Roger Désormière (born Vichy, 13 September 1898, died Paris 25 October 1963) was a French conductor.[1]
He studied at the Paris Conservatoire: his professors included Philippe Gaubert (flute), Xavier Leroux and Charles Koechlin (composition), and Vincent d'Indy (conducting). In 1922 he won the Prix Blumenthal and in 1923 became part of the Ecole d’Arcueil.[2]
Désormière’s early conducting experience was thanks largely to his work with the Ballets Suédois and Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He was conductor of the Ballets Suédois premiere of Relâche (1924), a film and music presentation by Francis Picabia and Eric Satie, with the film segment, Entr'acte, directed by René Clair. He then worked for the Diaghilev company from 1925 until the death of the impresario, conducting the premieres of Barabau by Vittorio Rieti, The Prodigal Son and the Pas d’Acier by Prokofiev, La Chatte by Sauguet.[3]
From 1932 he became closely involved in music for films with Pathé-Nathan, composing music for La Règle du jeu, Le Mariage de Chiffon, and Le Voyageur de la Toussaint. He also conducted the orchestra in over 20 other films, such as Partie de campagne, La Règle du jeu, Remorques, La Belle et la bête, and La Beauté du diable.
He conducted the first complete recording of Claude Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande, the sessions taking place in the salle de l’ancien Conservatoire, Paris from 24 April to 26 May 1941, during the Nazi occupation, with the 20-record set being issued in January 1942.[4] He also recorded excerpts from Chabrier’s L'étoile with Opéra-Comique forces during the war. During the occupation of Paris he was a member of the National Resistance Front; after Milhaud was forced to leave France, Désormière saved his paintings and personal possessions as well as paying the apartment rent during the Occupation.[5]
He also won considerable fame as an enthusiastic champion of twentieth-century repertoire Olivier Messiaen, Erik Satie, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, and Maurice Duruflé all benefited from his advocacy of their pieces; and, at the other chronological extreme, for his editing and performance of early music reviving mostly-forgotten compositions by the likes of François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Michel-Richard Delalande. From 1937 he was a leading conductor for the Paris Opéra-Comique, conducting, in addition to the creations below and recordings above, Une éducation manquée, L'heure espagnole, Le médecin malgré lui, Don Quichotte and L’Enlèvement au Sérail.[6] He became an associate director of the Paris Opéra from 1945 to 1946.
Works whose premieres were conducted by Désormière include:
His discography includes:
While driving in Rome during 1950, he suffered a massive paralytic stroke that ended all his musical activities. Aphasic for the rest of his life, he remained a recluse.
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