born: in Lyons (France) to musically literate parents - a French father who
played the violin and a German mother who gave him his first piano lessons;
he was first attracted to the piano at age 3, learned to play it at age 5 (later
learned the violin and even dreamed of conducting);
made his first public appearance at age 7; first performed with an orchestra
at age 11, playing Ravel's Concerto in G - his prize for winning a competition
called the Kingdom of Music;
at age 12, he graduated with the gold medal from the conservatory in Lyons;
then continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire, with Lucille Descaves
- a student of Fauré and Ravel; he later studied with Reine Gianoli, a
student of Artur Schnabel; and lastly with Aldo Ciccolini, perhaps the one who
influenced him most;
at age 15, he won the premier Prix du Conservatoire, soon followed by top prizes
at the Viotti International Competition (Italy), the Robert Casadesus International
Competition ( Cleveland, Ohio) and the Busoni International Competition (Italy);
in 1980, he won the highest prize at the International Piano Competition in
Japan;
in 1981, he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York
and soonafter began a series of sensational debuts in the US, Europe, and the
Far East.
Today this
former child prodigy is in the prime of his career, with more than 30 recordings
to his name (and more in the works) and hundreds of highly acclaimed concert
appearances. His recent CD "ARIA:
Opera without Words" is sure to be hit. In 2003, his 5-CD
box set entitled "Satie: The Complete Solo Piano Music" was awarded
the Choc de la Musique; and his first collaborative recording with soprano
Renée Fleming won the best Lieder Recital Award at Germany's 2002
Echo Classical Music Awards.
A Grammy-nominated recording
artist for Decca, his other awards include: the Schallplatten Preis, the Diapason
d'Or, the Gramophone Award, and the Edison Prize.
His playing can also be heard on the soundtracks of several films, foremost
among them being "Atonement",
the 2008 Oscar- and Golden Globe Award-winner for Best Original Score (by composer
Dario Marinelli). In 2006 the film "Pride
and Prejudice" in which he played the piano solo from beginning
to end received an Oscar nomination also for Best Original Score, likewise by
Marinelli. He made his first movie cameo appearance in the feature film on Alma
Mahler, "Bride of the Wind,"
in which he also played the piano solo for the soundtrack. His first foray into
film soundtracks was in "Portrait of a Lady" for which he played two
Schubert Impromptus.
For his artistic achievements, the Republic of France awarded Mr. Thibaudet
the prestigious Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2001; and
in 2003 he received the Premio Pegasus from the Spoleto Festival with
which he has had a longstanding involvement. Most recently in February 2007,
"Les Victoires de la Musique," which is the equivalent of the Grammy,
awarded him the prestigious "Victoire d'Honneur" - a lifetime career
achievement award, usually given to artists approaching the end of long, distinguished
careers. He received the honor at a ceremony nationally broadcast live on prime
time French TV where he played the last movement of Gershwin's Concerto in F
with the Orchestre National de France and delivered a speech.
He is now hailed as one of the world's great pianists, certainly
the most celebrated of his generation. And as you can see, with very good
reason....
A MESSAGE FROM JY (1999)
UK
and 