Hi,
Being a French Canadian, I was recently acquainted with this man, a prodigy that lived from 1929 to 1968, being rediscovered by Alain Lefebvre.
Mostly unknown, after some research, I quickly realized that this child was a genius...
His first composition was at the age of 3 and gave his first recital at the age of 6. At 7, he was invited to study the piano in Paris with Alfred Cortot's first assitant, Madame Giraud-Latarse, and gave many recitals at places such as Salle Chopin-Pleyel. Rachmaninov declared him as ''a genius, more so than I am''. He was also regarded as a genius by Albert Einstein himself.
He later performed Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Ravel, as well as his own works throughout the United States and Canada and at the age of 11, Mathieu won the first prize at the composition competition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He performed at Carnegie Hall and many other famous theatres.
After WWII, Mathieu went back to Paris to study some more, but found himself unhappy with his teachers and got bored. Unfortunately, Mathieu succumbed to alcoholism and died suddenly at the age of 39. He supposedly left more than 200 pieces behind him.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.alainlefevre.com/images/andreMathieu_02.jpg)
Some additional info on him:
Lefebvre - André Mathieu André Mathieu His music:
3rd Piano Concerto (Quebec Concerto):
Concerto de Québec 4th Piano Concerto:
Espace Classique - 4e Concerto (Click on ''Regardez l'Enregistrement Intégral'')
Thought I'd make mention of him. I personally find his 4th concerto astonishing; especially for a 12 year old kid!
