Pierre Barbizet, pianist. archival footage 

Pierre Barbizet is a pianist born in French Arica in Chile, on 20 September 1922 and died in Marseille on 19 January 1990 . He was from 1963 until his death Director of the Conservatory of Marseille .
At the age of six, he discovered the piano and chamber music with his mother, a violinist. It was as if he was gifted with music from birth, implanted with musicality in his DNA.
He studied piano at the Conservatory of Marseille, then to that of Paris, where he received his first piano prize in the 1944 class of Armand Ferté .
He regularly performs at Gay Relay, a cabaret in Pigalle, where he finds his friends Pierre Petit and Samson François. With the latter, he later recorded a recital of works by Chopin, Ravel and Debussy for EMI in 1960. He was also well versed as a jazz pianist,and as an educator, his motto was to "take everything seriously except himself".
In 1948, he won first prize at the International Competition of Scheveningen (The Hague). There he met the violinist Christian Ferras, eleven years his junior, with whom he formed a famous duo that lasted until the Ferras' death in 1982. Together, they recorded the complete sonatas of Beethoven in 1958 for EMI, the sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, Fauré, Franck, Enescu, etc..
In 1949, Barbizet won the international competition Marguerite Long . Pierre Barbizet is received repeatedly by Marguerite Long, who completed his training. It is always with verve and emotion that evoke the great pianist.
In chamber music, Pierre Barbizet also collaborating with violinist Ivry Gitlis, flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal , pianist Jean Hubeau , the Parrenin Quartet and others.
In 1987, Georges Farret collects the testimony of Peter Barbizet on Christian Ferras : "Ferras and I remain as the interpreters who have always tried to live what is written, especially in the sonatas of Debussy and Enesco . My hope is that our records will advance young people in feeling the reality of the text. "
For solo piano, he recorded works by Chausson, Debussy , Fauré, Schubert, Couperin, Ravel, Beethoven and Schumann.
In 1963, he was appointed director of the Conservatory of Marseille, where he taught. He would head the conservatory for 26 years, until his death.
Among his many students are Hélène Grimaud , Frédéric Aguessy, Philippe Cassard , Jean-Yves Thibaudet , Paul-Bernard Reynier and Véronique Roux.