Francis Planté

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For the seventeenth century Dutch poet, see Franciscus Plante.

Francis Planté (March 2, 1839, in St. Avit – December 19, 1934) was a French pianist famed as one of the first ever recording artists.

He studied piano under Antoine Marmontel, his career beginning at the age of seven in Paris. While there he met and befriended many likeminded musicians who would have a long lasting effect on his career; including Franz Liszt, with whom he played arrangements of two of Liszt's symphonic poems (Les Préludes, and Tasso) for 2 pianos, Hector Berlioz; Gioacchino Rossini; Charles Gounod; Felix Mendelssohn; Sigismond Thalberg and Charles-Marie Widor. It is also known that he himself heard Frédéric Chopin play, and because of this, his recordings - and indeed the one video available of him - are seen as a link to a 'lost world' of piano performance.

He toured the concert platforms of Europe after leaving Paris, expanding his reputation for quality of tone and virtuosic, emotional interpretations. The death of his wife in 1908 resulted in him retiring from the stage, except for charity performances and concerts in aid of those wounded in the First World War.

Planté is featured in the 1999 DVD The Art of Piano, in which a short excerpt from the video of him playing Chopin's Etude in C Op. 10 No. 7 can be seen.

Francis Planté's style is considered very different from modern-day recording artists. The recordings available suggest a more paced performance with a more prominent accent on each beat and with the notes more pronounced.

Recordings that Planté made include:

• Chopin Etudes Op. 10 Nos. 4, 5 and 7
• Chopin Etudes Op. 25 Nos. 1, 2, 9 and 11
• Berlioz: Serenade
• Mendelssohn Scherzo in E Op. 16 No. 3

This includes a filmed performance of Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 7.

Arbiter Records have released a CD of Planté's Recordings.