Paul Doguereau
| Paul René Doguereau | |
|---|---|
Paul Doguereau, Boston, circa 1985
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|
| Born |
September 8, 1908 Angers, France |
| Died | March 3, 2000 (aged 91) Mount Holly Township, New Jersey, United States |
| Occupation | Pianist, piano teacher |
Paul René Doguereau (September 8, 1908 – March 3, 2000) was a French pianist and piano teacher. He spent most of his career in Boston, United States, where he was a well-respected cultural figure.
Although he officially studied with Marguerite Long at the Paris Conservatory, Doguereau said that he learned very little from her. As is often the case with famous teachers with too little time and too many students, the young pianist was relegated to the hands of an assistant for most of the time. The Paris Conservatory conferred its highest award, the Premier Prix, upon Doguereau at age 15. During his time at Conservatory, Doguereau met Jean Roger-Ducasse.
According to Doguereau's adopted son, the pianist, author, and musicologist Harrison Slater:
At the time Paul was preparing for his exam for the Premier Prix of the Conservatoire (part of the exam required everyone to learn several standard piano repertoire works in a given brief time period). One of the pieces was the Symphonic Etudes of Schumann, and Paul practiced them directly across the window from Roger-Ducasse. In fact, he practiced them for hours on end (easily, seven-and-a-half to eight hours a day). Roger-Ducasse sent Paul a note asking him, "Don't you ever stop playing to pee?" The implication was, as Paul told it, that all Paul's practicing was keeping Roger-Ducasse from composing, hence the humorous note with the undertones of frustration. Whenever Paul spoke of Roger-Ducasse, it was with extraordinary reverence and respect.
Doguereau told his pupil, the pianist David Korevaar, that he had learned much about playing Fauré's works from Roger-Ducasse. Slater told Korevaar that Doguereau played all of Debussy's piano works besides the etudes for the composer's widow, singer Emma Bardac (1862–1934). She demonstrated how her husband had performed the works by singing phrases back to Doguereau.
Later, Doguereau took ten lessons with Ignaz Paderewski in New York.
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