Jean-Francois Zygel
His projects combine improvisation, composition and repertoire, with his main ports of call this season being La Seine Musicale, the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse and the Philharmonie Luxembourg.
Acclaimed by the general public for his work in introducing classical music to radio and television, Jean-François Zygel is also renowned in France and abroad as one of the leading specialists in concert accompaniment of silent films.
At the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, he teaches piano improvisation, a class he founded twenty years ago.
Jean-François Zygel can regularly be heard on France Inter and France Télévisions, where he defends classical music in all its forms with humor and passion.
Program proposals
Fantaisies on Bach
“There is always a moment in the life of a musician when Bach falls on his head ...
Take Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann (who said of the Well-Tempered Clavier that he was his "daily bread"), Chopin (who began his days with the performance of a Prelude and fugue), Brahms, Liszt, not to mention, more close to us, Shostakovich and his twenty-four Preludes and fugues, Hindemith and his Ludus Tonalis.
More recently, Bach has become the favorite food of improvisers, especially jazz musicians.
Will you be shocked that I take my turn in Bach's music, that I deliver my vision of it, that I remember the 18th century to better invent the 21st century? "
Fantaisies on Beethoven
Virtuosity, sense of color, fantasy, humor and imagination will be the key words of this exceptional concert by the most famous of French pianist improvisers, in homage to the great romantic composer.
Inspired by his rhythmic energy, his pianistic heroism, his powerful and drawn themes, Jean-François Zygel imagines for us a veritable recital of improvisations, as Beethoven himself practiced them until the end of his life in front of his dear Viennese audience.
Jean-François Zygel sets Fables de la Fontaine to music
Jean-François Zygel deploys all his virtuosity in honor of Jean de La Fontaine! The famous improviser pianist sets the animal allegories of La Fontaine's fables to music in instant compositions, according to his fancy and his inspiration. On the fairy tree, the little stories are wisely waiting to be chosen ... But which one will be read and imagined in music? What melody for the crow, what chords for the cicada, what rhythms for the City Rat or for the Field Rat? A transfiguration in which the spectators participate by seizing the words of the poet, thus fully participating in the show, from the youngest to the oldest. An interactive, original and unique musical display.
Victor Hugo, words and music
An astonishing improvisational recital which will pay homage to the great Victor Hugo, to his legends, to his breath, to his visions, to his humor too. From Orientales to Misérables, from Notre-Dame de Paris to The Legend of the Centuries, from Contemplations to Punishments, Jean-François Zygel will transfigure into music the immense and eventful word of the most famous of French poets.
Jean-François Zygel puts your city to music
Between virtuosity and fantasy, the famous pianist composer will share with you during this recital an unusual and festive sensory experience, a poetic journey nourished by his own emotions and his meeting with the listeners of this unique concert.
Musical paintings inspired by the history, architecture, emblematic places and legends of your city. A tailor-made concert!
Cine-concert
Jean-François Zygel is today recognized in France and abroad as one of the best specialists in the accompaniment of silent films in concert. Among his favorite films, the great titles of German expressionist cinema (Nosferatu, Faust, L'Aurore et Le Dernier des hommes by FW Murnau, Les Nibelungen by Fritz Lang), but also French impressionists such as Marcel L'Herbier (L ' Argent) or Jean Epstein (La Belle Nivernaise). His repertoire also includes the famous Phantom of the Opera by Rupert Julian, Les Misérables by Henri Fescourt, Le Roi des rois by Cecil B. DeMille, and silent films by Alfred Hitchcock.
The Power of Music
Renowned pianist and composer Jean-François Zygel takes us on a captivating sonic journey to the heart of the emotions aroused by music: what kind of music can we use to dream, to have fun, to reflect, to console, to uplift? The virtuoso will imagine live the musical answers to these questions, offering a shared reflection with the audience of this singular and personal recital.
The Sounds of Nature
"The piano is neither an animal nor a plant. But it is a window on the world, my daily walk, my sailboat of the seas, my imaginary landscape. On my walks, I gather. Images, sensations, sunsets, flowers and wild animals: I keep it all. Then I let it rest. I know that sooner or later each memory will be transformed into music, a music that I discover, that imposes itself on me. I invite you to follow in my footsteps, accepting the idea that everything can be transcribed into music, from the simplest emotion to the most elaborate memory, from the delicate quiver of marsh gentians to the flight of little owls towards the rocks." Jean-François Zygel