Marcel Ciampi

Marcel Paul Maximin Ciampi (29 May 1891 – 2 September 1980) was a French pianist and teacher. He held the longest tenure in the history of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris[1] and also became head of piano classes at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England.[2]

Life

Ciampi was taught by Louis Diémer at the Paris Conservatoire and won the first prize for pianoforte in 1909. He had a career as a concert pianist, appearing with orchestras in France, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Warsaw, Sofia and Athens. He worked closely with Claude Debussy.[3][4][5]

He turned to teaching and had a particular influence on Hephzibah Menuhin and her sister Yaltah Menuhin, and in sum, all the Menuhin family. He accepted Yaltah at age four, after hearing her play Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen.[6] His students also included Yvonne Loriod, Cécile Ousset, Thea Musgrave, John Carmichael, Jeremy Menuhin, Míceál O'Rourke, Jean-Marc Luisada,[7] Pierre Hétu, Kathryn Stott, Melvyn Tan, Nancy Bricard,[8] Avi Schönfeld, Beryl Sedivka, Albert Attenelle,[9][10] Anna-Marie Globenski,[11] Éric Heidsieck,[12] Jacqueline Cole,[13] and Sally Sargent.[14] Another of his students was John-Paul Bracey, who was to become his biographer.[3]

Ciampi recorded some early electrical solo and chamber music discs for French Columbia.[15] His available recordings on CD include César Franck's Piano Quintet with the Capet Quartet.

His wife, Yvonne Astruc, was a violinist. His sister Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi was an operatic soprano.

His compositions include Six Studies for the piano. He was a jury member on competitions such as the Alexander Brailowsky Competition in Liège and the Eugène Ysaÿe Competition in Brussels.

Ciampi was appointed an Officer of the Légion d'honneur and the Belgian Order of Léopold. He died in 1980.

References

  1. ^ "Mellen Press". Mellen Press. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Marcel Ciampi". International Piano Archives at Maryland. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b "The Don Wright Faculty of Music". Music.uwo.ca. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  4. ^ "A Piano Method by Claude Debussy". Djupdal.org. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Mostly Mozart... and some Debussy!". francescopiemontesi.com. 7 August 2020. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Interview Carola Grindea". Yaltahmenuhin.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Classics Abroad". Classics Abroad. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  8. ^ San Bernardino Symphony Archived 28 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Alberto Gimenez Attenelle". queenelisabethcompetition.be (in French). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Albert Attenelle". Fundació Conservatori Liceu (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Anna Marie Globenski". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Bach cantatas". Bach cantatas. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  13. ^ "Viktor Ullmann Foundation Newsletter". Mitglied.lycos.de. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  14. ^ Association des amis d'Harmoniques, Bulletin n. 16 (Mars 2011), p. 6
  15. ^ "C-D: Marcel Ciampi (1891-1980)". A Buyer's Guide to Historic Piano Recordings Reissued on Compact Discs. International Piano Archives at Maryland. Retrieved 31 July 2013.

Sources

  • Eric Blom, ed., Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition (1954)

Further reading

  • John-Paul Bracey, A Biography of French Pianist Marcel Ciampi: Music To Last A Lifetime