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Cécile Ousset, pianist

Short Biography

The French pianist Cécile Ousset gave her first recital at the age of five. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Marcel Ciampi and went on to win many of the world’s foremost competitions, including the Van Cliburn and Queen Elisabeth.

Cécile Ousset is a frequent and popular guest in many parts of the world. She made her US debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestras in 1984 and has since returned there annually for engagements including concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and the National Symphony. She has visited Hong Kong, Australia/New Zealand and Japan several times (including NHK Symphony). A favourite with audiences in the UK, and a regular guest with leading orchestras in Europe, she appeared most recently with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, RSO Berlin, Gothenburg Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Northern Sinfonia and the Bournemouth Symphony, and her annual recitals in London’s Wigmore Hall/Queen Elizabeth Hall are a highlight of the season. In February 2000 she returned to the New York Philharmonic for her third visit during Maestro Masur’s tenure, this time under the baton of Fabio Luisi.

Cécile Ousset’s recording of the Brahms Piano Concerto No 2 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus conducted by Kurt Masur won the coveted Grand Prix du Disque. Her relationship with EMI over a number of years also produced prize-winning recordings of the great Romantic concerti with partners such as the London Symphony/Marriner, Philharmonia/Herbig, City of Birmingham/Rattle and London Philharmonic/Masur, and she has recorded Gershwin with the Stuttgart Radio/Marriner for Capriccio. Her recital discs of Liszt, Chopin, Debussy and Ravel for EMI have received worldwide critical acclaim, and in 1999 BBC Worldwide released a recital disc recorded live at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Cécile Ousset holds masterclasses every Summer for international students in the medieval village of Puycelsi in south-west France.

July 2000/330 words

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