The undisputed preeminence of Paris as a center of the piano world dates from the early nineteenth century, and the rigorous professors of the Paris Conservatoire transmitted the characteristic French piano style faithfully to each new generation for some 150 years. First published to critical acclaim in 1992, this landmark study, now considerably expanded and revised, surveys the historical development, performance practices, and pedogogical philosophies of this vital school of piano playing.
The author, himself a virtuoso pianist, studied with several proponents of the jeu perlé, 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 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. Also included in this edition are the author's detailed recollections of his own lessons with such luminaries as Gaby Casadesus, Jeanne-Marie Darré, Monique Haas, Eric Heidsieck, and Magda Tagliaferro.
Charles Timbrell, professor of piano and coordinator of keyboard studies at Howard University, is an active pianist, writer, and music critic. He lives in Washington, D.C.
