Pianist Alain Planès reveals an instinctive rapport with French repertoire, displaying particular insight into Debussy, Satie, and Chabrier, yet he has established stronger ties to Schubert and Haydn through extensive performances and studio projects devoted to both composers. His broad catalogue further embraces Chopin and Scarlatti while advancing scores by Boulez, Berio, Ligeti, and Stockhausen. Numerous recordings, chiefly issued by Harmonia Mundi, include a 2024 collection of Gabriel Fauré’s piano music.
Born in Lyon, France, on January 20, 1948, Planès took up the piano at age five and performed with orchestra by age eight. From his mother he absorbed a lifelong passion for the arts, revealing not only precocious keyboard ability but also a feeling for poetry and painting. At twelve he captured first prize at the Lyon Conservatory competition and soon thereafter entered the Paris Conservatory to study with Jacques Février. Additional training in the United States took him to the University of Indiana at Bloomington, where his principal mentors included Menahem Pressler, Franco Gulli, William Primrose, and György Sebök. He subsequently appeared regularly in chamber settings alongside cellist Janos Starker.
Upon returning to France, Planès served as pianist for Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble InterContemporain before resigning in 1981 to pursue an international career as soloist and chamber musician. During the 1980s he strengthened his profile through a blend of solo recitals and ensemble engagements, while his growing discography also attracted attention. His first Harmonia Mundi project, a 1991 collaboration with cellist Lluís Claret, presented cello sonatas by Chopin and Richard Strauss; further releases encompassed an eight-disc cycle of Schubert sonatas and solo pieces together with an extensive series of Haydn keyboard sonatas.
In the twenty-first century Planès has remained active as soloist and chamber partner, appearing with major orchestras and at festivals such as Marlboro, Aix-en-Provence, and Montreux. Recent recordings feature the 2006 account of Debussy’s Children’s Corner Suite and the 2009 release Chopin chez Pleyel, performed on a period instrument. Dominique Lemonnier’s 2016 documentary Alain Planès, l’Infini Turbulent profiles his artistic life. Into the mid-2020s he has continued recording for Harmonia Mundi, issuing Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies in 2020, Chopin’s complete nocturnes in 2021, and Fauré’s piano music in 2024.
