©Photo: E.CAREN

©Photo: Andrew Eccles

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Piano

Home
Reviews
Projects
Features
Discography

“Sophistication and suavity, both clarity and freedom”
(The New York Times)

Gallery

Artist-in-Residence: Colburn School

Through elegant musicality and an insightful approach to both contemporary and established repertoire, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest pianists. He is especially known for his diverse interests beyond the classical world; in addition to his many forays into jazz and opera — including works which he transcribed himself for the piano — Thibaudet has forged profound friendships around the globe, leading to fruitful collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. He is a devoted educator and the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School, which awards several scholarships in his name.

Thibaudet opens the 2024/25 season with Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F at the Colorado Symphony; he later brings the piece to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He performs another signature piece, Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No.5, with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Pacific, Kansas City, and San Diego Symphonies, Macao Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. A major contemporary exponent of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, Thibaudet performs the piece with the National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and Tonhalle orchestras.

In Seoul, with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, he returns to Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, which he performed last season in a synesthetic presentation with olfactory cues created by Mathilde Laurent of Cartier. He also appears as soloist on Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.2, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Münchner Philharmoniker; Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No.2, Age of Anxiety, with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra; and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the New Jersey Symphony and Palm Beach Symphony orchestras. Other season highlights include world premiere performances of two new works: Benjamin Attahir’s double-concerto Hanoï Songs, with the Seattle Symphony, and Manu Martin’s Cosmic Rhapsody, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; and the return of his program with Michael Feinstein, Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More? in Rome and San Francisco.

In addition to his orchestral dates, Thibaudet takes part in the Itzhak Perlman and Friends tour across California and a tour of Asia with longtime collaborator Gautier Capuçon. While visiting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he will play chamber music with members of the orchestra. He also continues his multi-season focus on Debussy’s Préludes, performing both books in their entirety at recitals across the United States; last season saw a reissue of his seminal 1996 recording of the Préludes on limited-edition vinyl with design by Vivienne Westwood.

Thibaudet © KLASSIK Underground

A prolific recording artist, Thibaudet has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores; his extensive catalogue has received two Grammy nominations, two ECHO Awards, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d’Or, the CHOC du Monde de la Musique, the Edison Prize, and Gramophone awards. Recent recordings include Gershwin Rhapsody, a collection of Gershwin pieces recorded with Michael Feinstein, including four newly-discovered ones; Night After Night, a celebration of James Newton Howard’s scores for the films of M. Night Shyamalan; and Carte Blanche, a collection of deeply personal solo piano pieces never before recorded by the pianist. Other highlights include a 2017 recording of Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop; recordings of the complete solo piano music of Debussy and Satie; Grammy-nominated recordings of Ravel’s complete solo piano works and Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerti Nos.2&5; the jazz albums Reflections on Duke and Conversations With Bill Evans; and Aria – Opera Without Words, which features arias transcribed for solo piano by Thibaudet himself.

Thibaudet has also had an impact on the worlds of fashion, film, and philanthropy. He was soloist on Aaron Zigman’s score for Wakefield; this was the first time the composer had allowed a pianist other than himself to perform his film work. He was also soloist in Dario Marianelli’s award-winning scores for the films Atonement (which won an Oscar for Best Original Score) and Pride and Prejudice, as well as Alexandre Desplat’s soundtracks for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. He had a cameo in Bruce Beresford’s film on Alma Mahler, Bride of the Wind, and his playing is showcased throughout. In 2004 he served as president of the prestigious charity auction at the Hospices de Beaune. His concert wardrobe is designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, where he began his piano studies at age five and made his first public appearance at age seven. At twelve, he entered the Paris Conservatory to study with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator of Ravel. At age fifteen, he won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire and, three years later, the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York City. Among his numerous commendations is the Victoire d’Honneur, a lifetime career achievement award and the highest honour given by France’s Victoires de la Musique. In 2010 the Hollywood Bowl honored Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. Previously a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Thibaudet was awarded the title Officier by the French Ministry of Culture in 2012. In 2020, he was named Special Representative for the promotion of French Creative and Cultural Industries in Romania. He is a co-artistic advisor with Gautier Capuçon of the Festival Musique & Vin au Clos Vougeot in Burgundy.

HarrisonParrott represents Jean-Yves Thibaudet for worldwide general management.

Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 - I.Allegro II parte Jean-Yves Thibaudet Gustavo Dudamel © SinfonicaJuvenilTC

The GMJO with Philippe Jordan at the Semperoper Dresden: Episode 6 © Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.5 - Thibaudet / Concertgebouw Orchestra - Live Concert HD © AVROTROS Klassiek

“Thibaudet’s Debussy Preludes were dramatic and exciting, and all the impressions created by each Prelude linked together seemed to tell one story.”

Seen and Heard International, January 2024

“On paper, this was a fine balance of classical precision and cabaret flair. In performance, it was an even deeper and richer mix of Thibaudet’s way of playing that felt spontaneous and Feinstein’s urbane and multi-hued delivery.”

