Accompanists

Iréne Aitoff

Dalton Baldwin

born December 19, 1931, Summit, New York. He studied at Juilliard and Oberlin. In Paris he studied with Boulanger and Madeleine Lipatti. He began accompanying Gerard Souzay in 1954. He made landmark recordings of the complete songs of Debussy, Fauré, Poulenc, Ravel and Roussel. There is a short bio at the Lotte Lehmann Foundation.

Jacquline Bonneau

Alfred Cortot

born September 26, 1877, in Nyon, Switzerland; died June 15, 1962, in Lausanne, Switzerland. French pianist and conductor, he studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire with Emile Decombes and Louis Diémer. His debut was at Concerts Colonne in 1897. He was appointed choral coach, and later became the assistant conductor at Bayreuth in 1898. In 1905, the Cortot-Thibaud-Casals trio was formed. The trio is known and admired as one of the best ensembles of its kind.  He formed the Ecole Normale de Musique in 1919. In 1943 he founded the Société des Musique de Chambre de la Société de Concerts du Conservatoire. After World War II he performed throughout Europe, Japan and South America. He retired in 1958. He was known as a champion of the French piano music of his day. His immense repertory extended from Purcell to Stravinsky, but was most noted for his understanding and interpretation of Romantic music.

Jean-Michel Damase

born January 27, 1929, Bordeaux, France. French composer and pianist, he began his musical studies at age five. He began composing at age nine. At 12 he began his studies at Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris. He began his composition studies in 1945. He studied  harmony with Büsser and counterpoint with Dupré. As a composer he is known for his technical facility and an elegant style close to that of the Paris Conservatoire. 

Daniel-Lesur

Norman Franklin

Yoichi Miura

Helene Salome