Pierre Hantaï is a French conductor and harpsichordist.
Career
The son of painter Simon Hantaï, he discovered the music of Johann Sebastian Bach when he was ten and first heard Gustav Leonhardt's recordings when he was eleven. He took up the harpsichord when he was 11 and was self-taught until meeting his first teacher, the American harpsichordist Arthur Haas. He later studied for two years in Amsterdam with Gustav Leonhardt. In 1983 he won the second prize in the Bruges harpsichord competition. His first recordings focused on the English virginalists and Bach. His most influential recordings are his two Goldberg Variations, released ten years apart, and his ongoing series of Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas. Following a first CD for Astrée in 1993, he has recorded 6 more volumes of Scarlatti recitals for Mirare between 2002 and 2019. Other discographic contributions include the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, three recordings dedicated to Bach’s toccatas and suites, as well as recordings of Frescobaldi and Couperin. He performs internationally as a soloist across Europe, North America and Asia at festivals such as La Roque d'Anthéron, La Folle Journée de Nantes, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Boston Early Music Festival, at Carnegie Hall, the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, and Hakuju Hall in Tokyo. In 1991, he and his brother Jérôme recorded part of the soundtrack to the French filmTous les matins du monde. In 1985, he founded the ensemble, Le Concert Français, which he conducted from the harpsichord and which recorded both orchestral and chamber repertoire. He frequently performs with his two brothers, Marc and Jérôme as part of the Trio Hantaï. He played for many years with La Petite Bande and continues to perform with Jordi Savall, Amandine Beyer, Hugo Reyne, and Maude Gratton. He has collaborated with many other musicians, including Philippe Herreweghe and Marc Minkowski.
Teaching
Pierre Hantaï has never held a permanent teaching post in a conservatory. During the 1990s, he taught privately. His students, including Bertrand Cuiller and Maude Gratton, continued their studies at the CNSM de Paris with Christophe Rousset and Olivier Baumont. In 2000, Hantaï replaced Rousset, then the harpsichord professor at the CNSM, during his sabbatical year. At the end of the year, Rousset quit and a job search was held as a formality, with the expectation that Hantaï would succeed Rousset and continue to work with his students at the CNSM. In what one student called an unexpected twist that shook the harpsichord class, though, he lost the post to Baumont, who has been the harpsichord professor at the CNSM since 2001. Since then, he has limited his teaching activities to master classes, with the notable exception of the harpsichordist Lillian Gordis, whom he mentored.
