UPDATE, 26/6/12: Obituary of Engerer from The Telegraph.
Below is a short interview with her from French TV, and further info below. (Alas, I have no interview of my own to run here, so this statement is provided by her record company, harmonia mundi).
PARIS — French virtuoso pianist
Brigitte Engerer, known for her brilliant interpretations of French and Russian
repertoire, died in Paris on Saturday at the age of 59, her agent said in a
statement.
Engerer "played with some of the very
best", said Concerts de Valmalete, and "brought all of her talent to
what was a continual quest for musical truth".
French President Francois Hollande said in
a statement he was "saddened" by the news of her death and said
Engerer's "talent... honoured France".
Engerer always "supported young
musicians... while pursuing a remarkable international career", he said.
"We will all remember her great
personal bravery" in "fighting the illness that took her from
us."
Engerer had been battling cancer for
several years.
Born on October 27, 1952 in Tunis, Engerer started
playing the piano at age four and went to study at the Paris Conservatory at
the age of 11.
In 1969 she left Paris for the Moscow Conservatory, which gave
her a deep affiliation with the works of Russian composers, including
Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons" and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an
Exhibition". She would later release recordings of both.
"A part of her became Russian,"
her agent said.
Stanislas Neuhaus, her teacher at the
Moscow Conservatory, once described Engerer as "one of the most brilliant
pianists of her generation".
"Her playing is characterised by its
artistry and romantic spirit, its depth, the perfection of her technique and
her innate ability to reach the listener," he said.
Invitations to perform as a soloist with
some of the world's top orchestras took Engerer from Berlin,
Paris and Vienna
to Japan and New York's Carnegie
Hall, playing under conductors including Daniel Barenboim and Gary Bertini.
Her life was "an unremitting search
for musical truth to which she gave all her talent", the Concerts De
Valmalete said.
A fan of chamber music, Engerer also
regularly performed with other instrumentalists such as the violinist Olivier
Charlier and the cellist Henri Demarquette.
She was well-known for her high-profile
four-hand piano performances with Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky.
Engerer gave her last concert on June 12 at
the Champs-Elysees Theatre in Paris
playing Schumann with the Paris Chamber Orchestra, 50 years after first playing
in the prestigious venue.
She received a number of honours, including
the French Legion of Honour, and in 2011 was given a lifetime achievement award
by the French music industry.
