Hoy le ha tocado a Sylvain Durand, mala semana para el Jarre Team, jolines. Michel Geiss publica esto en su Facebook:
Sylvain! No! My friend Sylvain Durand! Him too! When I heard the news last night, at first I thought it was a mistake. But as the evening went on, I realised that Sylvain had also left, just after Dominique. And the two of them knew each other so well!
Just recently, before his illness developed, Dominique and I had talked about Sylvain, whose talent he greatly admired.
As it happens, I spoke to Sylvain just a few days ago to tell him that Dominique had passed away. I heard in his voice that he sounded very weak, but I had no idea that he was so close to the end.
I met Sylvain when he was a teenager, in a gym. Then I gave him maths lessons at home. He had a passion for old radio sets, the tube models. He asked me to help him restore them, as he wasn't an electronics technician himself. And he understood, since he successfully put many of them back into service.
I kept in touch with him from time to time, and later he told me that with his three first prizes from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique he had become the titular pianist at the Opéra Garnier for ballet rehearsals. This position took him to many countries (Bolshoi in Moscow, Scala in Milan, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Bellas Artes in Mexico).
And one of the surprising aspects of Sylvain was when he revealed to me that, in parallel with his duties as pianist at the Opera, he liked to do masonry work in houses! Certainly not the image of a musician of this dimension!
It was when Jean-Michel asked me to put together a team for the Houston concert that his adventure with him began. So I put his name forward, knowing that he was perfectly capable of quickly assimilating the concert repertoire. In fact, Jean-Michel had also included his wife Christine as a phantasmagorical, surreal soprano 'diva'.
Later, Jean-Michel entrusted Sylvain with transcribing the scores of his repertoire for publication in the paper 'song books'. Sylvain was also asked to write the arrangements for the choirs at the concerts.
It was also at this time that, following my suggestions, Jean-Michel accepted the arrival of Francis Rimbert, Joe Hammer with Guy Delacroix, Pascal Lebourg with Dino Lumbroso. In the end, this 'unlikely' group was the one that went to Houston!
That's where Dominique and Sylvain met, along with all the others. A long friendship and many concerts followed with Sylvain, including one at Docklands, London, which leaves me with a special memory. On the way back from the concert on one of the two nights, Sylvain had taken a seat a little dishevelled at the piano of the very posh Westbury hotel in London where the whole team was staying. To everyone's surprise, he began to play Jean-Michel's pieces brilliantly, in any style! Imagine Rendez-Vous IV as a tango, a rumba, a waltz! The other musicians remember!
Sylvain was this whimsical character, sometimes delirious to the point of provocation, as in a grand hotel in Madrid where he dropped his trousers in front of Madrid's high society! But this crazy, 'destroy' side was just a facade. It masked a great sensitivity, a great kindness, a great gentleness and a detachment that reminded me of Dominique. Sylvain seemed to live outside his world.
Sylvain has recorded several piano albums and his own compositions. He has worked on ballets by Roland Petit, songs for variety shows, musicals and stage music.
There's a lot more to say about Sylvain. I'm sure that all those who knew him will treasure the memory of this extraordinary person, someone who was very gifted and talented, touching and very sensitive.
1