Engerer (Brigitte)

Classical pianist / Performing at the Pitié-Salpétrière hospital in the series of concerts organised by the Foundation and Radio Classique on behalf of neglected audiences (28th September 2010)

The reason the flamboyant romantic Liszt is one of Brigitte Engerer’s favourite composers is his ­capacity to exploit every conflicting emotion the piano is capable of producing a range of moods the solo pianist has been exploring ever since her childhood. Born in Tunis and trained at the Conservatoire de Paris by Lucette Descaves who also taught the Labeque sisters and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, it was nonetheless during the nine years she spent in Moscow that Brigitte Engerer found her true maestro, Stanislas Neuhaus. There she discovered both a language (she speaks Russian) and a new grammar thanks to her other favourite composers, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.

At the end of the 1970s, Karajan offered to audition her. At the same time, her career took a new turn, when she began to record for Philipps and Harmonia Mundi. She has a wide repertoire that includes Chopin (Nocturnes), Schubert, Schumann, Grieg, Beethoven, Chausson… Mozart intimidates her, as does Bach, although she still takes on both the only composer she refuses to play is Haydn.

Brigitte Engerer is occasionally prone to whimsical ideas. Studios frighten her as much as an operating theatre, so why not therefore tackle her fears head on by playing live at a hospital? On 28 September 2010, the pianist has agreed to appear at the Chapelle Saint-Louis at the Pitié-Salpétrière Hospital, playing for an audience who usually have little access to music.