About – Philippe Devaux

Review VRI (Ville de Reims Informations) By Jean-Paul Machetel

„A surprising Philippe Devaux. His career is marked by precocity: did he not enter the Reims Conservatory at the age of 5 to obtain a First Prize at 17. Brilliant, exceptional, Philippe Devaux is a Prizewinner of the Cziffra Foundation and holder of the First Prize of the Milosz Magin International Competition. In homage to the latter, at once master, teacher and spiritual father, Philippe Devaux has just recorded Volume 1 of the piano oeuvre of Milosz Magin, a musical journey demonstrating the richness of the composer‘s styles.The new album also reveals the flawless technique of Philippe Devaux, his sensitivity and the undeniable personal touch of a magnificent interpreter.“

Philippe Devaux was born in Reims, the centre of the picturesque Champagne. His musical talent was early recognized and supported by his parents. First piano lessons at the age of 3 anticipating already the next stunning step of his formation namely the admission as student of the Reims Conservatory at the age of 5!

Philippe Devaux‘s talents were well fostered there and hence the next quantum leap of his formation joining the Paris conservatory at the age of 8 was foreseeable. Philippe Devaux got there an excellent education generating the base for his unique technique of playing piano. On the other hand he could acquire during his formation at the Paris Conservatory already a wide repertoire covering oeuvres from composers as e.g. Scarlatti, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Skrijabin and Magin.

Philippe Devaux‘s abundant talents combined with hard work at this period of life won him his first laurels as he captured surprisingly the Prize of the Conservatoire of Paris at the age of 14.

Philippe Devaux‘s first achievements attracted also attention of the who is who in the world of pianists among them the legendary Hungarian-French pianist György Cziffra who was overwhelmed from Philippe‘s talents and skills inviting Philippe to his master class. This was another boost in Philippe Devaux‘s formation to a world class pianist as his unique and already high class technique was brought to an incredible level of excellence awakening at the same time Philippe‘s sensitivity, musical spirit and sense of improvisation.

These extraordinary skills of Philippe Devaux were sharpened under the reign of György Cziffra‘s predecessor the French Polish pianist and composer Milosz Magin who aroused as well Philippe Devaux‘s interest in composition and improvisation.

Six years of master classes with György Cziffra and Milosz Magin brought Philippe Devaux to unprecedented perfection which allows him to play at an unrivalled level the most sophisticated oeuvres for piano.

Neutral, cautious, conventional, are not the traits which could describe the pianist Philippe Devaux. Iconoclastic, intense, indwelt, he has always chosen to roll back the limits imposed by the musical establishment and to breathe new life into the music performance, but without prejudicing the composer’s musical intentions.

During this period Philippe Devaux brought his stupefying technique and his other great talent for musical improvisation to perfection and developed his own genuine musical story-telling style based on the arts and skills he learned from his great idols and masters György Cziffra and Milosz Magin.

Philippe Devaux is since then not only known as interpreter, but as well as composer and great extemporiser shaped by his particular inclination for the Romantic period, and above all Chopin, and in addition by his taste for all music genres.

Through his extraordinary performances Philippe Devaux attained a faithful and even fanatic audience wherever he has played. By his fans Philippe Devaux is considered as a pop star of classical music.