Claude Helffer
Claude Helffer (18 June 1922 – 27 October 2004) was a French pianist. Early life. Helffer was born in Paris, and began piano lessons at the age of five and from the age of ten until the outbreak of World War II he studied with Robert Casadesus. During the War he entered École Polytechnique and fought for the French Resistance during World War II. After the War, he studied theory and composition with René Leibowitz. Career. He made his debut in Paris in 1948 and from 1954 appeared regularly in the concerts of the Domaine musical. Helffer gave many  premières of new works and was the dedicatee of several notable works, including "Erikhthon" (Xenakis, 1974), Concerto (Boucourechliev, 1975), "Stances" (Betsy Jolas, 1978), Concerto no. 1 (Luis de Pablo, 1980), "Envoi" (Gilles Tremblay, 1982), and "Modifications" (Michael Jarrell, 1983). Conductors he collaborated with included Boulez, Bour, Gielen, Leibowitz, Maderna, Marriner, Martinon, Van Otterloo, Prêtre and Scherchen. His discography includes the complete piano music of Schoenberg (Grand Prix du Disque), Debussy and Ravel and the Sonatas of Boulez, Berg and Barraqué. Helffer taught master classes all over the world, most notably at the Salzburg Summer Academy from 1985 to 1998. Personal  life. Helffer married the noted ethnomusicologist, Mireille Helffer, whom he met at the Lycée Molière two years earlier, in June 1946.