Georges Pludermacher

Pianist Georges Pludermacher built his reputation on an unusually broad repertory that gave prominent space to daring contemporary pieces during an era when such programming remained rare. He has sustained equal commitments to solo recitals, concerto engagements, and chamber partnerships throughout his career.

Born in Guéret on July 26, 1944, while France remained under occupation, Pludermacher began piano studies at the age of three. At eleven he entered the Paris Conservatory, supplementing his training with summer courses from Géza Anda in Lucerne. After finishing his studies at nineteen, he captured the institution’s highest honors in piano, chamber music, and accompaniment, fields that have continued to define his professional path.

Early on, Pludermacher gravitated toward new music, delivering the first performances of avant-garde scores such as André Boucourechliev’s Archipel I and Iannis Xenakis’s Synaphaï. He collaborated regularly with the Ensemble Musique Vivante and other ensembles devoted to contemporary repertory. On the concerto platform he appeared with leading conductors and orchestras, among them Georg Solti leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez with the London Sinfonietta, and Christoph von Dohnányi directing the National Orchestra of France. For several years he also served as pianist of the Paris Opera Orchestra and performed at summer festivals across Europe.

As an accompanist, Pludermacher has partnered frequently with instrumentalists such as violinist Nathan Milstein and violist Yuri Bashmet, and with singers including Ernst Haefliger, with whom he presented song cycles by Schubert, Schumann, and Schoenberg.

His extensive discography has centered, in the CD period, on releases for Harmonia Mundi and Transart; the latter label issued his complete cycle of Beethoven piano concertos with the Orchestre de Bretagne. Pludermacher has remained professionally active well into later life, contributing in 2020 to a Harmonia Mundi collection that presented Liszt’s piano transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies.