GEOFFROY COUTEAU, NICOLAS BALDEYROU ∙ AMAURY COEYTAUX, ANTOINE DREYFUSS 43 His successes could be presented as a carefully plotted path, but the truth is that, at every stage, he was surprised to see doors opening to him. One could cite his brilliant progress through the musical institutions, tracing out a series of academic landmarks, but these have little bearing on his musical expression; his pedigree, though in some respects prestigious, is irrelevant to him. On the other hand, to share timeless moments on the concert platform is an ideal that excites him and prompts him, like a craftsman, constantly to strive for a better understanding of the infinite factors that go to make up an artistic achievement. It was in the world of Brahms that Geoffroy Couteau began to establish himself. His intimate relationship with the German genius forms the cornerstone of his identity as a musician. Nothing fascinates him more than to study Brahms’s works in depth, to discover the interpretative perspectives that gradually emerge, founded above all on listening with the inner ear. Refining the balances, bringing out the expressive forces: these lie at the heart of his concerns. And so he embarked with passion on recording the composer’s complete music for solo piano, his chamber music and his two piano concertos. This recording project, which has regularly won the highest awards, is now viewed as a benchmark. To establish a balance between the creator, the audience and the interpreter is a central process in Geoffroy Couteau’s current approach to performance. He is convinced that beauty arises outside the realm of the will and of calculation, yet remains the fruit of a conception and a profound commitment. That quest drives him on and motivates him in his daily search for musical and instrumental truth.
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