Description
A bold and contrasting personality, capable of subtle poetry and powerful lyricism, Bruno Rigutto confesses to having received from Samson François, whom he was a disciple of for ten years, “the sense of freedom in music, generosity, the need for imagination, and above all, the sense of touch.”
Bruno Rigutto studied piano at the Conservatoire de Paris in the class of Lucette Descaves, chamber music with Jean Hubeau, composition, and orchestral conducting. Upon leaving the Conservatoire, he quickly became a laureate of the Marguerite Long competition in Paris and the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow, chaired by Emil Gilels. At the age of seventeen, he met Samson François. Bruno Rigutto rapidly began an international career, invited by the greatest conductors: Carlo Maria Giulini, Georges Prêtre, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Bernstein, Zdenek Macal, Serge Baudo, Kurt Masur, Marc Soustrot, Antonello Allemandi, Laurent Petitgirard. Bruno Rigutto also dedicates himself to chamber music, through which he draws the necessary substance for his research. His partners have been Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Arto Noras, Yo Yo Ma, Barbara Hendricks, Michel Portal, Jean-Pierre Wallez, Patrice Fontanarosa, Brigitte Engerer, Laurent Korcia, Marc Coppey, Henri Demarquette, Dong Suk Kang, Alexander Kniazev, Augustin Dumay, Pierre Amoyal, the Debussy and Modigliani quartets.
His discography is extensive. He has recorded around fifty albums for DECCA, EMI, FORLANE, DENON, LYRINX, and has received several major awards for his recordings and a Victoire de la musique. In 2014, a box set was released containing most of his DECCA recordings, from Bach to Prokofiev. In 2020, he recorded the complete Nocturnes of Chopin for the APARTé label. As a conductor and composer, he is responsible for several stage and film scores. In 2007, he was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Teaching holds an important place in his life: he taught for twenty years at the Conservatoire National de Paris, where he succeeded Aldo Ciccolini. He has contributed to the training of numerous young soloists who are now pursuing international careers: Kotaro Fukuma, Romain Descharmes, Romain Hervé, Guillaume Coppola, Etsuko Hirose, Lise de la Salle, Claire-Marie Le Guay, François Dumont… He currently teaches at the Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot and gives interpretation and competition preparation lessons at the Schola Cantorum de Paris. He also teaches at summer academies (Nice Academy, MusicAlp de Tignes, etc.), and is regularly invited to master classes in Europe, China, Korea, and Japan (TOHO Gakuen College, Nagoya, etc.). He has been participating in the Lisztomanias Festival in Chateauroux and the Franz Liszt Institute for ten years.
