Thierry de Brunhoff

Thierry de Brunhoff (born 9 November 1934) is a French pianist and Benedictine monk.

Early life and education Thierry de Brunhoff is the son of Jean and Cécile de Brunhoff, creators of Babar the elephant, and younger brother of Laurent de Brunhoff and Mathieu de Brunhoff.

de Brunhoff started taking piano lessons from Alfred Cortot at age 11. Cortot was his greatest musical influence, as de Brunhoff testified several times: Thereafter, de Brunhoff also studied with Edwin Fischer, before becoming a teacher himself at the École normale de musique de Paris for over a decade. Among de Brunhoff's students was Hüseyin Sermet.

Career De Brunhoff is particularly known for his interpretations of Chopin and Schumann (one senses in this the very deep mark of his first master, Cortot), but his repertoire is very broad, from Beethoven to Debussy and Ravel, through Carl Maria von Weber, whose ostracism Brunhoff regrets, even the condescension with which he would be treated by musicians.

However, de Brunhoff's performance goes to Chopin, whom he praises in these terms:

In 1974, de Brunhoff retired as a monk to the En-Calcat Abbey in the Tarn department

De Brunhoff was also a devoted fan of Maria Callas.

Pianist and radio producer Philippe Cassard devoted several series of programs to de Brunhoff on France Musique between 2008 and 2015.

Discography In 2004, EMI Classics published a double record in the series "Les Rarissimes", with interpretations of works by Chopin, Weber and Schumann, revealing this pianist who was almost forgotten at the time.