Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Praised as "one of the most exciting talents before the public today", pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet is renowned for his eloquent phrasing, lustrous colours and brilliant technique. His poetic interpretations have won him a following throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and the Far East. Over the past seventeen years, he has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestre National de France and Rotterdam Philharmonic. Among the conductors with whom he appears are Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Raymond Leppard, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Elegant and engaging, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed solo recitals from London's Wigmore Hall to New York's Avery Fisher Hall. A sought after collaborator, he currently performs with Cecilia Bartoli and Angelika Kirchschlager and has worked with Brigitte Fassbaender, Olga Borodina, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Truls Mork and Joshua Bell. A regular at the summer festivals, he has performed for eighteen consecutive seasons at Italy's Spoleto Festival and for seven consecutive seasons at the London Proms (of which four performances have been live television broadcasts). Other festivals include Tanglewood, Ravinia, Saratoga, Hollywood Bowl, Schleswig-Holstein, Prague, Stavanger and Adelaide.

During his 1996-97 season, Jean-Yves Thibaudet made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Giordano's Fedora when he shared the stage with Placido Domingo and Mirella Freni in a featured cameo role as the concert pianist/spy, Boleslao Lasinski. This appearance was something of a dream come true for Jean-Yves who is an avid opera fan and feels that many musicians miss out by living in too narrow a sphere of influences; "How can you play the piano without understanding opera, or art, sculpture or literature for that matter."

In June 1998 Jean-Yves appeared with Cecilia Bartoli at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza for a sparkling concert, recorded live for TV and for video and audio release on Decca as "Live in Italy". Other highlights of his 1998/1999 season included tours of North and South America and an appearance at the Last Night of the Proms in London performing Rachmaninov's Paganini Variations, conducted by Andrew Davis and televised around the world. To coincide with the occasion, Decca released "Warsaw Concerto", a disc which includes the Paganini Variations along with works by Gershwin, Shostakovich and, of course, Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto.

In Spring 1999, Jean-Yves Thibaudet's made extensive tours of the US, Australia and Japan. He also performed with mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirschlager at London's Wigmore Hall and, in March, had his own mini-festival at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The summer months see a busy round of festival appearances including those at Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein, Sapporo, London (BBC Proms), Saratoga and Tanglewood.

An exclusive recording artist for Decca, with over 20 CDs to his credit, Jean-Yves Thibaudet's first release was a landmark two-CD set of the complete piano works of Ravel, which won Germany's prestigious Schallplattenpreis and received a Grammy nomination. More recently, he completed the recording of the solo piano music of Debussy of which the first volume has so far appeared, receiving a Diapason d'Or award. His virtuosic disc of Liszt Opera Transcriptions was released to critical acclaim in 1994.

For his debut concerto album on Decca, Jean-Yves joined the Montreal Symphony and Charles Dutoit in two Liszt concertos, coupled with the Totentanz and Hungarian Fantasy. Other recordings include d'Indy's Symphony on a French Mountain Air with the Montreal Symphony and Dutoit. In 1992 he recorded Olivier Messiaen's gigantic Turangalila Symphony with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly; this CD received the Edison Prize and the Diapason d'Or award. Jean-Yves Thibaudet described the experience: "The piece itself is a cycle of life. It's like a big arch with love, joy and everything in it. When we played it the audience was very quiet at the end, then they just exploded."

Also recorded are Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos with the Cleveland Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy and both Ravel concertos with the Montreal Symphony and Charles Dutoit. The Sunday Times said of Jean-Yves Thibaudet's most recent Rachmaninov release (Concerto No.4): "[Thibaudet] has been a notable champion of this work and he plays it with that mixture of sensitivity and effortless virtuosity that are the hallmarks of his style." He has recently recorded for future release the Mendelssohn Piano Concertos with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig conducted by Herbert Blomstedt.

In the field of chamber music, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has recorded sonatas for violin and piano by Debussy, Fauré and Franck with the violinist Joshua Bell; Chausson and Ravel with Mr Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis and the Takács Quartet; and two recital albums of songs by Liszt and Wolf with Brigitte Fassbaender, the latter earning him a 1993 Gramophone Award nomination and an Edison Prize.

He expanded his recorded repertoire in 1997 to include a release of the compositions of the late jazz great Bill Evans which won a 1998 Echo Award in Germany. Billboard reviewed the disc: "He interprets the work beautifully by underscoring the heavy influence of Debussy and Ravel on the sage jazz pianist." Jean-Yves' most recent release celebrates the music of another jazz giant, Duke Ellington, in his centenary year. Jean-Yves set down his interpretations of Ellington classics, in new arrangements written expressly for him. The tracks are remarkable and varied; Gramophone declared that the disc was "authentic Duke and beautifully played too".

Jean-Yves' Autumn 1999 release on Decca will be a collection of celebrated Chopin works. Titled "The Chopin Touch", the disc accompanies a television documentary programme of the same name in which he performs the music on the composer's own piano.

Of French and German heritage, Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, where he began his piano studies at age five and made his first public appearance at age seven. His principal studies were with Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator of Ravel, and he entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of twelve, where he also studied with Aldo Ciccolini. Ciccolini, as well as being a crucial influence musically, was a great supporter of the young pianist. At age fifteen he won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire, and three years later won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York.

Jean-Yves makes his home in both Paris and Los Angeles and has many interests outside of his diverse musical ones. He is known for his love of elegant fashion, appearing on stage and album covers in suits by Versace and rarely, when performing, without his trademark red socks. Time spent away from his performing schedule means that he can pursue his love of water sports, read, visit museums and enjoy fine wines, good food and good conversation. "When I take some time away from the piano I don't miss it - but when I go back it is an even bigger joy, like discovering the same pieces all over again."