Christophe Sirodeau

Composer & Pianist

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updated May 2008
 

the composer

contact: christophe@skfe.com

the pianist

"Musique Vespérale pour Elsa" (Sumphônia for violoncello and orchestra) op.14 was premiered on 19 May 2004 with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia (Finland), under the direction of Leif Segerstam with Pia Segerstam as cello soloist, with great succes. The final version of 2005 was played at the Corum Center, Montpellier (France), by the National Orchestra of Montpellier with the same conductor and soloist on 24 and 26 March 2006 (and was broadcast in May 2006 by Radio France /France-Musiques).

"Obscur Chemin des étoiles" (Nocturnal -Fantasy for piano) op.15, dedicated to his friend Jonathan Powell, was first performed (by Powell) in London on October 24, 2004. Powell also premiered "Cenotaphe" for piano in Moscow and "Jeux d'Ombres" for violin and piano (London) in 2005.

"La recherche de l'Absolu" (the 4th String Quartet op.16, in memory of his mother), was first performed in Autumn 2005 in Nürnberg and Würzburg (Germany) and translated by Bavarian Radio. During the next season 2008/09, "La Notte" op.17, on verses by Michelangelo, will be premièred by the Finnish bass Sami Luttinen, as well as a new large piece for violin and piano, dedicated to Eiichi Chijiiwa.

Author of nearly forty works, he became a Prize winner of the 8th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg (song category, 2002), and of the Reinl International Competition in Vienna (String Quartet category, 2003, for "Aurora per Diotima"). Following the Salzburg competition, his song "L'étoile" on verses by Rimbaud was published by Universal Edition in Vienna.

Other compositions have been played by well-known performers including the violonist Hannele Angervo-Segerstam, the mezzo-soprano Riitta-Maija Ahonen, and pianist Nikolaos Samaltanos. He started to compose at the age of 10 and although mainly self-taught as a composer, in the 1990s he sought some advice from the musicologist Vladimir Chinayev and the composer Victoria Borisova-Ollas. Also influential was Alain Poirier's analysis course at Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (1993-95).

The composer on CD:

"Obscur chemin des étoiles" published by
Altarus Records, Inc./USA - 2007

AIR-CD-9035

other pieces on this CD: Musique vespérale pour Elsa, Cenotaphe, Artificial horizon, Arlequins en rouge et blanc, Jeux d'ombres and Esquisse pour Adramandoni

Main works already played:
"La recherche de l'Absolu" for string quartet (n.4) - 2004
"Obscur chemin des étoiles" (Nocturnal-Fantasy for piano) - 2003/04
"Musique vespérale pour Elsa" for cello and orchestra - 2003/06
"Jeux d'ombres" for violin & piano,
"Vers ton Ombre" et "Aurora per Diotima" for string quartet (n.1 & 2) - 2001 & 2002
"Enigmes Florales: 12 Instantanés" 1998/2004 & "Cenotaphe" for piano - 2000
"Alba" for organ - 2001
"Visions bleues" on verses by M. Maeterlinck for voice & piano - 1999-2000
"Fil d'Ariane" for piano - 1997

 

 

Links:

return to the opening page ("AIFS", "Musica Reservata", etc.)

return to the French version of this page

Trio Dionysos

about some of my works (in French)

My family

 

 

 

 

 

Details about the new CDs published by Altarus

 

www.altarusrecords.com

 

 

Phono Suecia

  As a pianist, Sirodeau is principally a pupil of Evgeny Malinin (from 1982 to 1992) with whom he studied in both France and Russia, latterly at the Moscow Conservatoire (on a state scholarship, 1989-92). Among his others teachers were Alberto Neuman (a disciple of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli), Thérèse Dussaut and Dora Rybac. Sirodeau is known for his broad tastes and his curiosity for rarely heard scores from past and present both in concert, in the recording studio and for the radio. He has appeared as soloist (under Leif Segerstam's baton) with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Norway Radio Orchestra, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, and the Belgrade Philharmonic. In chamber music he is the partner of the Japanese violonist Eiichi Chijiiwa (one of the leaders of the Orchestre de Paris), a member of the Trio Dionysos, and was playing with the percussions ensemble Symbléma (Marseille), and also with the pianists Jonathan Powell et Nikolaos Samaltanos, and for "lieder-abend" mainly with the mezzo-soprano Riitta-Maija Ahonen. Since April 2007, after a proposition of René Koering, Christophe Sirodeau is the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Catalogne in Ceret (France).

His recordings of music by Feinberg (the complete sonatas in alternate collaboration with Samaltanos) and Skalkottas for BIS were widely praised in the international press. The first volume of Feinberg was named 'disc of the month' in May 2004 by Music Web International (where Colin Clarke wrote about the 6th Sonata: "The performance (Sirodeau) is miraculous"). Similar accolades followed in "ClassicsToday.com", in the BBC Music Magazine (both volumes), Klassik-Heute, Fanfare (in "The Want List"), and for his recording of Skalkottas' Chamber Concerto (also with Samaltanos), in both Gramophone and in Classica-Répertoire (France, winning the "Recommandé"). He has also recorded works of Segerstam (BIS, 1996), "Ulysse's Return" of Skalkottas for 2 pianos (with Samaltanos, for Agora, 1995), and a recital of Russian works of the early 20th century (Scriabin, Roslavets, Lourié and Feinberg, for Arkadia, 1994).  

The pianist on CD :

Feinberg: 1st piano Concerto op.20* (world premiere recording*) and piano pieces, published by

Altarus Records, Inc./USA - 2008

AIR-CD-9034

other pieces on this CD: Fantasia No.2, op.9 in E minor* / Etude op.11 No.1 in Eb major / Prelude op.8 No.2 in A minor / Prelude op.8 No.4 in Eb major / Etude op.11 No.4 in F minor / 3 Preludes op.15 / Berceuse op.19a / The Dream (from op.28) op.posth* / Album for Children op.posth*

Others CDs recording:

Victoria Borisova-Ollas: The Triumph of Heaven - CD Phono Suecia 171 [2008] (playing "Im Klosterhofe" for cello, piano and tape; with Pia Segerstam)
Feinberg: 12 Sonatas for piano [2 volumes] / Skalkottas: Chamber Concerto/ Segerstam: Chamber music (Bis Records /Sweden 2003-04 & 1996)

Skalkottas "Ulysse's Return" (Agora /Italy - 1995) and "XXth Century Russian Piano music" : Scriabin, Roslavets, Lourié, Feinberg (Arkadia / Italy - 1994)