Bertrand Chamayou has earned acclaim for his distinctive approach to Romantic piano literature while maintaining an extensive catalog that reaches well into the present day. He remains the sole pianist to receive France’s Victoire de la Musique Classique award on three occasions.
Born in Toulouse on 23 March 1981, Chamayou mastered musical notation within weeks yet deliberately sidestepped the conventional prodigy path, preferring to explore his own pieces at the family piano rather than drilling standard exercises. He began formal training at the Toulouse Conservatory under Claudine Willoth and, at fifteen, accepted an invitation from Jean-François Heisser to join the Paris Conservatory. Additional private lessons took place in London with Maria Curcio, and he later drew guidance from Leon Fleisher, Dmitri Bashkirov, and most significantly Murray Perahia, whose tutelage he has repeatedly cited as decisive. Early prizes at the Kraïnev Piano Competition in Ukraine and the International Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition helped launch his professional engagements; his first commercial recording, the 2008 Naïve release Bertrand Chamayou Plays Mendelssohn, marked his debut on disc.
Chamayou has performed with leading ensembles across Europe and North America, among them the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Festival appearances have included the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Beethovenfest in Bonn. Although best known for Romantic works, he has maintained an active role in contemporary music, collaborating directly with Henri Dutilleux, Pierre Boulez, and Esa-Pekka Salonen on new pieces. Chamber-music partnerships have encompassed Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Vilde Frang, and Sol Gabetta.
Since 2008 he has issued recordings nearly annually for Naïve, Sony Classical, and Erato/Warner Classics, concentrating chiefly on Romantic repertoire. For Erato he completed a widely praised survey of Ravel’s complete piano music. His 2019 account of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 5, recorded with the French National Orchestra under Emanuel Krivine, was named Recording of the Year by Gramophone. The solo recital Good Night! appeared on Erato in 2020, followed in 2022 by a recording of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant-Jésus and, the next year, by Letter(s) to Erik Satie. Chamayou also contributed to the Emerson String Quartet’s final album, Infinite Voyage, released in 2023. In 2015 he was appointed Chevalier of France’s Order of Arts and Letters.
