French Pianism: A Historical Perspective (Amadeus) [Hardcover] Review

I purchased "French Pianism" to trace the heritage of my teacher, Leo Steffens. He was a student of Robert Casadeseus, who was a student of Louis Diemer, (not a very good teacher, or so the book says), who was a student of Anton Marmontel, who was not much of a player, but a very good teacher, who was a student of Pierre Zimmerman, one of the original French School pianists.
Zimmerman came of age in the Chopin Era, and thus he brought that approach into the mainstream of French pianism. The chart on pages 54-55 shows a clear pedagogical lineage.
Chopin was a bit of a self-taught original, as were Liszt and Beethoven. Mozart, as well as Bach came from a background of family schooling. So, no real connections there, although Beethoven has a lineage of students through Czerny, and Liszt had many students, but only one real protege', Carl Tausig, who died young.
There do not seem to be any "national schools" of pianism left, as the interviews with mid-20th century performers and teachers makes clear. The French School, with its "jeux perle" or light,fast sound, and decidedly non-German approach, has made way for a more international, and thus blander approach to making piano music.
It is a bit of a "thing" for pianists to know who they are "grand-students" of, and, now I know.
Nice photos, many short bios, and little editorializing make this an even-handed, if not exactly thrilling book.
88melter

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Product Description:
The recognized pre-eminence of Paris as a center of the piano world dates from the early nineteenth century, and the rigorous standards of musical education that are the hallmark of the Paris Conservatoire transmitted the characteristic French piano style faithfully to each new generation for some 150 years. First published to critical acclaim in 1992, this landmark study, now considerably expanded and revised, surveys the historical development, performance practices, and pedagogical philosophies of this vital - and diverse - French school of piano playing. The author, himself a noted pianist, studied with several proponents of the jeu perle, that uniquely French style of playing categorized by rapid, clean, even passage work, note after note "bright and perfectly formed, like each pearl on a necklace." Over a fifteen-year period, he conducted more than seventy interviews with notable French-trained pianists, many of them new to this edition and all of them frank and lively conversationalists, ranging from a ninety-six-year-old Paul Loyonnet - an important link to the traditions of the nineteenth century - to emerging young talents of today. Adding an element of specificity to this edition are the author's detailed recollections of his own lessons with such luminaries as Gaby Casadesus, Jeanne-Marie Darre, Monique Haas, Eric Heidsieck, and Magda Tagliaferro.

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