Brigitte Massin, respected musicologist, has said of Yvan Chiffoleau: “ A very great cellist,
admirable phrasing and sonority”.
His playing is invested with a powerful techniqu, combined with an intense mastery and
tremendous warmth, totally devoid of artifice.
A student of André NAVARRA at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris,
Yvan CHIFFOLEAU won, by unanimous vote, the only first prize awarded in 1973.
He was not yet 18 when he became the youngest winner of the International Tchaïkovsky
competition in Moscow. A series of international successes followed including 2nd prize in the
Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1976, 1st Grand Prize in the Casals Competition in Budapest in
1981 and 2nd Grand Prize in the Rostropovich Competition in Paris
In 1981, he began playing with French orchestras : the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de
Radio France, l’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, l’Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, the
Concerts Pasdeloup, l’Orchestre Symphonique Français, l’O.N.P.L., l’O.D.I.F., the Orchestras of
Nice, the Capitole de Toulouse, of Cannes Provence Côte d’Azur, of Nancy, of Lille… and
outside of France : the Halle Orchestra of Manchester, Radio Luxembourg, Radio Bratislava,
the Hambourg Symphony, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra…
Yvan Chiffoleau is also the guest of numerous festivals: Besançon, Festival Méditerranéen
where he plays under the direction of ROSTROPOVITCH, Prades, Festival Estival de Paris,
Sully, Sceaux, Chartres, Athens, Istambul, Cheltenham, Roussé in Bulgaria, Sintra in Portugal…
His tours lead him to Russia, South Africa, South America, Japan, and Korea.
Jean-Louis FLORENTZ dedicated the « Songe de Lluc Alcari « to Yvan Chiffoleau in Octobre
- He premiered it with the Orchestre de Paris, under the direction of Semyon BYCHKOV
and played it again the following year with the Orchestre National de Lyon under the direction
de Günther HERBIG. A C.D. of this work, which was awarded the “ Choc du Monde de la
Musique” as well as a “Diapason d’Or “, was published in 1996.
He is also one of the first to have played the now famous « Tout un Monde Lointain »
concerto by Henri DUTILLEUX , a concerto which he has gone on to play more than fifteen
times.
Yvan Chiffoleau has made recordings of Schumann, Debussy, Ravel, Strauss, Rachmaninov,
Hindemith, Vierne and Alkan (for which he received the Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du
Disque Français). He recently engraved a last solo recording devoted to works by Kodaly,
Tortelier and Cassado who was warmly welcomed by the critics: « 9 de Classica » et 4 * du
« Monde de la Musique »
He has taught at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon since 1987 and is
a member of the juries of international competitions such as the Printemps de Prague, Munich
(ARD), Zagreb (Antonio Janigro) and the Tchaïkovsky Junior Competition in Japan.