Germaine Thyssens-Valentin
Encyclopedia
Germaine Thyssens-Valentin (2 July 1902 – 7 July 1987) was a classical pianist of Franco-Dutch parentage, noted for her performances of French music. She studied under Gabriel Fauré
at the Paris Conservatoire, and in the 1950s, after a long absence from performing while she raised a family of five children, she recorded a series of discs of Fauré's music that have been reissued on compact disc to considerable acclaim.
, in the Netherlands, the eldest of the three children of a Dutch father, Jean Thyssens, and his wife Jeanne Schmidt, who was from Alsace
. Jean Thyssens died in 1907, when his eldest child was four years old. Encouraged by her mother, she began to study the piano when she was about five years old, and later also studied the harpsichord. At the age of eight she made her concert debut playing Mozart
's Piano Concerto, K. 488
, winning high praise from the critics.
She studied at the Royal Academy of Liege, and in 1914, at the age of 13, entered the Paris Conservatoire, which was then headed by Gabriel Fauré
. She studied in the class of Isidore Philipp and later of Marguerite Long
. To support herself while a student, she gave piano lessons and played incidental music in cinemas. In 1920 she was awarded the first prize at the Conservatoire in piano and in musical history.
In December 1924 Thyssens married Paul Valentin, and hyphenated his name with hers. By now she had begun to establish herself as a piano soloist, appearing with leading chamber musicians and with the Concerts Colonne
, but she gave up her musical career completely to raise her family of five children.
After 25 years away from professional music, Thyssens-Valentin resumed her career in 1951, with a performance of the Mozart concerto in which she had made her debut as an eight-year-old. The conductor for her return concert was Albert Wolff, through whom she was introduced to the director of the Salzburg Festival
, where she made her first appearance the following year. Between 1956 and 1959, she recorded a series of discs for the French recording company Ducretet-Thomson. They were not widely available outside France, and as the company failed to keep pace with the introduction of stereophonic recording its catalogue went out of print during the 1960s.
In 1956, Thyssens-Valentin became the first pianist to play all Fauré's piano works
at a series of concerts. She gave a second complete cycle the following year. Between 1958 to 1966 she also taught. In the 1960s she took part in the first performance of a complete cycle of Fauré's chamber music in company with, among others, Paul Tortelier
. She continued to promote the works of Fauré in later years. After she had played all 13 of his nocturnes at the Salle Gaveau in 1974, Fauré's daughter-in-law greeted her with the words, "Oh! Madame, quel effort!"
Thyssens-Valentin retired in 1983; her last concert, in November of that year comprised music by Bach
, Mozart, Beethoven
, Fauré and Debussy
. She died in Paris in 1987, aged 85.
The critic Bryce Morrison, a specialist in piano music, wrote of her playing of Fauré as "distinctive, fluid, understated and of a rare tonal and poetic delicacy and finesse … No other pianist, in my experience, has shown a comparable inwardness or capacity to penetrate to the very quick or essence of one of music's most misunderstood geniuses."
Her Gramophone Award
winning recording of Fauré's Nocturnes is especially admired: in November 2011, in a comparative review for BBC Radio 3
of all recordings of the Nocturnes, Stephen Plaistow judged Thyssens-Valentin's recording to be the finest.
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
at the Paris Conservatoire, and in the 1950s, after a long absence from performing while she raised a family of five children, she recorded a series of discs of Fauré's music that have been reissued on compact disc to considerable acclaim.
Life and career
Thyssens-Valentin was born in MaastrichtMaastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, in the Netherlands, the eldest of the three children of a Dutch father, Jean Thyssens, and his wife Jeanne Schmidt, who was from Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. Jean Thyssens died in 1907, when his eldest child was four years old. Encouraged by her mother, she began to study the piano when she was about five years old, and later also studied the harpsichord. At the age of eight she made her concert debut playing Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Piano Concerto, K. 488
Piano Concerto No. 23 (Mozart)
The Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major is a musical composition for piano and orchestra written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was finished, according to Mozart's own catalogue, on March 2, 1786, around the time of the premiere of his opera, The Marriage of Figaro...
, winning high praise from the critics.
