Alfred Denis Cortot was a pianist, conductor, and music teacher, described as one of the greatest pianists in France in the 20th century. He was born in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and became known especially for his interpretations of Chopin and Schumann.
Cortot studied at the Paris Conservatory with Émile Decombes and Louis Diémer, receiving the Grand Prize in 1896. He made his professional piano debut in 1897, performing Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. From 1898 to 1901, he worked as a chorus master and assistant conductor at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1902, he conducted the Paris premiere of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. He also organized a concert society to present works including Wagner’s Parsifal, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Brahms’s A German Requiem, and new music by French composers.
In 1905, Cortot formed a piano trio with Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals. He taught at the Paris Conservatory from 1907 to 1923 and founded the École Normale de Musique in 1919. His courses in musical interpretation became renowned. His pupils included I. Lefebure, V. Perlemuter, K. Haskil, E. Boschi, C. Bruck, C. Engel, R. Lewenthal, Dinu Lipatti, J. Lowenthal, P. Salzman, M. Tagliaferro, and V. Lothar-Shevchenko.
In 1925, Cortot made what the article describes as the first electrical recording of classical music: a Chopin impromptu and Schubert’s Litany. He made many recordings during the 1920s and 1930s. He was celebrated for his interpretations of Chopin and Schumann, and his edited editions and commentaries on their works continued to be valued. His recordings included Liszt’s B minor Piano Sonata and Saint-Saëns’s Étude en forme de valse. The article also notes that he sometimes made errors when he relied too heavily on memory, although his playing could display brilliant technique.
Cortot wrote Rational Principles of Pianoforte Technique, a book of finger exercises addressing different aspects of piano technique. He also edited the Working Editions series on piano performance, with analyses of works by Romantic composers including Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Mendelssohn. He died in Lausanne in 1962.