Claude Helffer

This internationally renowned French pianist specialized in contemporary music, but he also excelled in the performance of traditional repertoire by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann. Helffer began his piano studies at the tender age of five. The famous Robert Casadesus was impressed by his playing and took him on as a student. During WWII, he pursued advanced studies at l'École Polytechnique. Helffer participated in the Resistance in the underground fighting at Vercors, for which he was awarded the Croix de guerre in 1944. (His other decorations include Chevalier de la Légion d...