She studied at the Royal Academy of Liege, and in 1914, at the age of 13, entered the Paris Conservatoire, which was then headed by Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
. She studied in the class of Isidore Philipp and later of Marguerite Long
Marguerite Long
Marguerite Long was a French pianist and teacher.Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long was born in Nîmes. She studied with Henri Fissot at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a premier prix in 1891, and privately with Antoine François Marmontel...
. To support herself while a student, she gave piano lessons and played incidental music in cinemas. In 1920 she was awarded the first prize at the Conservatoire in piano and in musical history.
In December 1924 Thyssens married Paul Valentin, and hyphenated his name with hers. By now she had begun to establish herself as a piano soloist, appearing with leading chamber musicians and with the Concerts Colonne
Concerts Colonne
The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne.-History:While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a series of popular concerts which he founded under the...
, but she gave up her musical career completely to raise her family of five children.
After 25 years away from professional music, Thyssens-Valentin resumed her career in 1951, with a performance of the Mozart concerto in which she had made her debut as an eight-year-old. The conductor for her return concert was Albert Wolff, through whom she was introduced to the director of the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
, where she made her first appearance the following year. Between 1956 and 1959, she recorded a series of discs for the French recording company Ducretet-Thomson. They were not widely available outside France, and as the company failed to keep pace with the introduction of stereophonic recording its catalogue went out of print during the 1960s.
In 1956, Thyssens-Valentin became the first pianist to play all Fauré's piano works
Piano music of Gabriel Fauré
The French composer Gabriel Fauré wrote in many genres, including songs, chamber music, orchestral pieces and choral works. Among his best-known compositions are those for piano, written between the 1860s and the 1920s....
at a series of concerts. She gave a second complete cycle the following year. Between 1958 to 1966 she also taught. In the 1960s she took part in the first performance of a complete cycle of Fauré's chamber music in company with, among others, Paul Tortelier
Paul Tortelier
Paul Tortelier was a French cellist and composer.Tortelier was born in Paris, the son of a cabinet maker with Breton roots. He was encouraged to play the cello by his father Joseph and mother Marguerite , and at 12 he entered the Paris Conservatoire. He studied the cello there with Gérard Hekking...
. She continued to promote the works of Fauré in later years. After she had played all 13 of his nocturnes at the Salle Gaveau in 1974, Fauré's daughter-in-law greeted her with the words, "Oh! Madame, quel effort!"
Thyssens-Valentin retired in 1983; her last concert, in November of that year comprised music by Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Mozart, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Fauré and Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
. She died in Paris in 1987, aged 85.
Reputation
Though Thyssens-Valentin was little known outside France during her lifetime, the reissue on compact discs of her Ducretet-Thomson recordings, particularly those of Fauré's music, brought her to a wider international audience. In Gramophone magazine, the critic Michael Oliver wrote that although never having previously heard of her,The critic Bryce Morrison, a specialist in piano music, wrote of her playing of Fauré as "distinctive, fluid, understated and of a rare tonal and poetic delicacy and finesse … No other pianist, in my experience, has shown a comparable inwardness or capacity to penetrate to the very quick or essence of one of music's most misunderstood geniuses."
Her Gramophone Award
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
winning recording of Fauré's Nocturnes is especially admired: in November 2011, in a comparative review for BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
of all recordings of the Nocturnes, Stephen Plaistow judged Thyssens-Valentin's recording to be the finest.
Discography
Recordings by Thyssens-Valentin include:- Debussy, En blanc et noir – with Jeanne Sleeve-Thais, piano (Testament)
- Fauré, Works for piano – (1956–59, Testament SBT 1215, 1262, 1263 and 1400)
- Fauré, Piano Quintets; Piano Quartet No 1, with the Quartet of the ORTF (Editions A. Charlin)
- Franck, Prelude, choral & fugue (1954, Testament)
- Franck, Prelude, aria & finale (1954, Testament)
- Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 K. 488 – Camerata Academica of Salzburg, Bernhard Paumgartner (1953, Testament SBT 1401)
- Nin, Chants populaires espagnols – with Maria Kareska, soprano (Ducretet-Thomson, 1956)