Yvonne Loriod

Initially receiving piano lessons from her godmother, she later studied at the Paris Conservatoire and became one of Olivier Messiaen's most avid pupils.

She went on to become a nationally acclaimed recording artist and concert pianist and premiered most of Messiaen's works for the piano, starting in the 1940s.

Messiaen said that he was able to indulge in "the greatest eccentricities" when writing for piano, knowing that they would be mastered by Loriod.

Loriod gave the French premiere of Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No.

[3] In 1961, Loriod married Olivier Messiaen following the death of his long institutionalized first wife, Claire Delbos.