Madeleine de Valmalete and the French School of Piano
Madeleine de Valmalete was born a marquise in 1899. She studied piano at the Paris Conservatory under Isidor Philipp, former pupil from Saint-Saens and Chopin. In 1913, at age 14, she received the first place medal from the school then headed by Gabriel Faure. Saint-Saens was very impressed with her and wrote to her to praise her performance of his Danse Macabre. She toured extensively in Europe and Turkey, as well as South America. While in Paris, she created the Paris Trio with violinist Yvonne Astruc and the cellist Marguerite Caponsacchi. In 1946, she returned to Paris to teach at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Musique, created by Alfred Cortot. In 1970 she moved to Grenoble to teach at the Ecole Nationale de Musique, the Conservatory created in 1946 by Paul Erik Steckel. In 1974 the international Madeleine de Valmalete piano competition was created with the help of the Maurice Ravel foundation. She retired in Marseilles and performed until the age of 92. She died in 1999.
She recorded Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel in 1928, the first time this piece was ever recorded.
I was fortunate enough to have her as a teacher between 1972 and 1976. She was as demanding as she was inspiring. She used metaphors to explain how to play the piano in such a way as to free oneself from the limitations of the instruments, as well as those of the artist.
I own the piano she practiced with,when she was in Grenoble. It’s a Sauter baby grand. I play and record on it very frequently. It is my pride, my jewel.