Financial Times, George Grella, December 2023

“The quicksilver, keyboard-spanning runs and arpeggios of the first movement flowed with rippling liquidity. The Andante’s colorful potpourri of Egyptian references was redolently atmospheric.”

Bachtrack, February 2023

“There was plenty of Mr. Thibaudet’s trademark refinement in his playing of lacy, ruminative, lyrical passages. He dispatched bursts of arpeggios and spiraling figures with virtuosic élan. Yet I especially liked the way he tore into vehement episodes: He tossed off bursts of double octaves with steely fortissimo sound, and brought earthy rawness to the driving left-hand chords and crunchy theme that opens the finale…”

(March 2019, New York Times)

“Having Jean-Yves Thibaudet as solo protagonist in Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand proved luxury casting indeed. Few keyboard artists embody Ravel’s blend of supple elegance and unbridled bravura so naturally and effortlessly. The French pianist’s limpid refinement in the lyrical sections was as neat and idiomatic as his explosive bursts were exciting. Thibaudet’s five-fingered virtuosity handled the leaping notes with such ease and fluency, one would swear that two hands were playing.”

(April 2018, Chicago Classical Review)

“No easier to let go of will be Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Simply put, he was a titanic force, turning what might be perceived as a limitation into an expressive and technical opportunity…the pianist also a proved a digital wizard, voicing lines in his one hand the way Baroque masters play fugues with two. He did it all with obvious joy and seeming ease, too, unfurling melodies with the heavenly smoothness of a golden spinning wheel.”

(Cleveland, February 2018)

“But there was a firecracker in the middle of the evening: Franz Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto. Forsaking virtuosity for its own sake, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and de Waart laid out an Olympian conception of a work that is a study in contrasts and contradictions… (they) knew what they wanted to say and how to say it together, in a performance at once impassioned and restrained, with a firecracker’s punch and a candle’s glow.”

(San Diego Tribune, October 2017)

“star performers were welcomed, and they included … no less than Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Yuja Wang as the two-piano team in the (Mozart) double concerto. Thibaudet set a supremely suave tone. Wang’s responses were more adamant… This is an irresistible piano duo in the making.”

(LA Times, Sep 2017)

“Jean-Yves Thibaudet brings a genuine Jazz feeling to this piece [Gershwin Piano Concerto in F] somewhere between a classical piano concerto and sparkling improvisation….the cadenzas were sensitive and expressive…[and] the rhythmic explosion of the “Agitato” finale was stunning.”

(Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, July 2017)

“The fusion of traditional form and American Jazz was performed by the star pianist Jean-Yves Thibuadet, who played not only with flawless technique but also with French elegance.”

(Bietigheimer Zeitung, July 2017)

“From the first delicate notes, his attitude was clear: no pianistic affectation. Instead — simple, yet with crystal clear touch”

(Westdeutsche Zeitung, June 2017)

“…one of the most formidable 20^th-century works: Messiaen’s mystical, ecstatic, 75-minute “Turangalila-symphonie.” The superb pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet played the daunting piano part commandingly.”

(New York Times, October 2016)

“Jean-Yves Thibaudet played the extensive piano part with extraordinary dexterity and riveting forcefulness, as well as with enthusiasm and captivating wit.”

(Classical Source, October 2016)

“Thibaudet played the jazzy, mercurial G Major Piano Concerto of Ravel…proving again the brilliance of his technique and his stylistic mastery of this repertoire. The piano, technically a percussion instrument, has seldom sounded less percussive. It’s hard to imagine this music emerging with more loving finesse and more exquisite detail.”

(The Seattle Times, June 2016)

“the prodigious Jean-Yves Thibaudet … was spectacular, lending French panache to the proceedings in an account that was both technically formidable and charged with energy and passion”

(Santa Barbara Independent, March 2016)

“Thibaudet returned for an impeccable rendition of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat major … In his natural flair and joyful engagement, Thibaudet appeared to play with pure spontaneity. Something wondrous occurred in the Adagio un poco mosso… a highlight of the evening. With the swelling of the strings, Beethoven’s resonating theme emerged. Then Thibaudet emerged, his notes transparent like sparkling stars on a cloudless night.”

(Bachtrack, January 2016)

“…a scintillating Age of Anxiety…has the poetic Jean-Yves Thibaudet as protagonist…Never be deceived by his flamboyance. He is the most soulful of players.”

(Gramophone, March 2017)

“The piano score was rendered with flair by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who brought an energetic touch to the rollicking sections and a poetic limpidity to the moments of gossamer filigree.”

(The New York Times, August 2015)

“A complete triumph”

(The Boston Globe, August 2015)

“He’s a master colorist and a great communicator, able to reduce a large concert hall to an intimate chamber of intent listeners.”

(The Seattle Times, September 2015)

“The performance was so exuberant and inspired it was impossible not to be swept up in the work.”

(The New York Times, February 2015)