Serge Blanc (violinist)

Serge Blanc (31 December 1929 – 29 June 2013) was a French classical violinist. A

Born in Paris on 31 December 1929, Blanc began studying violin at the age of six.^[1] He passed the entrance exam to the Conservatoire de Paris at age ten and studied with Jules Boucherit.^{[2][page needed]} He was awarded the First prize for violin three years later, later also the Prix d'Honneur for chamber music.^[1]

Being of

In 1941, at age eleven, he played as a soloist with the Orchestra of the Colonne Concerts conducted by Louis Fourestier.^[1] At age thirteen, he played Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Saint-Saëns's Havanaise with the Pasdeloup Orchestra. He played another recital at the Salle Gaveau at age 15, which was praised by the press, and musicians such as Alfred Cortot with whom he played violin sonatas by Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel Fauré in concert.^[1]

Adult career

In both 1946 and 1947, Blanc was sent on official tours by the Ministry of Fine Arts, to represent France in Europe. In 1949, he won the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition. He met George Enescu who influenced him for a long time, and with whom he played in concert at the Salle Gaveau.^{[5][page needed]} He also collaborated with Nadia Boulanger until she died in 1979.^[1]

In 1952, Blanc left for the United States. He played at the

In 1962, Blanc joined the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris as principal of the second violon section.^[1] In 1973, he was appointed musical director of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. There he invited conductors such as Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache and Lorin Maazel. He left Radio France two years later, and took his place again in the orchestra where he stayed until his retirement.^[1] Blanc died in Paris on 29 June 2013.^[8]

Pedagogy

Blanc was professor at the École normale de musique de Paris where he created the chamber music class. Then he was violin and chamber music teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris, and gave private lessons where he taught mainly chamber music. Based on the teaching by Enescu, Blanc collected and annotated Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, which Enescu called "the Himalayas of the violinists". Having studied them for half a century, he published a pedagogical edition with recommendations for phrasing, tempo, fingering, and expression.^[9]

References