Orchestre Lamoureux
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 (Boura), and gifted at 12 he entered the Conservatoire de Paris. He studied the cello there with Louis Feuillard and then Gérard Hekking. He won the first prize in cello at the conservatoire when he was 16, playing the Elgar cello concerto, and then he studied harmony under Jean Gallon. His debut was with the Orchestre Lamoureux in 1931 at the age of 17. He performed Lalo's Cello Concerto.