The eminent French pianist and composer, Robert Casadesus, was born into a musical family. As the oldest in the second generation of a prestigious musical family, he inherited the tradition and the potential for an outstanding performance career. He did not follow the family tradition of playing stringed instruments but chose, instead, the piano. is Aunt Rose Casadesus, herself a pianist, instructed him until he entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of ten. At the Conservatory he studied solfege and piano with Louis Diémer, a pupil of Franz Liszt, and with Antonin Emile Marmontel. He achieved the first prize in piano in 1913. From 1913 to 1917, he studied harmony with Xavier Leroux. During this period, he earned a livelihood by playing the celesta and extra percussion effects at the Opera Comique. In 1917, he made his debut as a concert pianist in Paris, with a recital at the Salle des Agriculteurs. He was drafted into the army in 1918. After starting in the Artillery, he was transferred to the Engineers Corps band where he was a drummer. In 1919, he was awarded the first prize for harmony at the Paris Conservatory, having finished his study with Leroux. He received the Prix Diémer from the Conservatory the following year. Two important events occurred for Robert Casadesus in 1921: He married Gabrielle LHôte (Gaby Casadesus), and he became assistant to Isidor Philipp at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau. The Fontainebleau School had been founded after World War I by Walter Damrosch and Francis Casadesus (Roberts uncle) as a summer school for American students in instrumental music and composition. At the end of the summer, he started his international career as a concert pianist by playing in major cities throughout Europe. In 1922 Robert Casadesus met Ravel and, as a result of this meeting, a strong working friendship developed between the two. Robert traveled and studied with Ravel and became a leading interpreter of his music. In 1926 and 1927, he continued his tours to the capital cities of Europe, each year increasing the number of commitments for recitals and playing with the major orchestras. His first son, Jean, was born in 1927. The following year Robert was chosen to play the inaugural concert for the opening of the new Salle Pleyel. He also began playing recitals with Gaby, performing two-hand and four-hand pieces, some of which were his own transcriptions. In 1928, Robert made his first recording for Columbia in Paris, among which was Ravels Jeux deau. For the 1929 season, fifteen concerts in Moscow were added to his itinerary. During the 1930s, the scope of Robert Casadesuss activities increased. The European concert tours were augmented in 1931 to include South America and, in 1933, Africa and the Middle East. In 1935, he made his first concert tour to the USA. While here, he was engaged by Arturo Toscanini to play the Brahms Second Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra the following season. In 1932 his second son, Guy, was born. During 1930, he had made other recordings with Columbia, establishing a relationship that was to continue for the rest of his professional life. That same year his String Quartet, Op.13, was premiered in Paris. In 1934, in Warsaw, he and Gaby played the first performance of his Concerto for Two Pianos, Op.17. Durand, publisher of the music of Debussy and Ravel, issued Roberts Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op.18, in 1935. Also in 1935 he succeeded Isidor Philipp as head of the piano department of the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau. In 1939, Casadesus received the French Legion of Honor and the Belgian Order of Leopold. War breaks out! After the fall of France, Robert Casadesus and Gaby established the Fontainebleau School at Newport, Rhode Island. In 1942 the Fontainebleau School was moved to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The Casadesus made their home with their sons in Princeton, New Jersey, which was convenient to Manhattan and Philadelphia and had an active European community. Here they lived during the was years, 1940 to 1946. Throughout this period, Robert continued a varied and busy concert career, playing his first recital at New Yorks Carnegie Hall in 1941, and appearing with all the major American orchestras on a regular basis. In 1941, he began working with producer Goddard Lieberson at Columbia Records; they did many recordings over the years, including all of the piano music of Ravel and much of Debussys. In 1942, Robert and Gabys daughter Thérèse was born (La naissance dune dauphine!). In the 1940s, his lifelong friendship and collaboration with Zino Francescatti, the great violinist, was begun. Robert continued to take time to compose, dedicating his Second Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 34, to Francescatti.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:57:05 +0000
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