello Sonatas'' with Claire Désert and Gary Hoffman, La Dolce Vota

Compilations

* 2006: ''Anne Gastinel - Coffret 3Cds'', compositions by

and Franz Schubert with Claire Désert, Anne Gastinel, François-Frédéric Guy, Louis Langrée (conductor) and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Naïve * 2007: ''Classique et Zen'', Classical compilation with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Lise de la Salle, Claire Désert, Anne Gastinel, Howard Griffiths, François-Frédéric Guy, Laurence Equilbey,

Sara Mingardo Sara Mingardo (born 2 March 1961) is an Italian classical contralto who has had an active international career in concerts and operas since the 1980s. Her complete recording of Anna in Hector Berlioz's '' Les Troyens'' won a Gramophone Award and ...

Fazıl Say Fazıl Say (; born 14 January 1970) is a Turkish pianist and composer who has worked internationally. Life and career Say was born in Ankara in 1970. His father, Ahmet Say, was an author and musicologist. His mother, Gürgün Say, was a pharm ...

Grigory Sokolov Grigory Lipmanovich Sokolov (; born 18 April 1950) is a Russian pianist with Spain, Spanish citizenship. He is among the most esteemed of living pianists, his repertoire spanning composers from the Baroque music, Baroque period such as Johann Seba ...

, Naïve * 2010: ''Complete chamber music with winds'' by

Francis 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 ...

, Compilation Classique with Berrod, Claire Désert, Emmanuel Strosser, Trenel and the Orchestre des solistes de Paris, Indesens

Live recordings

* 2005: ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

'' by

Bruno Coulais Bruno Coulais (born 13 January 1954) is a French composer, most widely known for his music on film soundtracks. Life and career Coulais was born in Paris; his father, Farth Coulais, is from Vendée, and his mother, Bernsy Coulais, was born in ...

, live recording with Loïc Pierre (conductor), le Choeur de Chambre Mikrokosmos,

Guillaume Depardieu Guillaume Jean Maxime Antoine Depardieu (7 April 1971 – 13 October 2008) was a French actor, winner of a César Award, and the second oldest child of Gérard Depardieu. Early life Depardieu was the son of actor Gérard Depardieu and his first ...

, Claire Désert, Marie Kobayashi, Laurent Korcia, , Slim Pezin,

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

, Naïve * 2006: Recordings of the piano Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron with Nicholas Angelich, Iddo Bar-Shaï, Boris Berezovsky, Claire Désert,

Brigitte Engerer Brigitte Engerer (; 27 October 1952 – 23 June 2012) was a French pianist. Biography Born in Tunis, French Tunisia, Engerer started piano lessons at the age of four, and by the age of six was performing in public. When she was 11 her fami ...

, Philippe Giusiano,

Jean-Frédéric Neuburger Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (born 29 December 1986) is a French pianist, organist, and composer. His repertoire extends from Bach to Jean Barraqué, Barraqué and the works of his own contemporaries. He was born in Paris on 29 December 1986. When he ...

Anne Queffélec Anne Queffélec (born 17 January 1948) is a French classical pianist, born in Paris. Biography Anne Queffélec is the daughter of Henri Queffélec and sister of Yann Queffélec, both noted writers. Her brother Hervé Queffélec is a mathema ...

, Emmanuel Strosser, Édition limitée, Mirare * 2007: Recordings of the La Roque-d'Anthéron piano festival, volume 2, with Nicholas Angelich, Iddo Bar-Shaï, Boris Berezovsky, Claire Désert, Shani Diluka, Philippe Giusiano,

, Jean-Frederic Neuburger, Emmanuel Strosser, Mirare

References

External links

Interview of Claire Désert on Classicagenda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desert, Claire 1967 births Living people People from Angoulême 21st-century French women classical pianists 21st-century French classical pianists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French music educators French women music educators