Description
The life of Helene de Montgeroult is perhaps the most extraordinary of any composer. After being attacked and beaten by Austrian mercenaries in1793 and losing her husband during the same incident, then being imprisoned in Paris during the Reign of Terror and saving her head by playing La Marseillaise in front of the Committee of Public Safety, she was appointed the first woman piano teacher at the Paris Conservatoire and published the most extensive course book for the piano – an unparalleled career!
Today, following two hundred years of total neglect, Helene’s music is again captivating pianists, critics and music lovers on all continents. In France 200 towns have already programmed concerts devoted to her music, as well as 84 cities in other countries, from Berlin to London, from Soo Paulo to Montreal, from Rio de Janeiro to Mexico City, not to mention Shanghai, Madrid, Barcelona, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Warsaw, Saint Petersburg, Boston and New York – fitting revenge for such a long period of oblivion !
The author, Jerome Dorival, musicologist, clarinettist and composer, has already published two books on Helene de Montgeroult (Symetrie, 2006 and 2024) and founded the publishing house Modulation in order to make the composer’s works available to the public (www.editionsmodulation.com).
