Yvonne Loriod

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Yvonne Loriod (born 20 January 1924, Houilles, Paris, France) is a French pianist who became the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen.

She played the premieres of everything that he wrote for piano after the early 1940's. She is generally considered to be the most important interpreter of Messiaen's piano works. Her sister was the ondes martenot player Jeanne Loriod.

[edit] Biography

Yvonne Loriod studied at the Paris Conservatoire and became one of Olivier Messiaen's most avid pupils. At the age of 25, she was appointed professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and went on to become a nationally-acclaimed recording artist and concert pianist. She married Olivier Messiaen secretly following the death of his first wife, Claire Delbos, and premiered most of his works for the piano starting in the 1940s.