Nicole-Henriot (Schweitzer) with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, conducted by Bernard Haitink in music by Gluck, Cherubini, Ravel and Debussy, recorded by AVRO on July 10, 1956.
Nicole Henriot (or Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer, her married name), was a brilliant French pianist who began her career at the age of 7, when she entered the Paris Conservatory and winning first prize at the Conservatory when she was 13. World War 2 put a damper on her performing but she emerged after the war, gaining a reputation as a performer whose fresh insights to the music of Prokofiev, Liszt and many others, but also specializing in music by her native French composers, including Ravel, Faure and Milhaud.
This concert features Nicole Henriot in the Piano concerto in G by Maurice Ravel – it begins the second part of this complete concert. It’s followed by a performance of Debussy’s La Mer.
The concert begins with Gluck’s overture to Alceste and the first half of the concert concludes with a performance of the Requiem by Luigi Cherubini.
She frequently toured with the conductor Charles Munch, who also happened to be her uncle by way of marriage and recorded many times with him and the Boston Symphony as well as Paris Conservatoire. She studied with the legendary Marguerite Long. Over the years of her career, Henriot received several dedications, including the most famous, the Concertante Suite by Darius Milhaud in 1953.
Sadly, Nicole Henriot passed away on February 4, 2001, but she did leave a legacy of numerous dedications as well as a number of memorable recordings.
Since the Ravel Piano concerto has become one of the masterpieces of Concert Hall literature, it certainly constitutes as the perfect remedy for potential Road Rage. So I wholeheartedly recommend you get comfy and crank this one up. Classic concert from 1956, sounding wonderful and perfectly preserved by Radio Nederland and their Archives.
Enjoy.
