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Alfred Cortot

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Alfred Cortot

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Also known as Alfred Denis Cortot

Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor

OverviewAI-generated

Alfred Denis Cortot (1877–1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and music educator. Born in Nyon, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris under Émile Decombes and Louis Diémer. His professional career included employment at the Conservatoire de Paris and the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. Among his notable students were Hélène Boschi, Gina Bachauer, Clara Haskil, and Yvonne Lefébure. Cortot worked within the classical music genre and recorded for the His Master's Voice label.

He received the Order of the Francisque and was appointed Commander of the Legion of Honour. Cortot participated in the WWII Axis collaboration in France. He died in Lausanne. His published works include *French piano music*, *Bibliothèque musicale Alfred Cortot*, and *I principi essenziali della lezione pianistica*.

Synthesized by Vinony from 42 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Crossref, Last.fm, OpenAlex, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1877
Died
1962
Works
21

Top works

  • French piano music
  • Bibliothèque musicale Alfred Cortot
  • I principi essenziali della lezione pianistica
  • Alfred Cortot, pianist
  • Eilff schöner newer Lieder

via Open Library + Wikidata

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
15,156
Total plays
207,610

Tags

pianoClassicalswissclassical pianoClassical pianist

Alfred Denis Cortot (Nyon, Switzerland, September 26, 1877 – Lausanne, Switzerland, June 15, 1962) was a Swiss pianist and conductor. He is renowned for his poetic and deeply melancholic interpretation of Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann. Born in Nyon in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Cortot studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Emile Descombes (reputedly a pupil of Chopin) (as did Maurice Ravel), and with Louis Diémer, taking a premier prix in

via Last.fm · Alfred Cortot

Academic profile · OpenAlex

4h-index
Works
191
Cited by
51

Research areas

PianoArtHumanitiesPhilosophyArt history

Most cited works

via OpenAlex · CC0

Quotes

  • Infant prodigies do not necessarily become great musicians. I have had over three thousand pupils, and I am convinced that the proficiency which some display is no more than a manifestation of dexterity and an extraordinary natural imitative faculty of children.
  • The musician's technique, in fact, should be as protean as the actor's. The best method of attaining this is by combining the qualities of the artist and the technician. To do this it is essential, that in addition to concentrating upon musical technique, one should keep in touch with the other arts. They provide that general culture to the musician without which he will never become a great artist.
  • Russian students? you ask. Yes, we have white Russians but not the Soviets. They have a wonderful school of their own which has produced superb musicians such as Sviatoslav Richter, Oistrakh, and Rostropovich. Those Russians that we have here chose freedom, but their Slavic temperament manifests itself just the same, and they have a marked talent for music.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Alfred Denis Cortot , ( 1877-09-26 ) 26 September 1877, Nyon , Vaud, Switzerland
Died
15 June 1962 (1962-06-15) (aged 84), Lausanne , Vaud, Switzerland
Occupations
Classical pianist conductor academic teacher music editor
Organizations
École Normale de Musique de Paris

via Wikipedia infobox

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Alfred Denis Cortot (/kɔːrˈtoʊ/ kor-TOH, French: [alfʁɛd dəni kɔʁto]; 26 September 1877 – 15 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poetic insight into Romantic piano works, particularly those of Chopin, Franck, Saint-Saëns and Schumann. For Éditions Durand, he edited editions of almost all piano music by Chopin, Liszt and Schumann.

A central figure of the French musical culture in his time, he was well known for his piano trio with violinist Jacques Thibaud and cellist Pablo Casals.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alfred Cortot” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (3)