Denis Levaillant (born 3 August 1952) is a French composer, pianist and writer based in Paris, France.[1][2] He has orchestrated more than twenty musical shows including La Petite Danseuse de Degas [fr] and composed more than 120 musical works worldwide.[3] Levaillant has been recognized for his improvisation and orchestration work and his ability to synthesize in his art several antagonistic genres such as composition/improvisation, classical/jazz, classical/popular and acoustic/electro.[4]
Levaillant was born in Paris to Raymonde and Jean Levaillant. He is the grandson of the French poet and critic, Maurice Levaillant [fr; de]. He started playing piano at an early age of five. He began harmony, counterpoint and composition training at the age of twelve, under French music professor, Magdeleine Mangin in 1964, in Nancy, France.[5]
In 1980, at the age of 26, Levaillant began composing ballet music for the Paris Opera.[1] In 1981, he founded Bleu 17, a music institution that focused on producing musical shows.[10]
In 1995, Levaillant was commissioned by Ensemble InterContemporain and Musée du Louvre for creating music for Fritz Lang's last silent film, Woman in the Moon.[15] Later that year, he co-founded the Cabinet de Musique Généraliste (CMG) with Frédéric Leibovitz [fr], an initiative aimed towards promoting contemporary music in the audiovisual world. Over the years, prominent composers and musicians like Philippe Hersant, Allain Gaussin, Bruno Letort [fr; nl], L'Orchestre de contrebasses [fr], Gilles Racot [fr], Christian Zanési, Michel Redolfi [fr], Cesarius Alvim [fr; de], Calin Ioachimescu and Doina Rotaru became part of the Cabinet de Musique Généraliste.[1][16]
In the late 1990s, Levaillant performed live at various festivals and composed several works such as Echo de Narcisse, Le Clair, l'Obscur pour quatuor à cordes, Paysages de Conte and Tombeau de Gesualdo. In 2004, Lavaillant composed music for Enki Bilal's science fiction film, Immortal.[17]
In 2014, 15 universities in the United States invited Levaillant for the master classes and concerts.[22]
Personal lifeedit
Apart from being a musician, Levaillant is a mountaineer. He has climbed in Oisans alongside Jean-Michel Cambon and Bernard Francou. Levaillant has also climbed new challenging routes in Bolivia with the French climber, Alain Mesili.[23]
Levaillant was married in 1972, to Christine Rigaud. The couple has two children, Julie and Fabien, and three grandchildren, Marilou, Elise and Andréa.[6]
Reference: Denis Levaillant – Bibliography – Book CDs, denislevaillant.net
Operas and showsedit
1974 : L'oreille bée
1976 : Le Baigneur
1978 : Embellie fixe
1979 : Le jardin du sanglier
1980 : Piano Check-up, La Chevauchée
1981 : Portrait de l'artiste
1981 : Grand Corridor
1982 : Dérive
1982 : D.D.Blue Gold Digger,
1983 : Inside
1983 : Aranzaquil
1983 : Deux pièces à louer, Piano check-up & Le Baigneur
1983 : Les Pas Perdus
1984 : The Blue Street
1984 : Rythm'n'shoes
1986': Eaux-fortes
1986 : Le Dernier Pèlerinage
1986 : Les Passagers du delta
1987 : Les heures défaites
1987 : Solo piano solo
1989 : O.P.A MIA
1989 : Passage de l'heure bleue
1992 : Lettres de Georgie, Ballet
1993 : Piano Circus
1994 : Poètes et burlesques, Spectacle musical, pièces pour piano accompagnant un programme de films Pathé des années 1910.
1995 : Passions, Les Pierres noires, Sunny Cash passion, Compassion, Madrigaux de guerre & Tombeau de Gesualdo.
1995 : La Femme sur la Lune
1998/1999 : Techno Space Piano
1999/2000 : Eloge de la radio
2003 : La Petite danseuse
2005/2006 : Un petit rien-du-tout
2009/2010 : Les Musiciens de Brême
Reference: Denis Levaillant – Operas and shows, denislevaillant.net
Referencesedit
^ abcDictionnaire des Musiciens. Les Dictionnaires d'Universalis (in French). Primento Digital Publishi. 27 October 2015. ISBN 9782852291409. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^F. M. (12 February 1981). "Une Étude de Denis Levaillant". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Boisseau, Rosita (1 July 2010). "La Petite Danseuse de Degas ressuscite à l'Opéra Garnier". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ abAnquetil, Pascal (1989). Jazz de France (in French). CENAM. pp. 86–88. ISBN 9782916668413. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ abSanson, David. "Denis Levaillant – Biographie" (PDF). denislevaillant.net (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Fischlin, Daniel; Heble, Ajay (30 March 2004). The Other Side of Nowhere – Jazz, Improvisation, and Communities in Dialogue. Wesleyan University Press. p. 13. ISBN 9780819566829. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Gooley, Dana (15 May 2018). Fantasies of Improvisation – Free Playing in Nineteenth-Century Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190633608. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^David, Jean-Marie (2008). "Denis Levaillant, a composer at the heart of creation" (documentary). medici.tv. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Ancelin, Pierre; Pistone, Danièle (1987). Le Théâtre lyrique français, 1945-1985. H. Champion. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9782852030411. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Barbier, Christophe (31 May 2016). "Enki Bilal: 'Disséquer La Bohème de Puccini, voir l'opéra de l'intérieur'". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"Programmation 1990 – 44e édition O.P.A. Mia". festival-avignon.com (in French). 1990. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^International Who's who in Music and Musicians' Directory In the classical and light-classical fields. International Biographical Centre. 2000. p. 384. ISBN 9780948875533. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"Partition à telecharger du compositeur Denis Levaillant". pianobleu.com (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"Denis Levaillant: Pour «Une femme sur la lune» de Fritz Lang (1995)" (work details) (in French and English). IRCAM.
^"Immortel ad vitam – The European Film Awards". europeanfilmawards.eu. 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"La Petite danseuse de Degas DVD". tutti-magazine.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"Spectacle: La petite danseuse de Degas – Paris (France) : Opéra national de Paris-Palais Garnier – 26-06-2010". BnF. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"Spectacle: La petite danseuse de Degas – Paris (France) : Opéra national de Paris-Palais Garnier – 25-04-2003". BnF. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Vagne, Thierry (17 February 2016). "Denis Levaillant – Pachamama Symphony". vagnethierry.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^"Denis Levaillant – Jazz and opera composer". universalproductionmusic.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^Deck, Claude (1 January 2006). "Chronique alpine et des montagnes du monde », La Montagne et l'Alpinisme : revue du Club alpin français et du Groupe de haute montagne". bnf.fr. La Montagne et Alpinisme. p. 77. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
External linksedit
Official website
"Denis Levaillant (biography, works, resources)" (in French and English). IRCAM.