An excellent pianist, Massenet began writing for his instrument very early on before abandoning it to devote himself body and soul to orchestral and lyrical forms; however, it will return to it in the very last years of the century. After the death of Ambroise Thomas and his resignation from the Conservatory, he again turned to Parisian salons with works for piano published in collections: Deux impromptus (1896) and Deux Pièces pour piano (1907). These evocative pieces then mix with the early works of his students, from Reynaldo Hahn’s Portraits de peintres (1894) to Paul Hillemacher’s Rêverie (1908) via Leroux’s Romance and Gabriel Pierné’s Étude symphonique (1903). François Dumont at the piano retraces these and other pages of the repertoire, for one of the most anticipated concerts of the festival.
