Isidor Philipp

Isidor Philipp (born Sept. 2, 1863, Budapest—died Feb. 20, 1958, Paris) was a French pianist who had a long, highly successful tenure at the Paris Conservatoire.

Philipp was brought to Paris as an infant. As a piano student of Georges Mathias at the Conservatoire, he won the first prize in 1883. After study with Saint-Saëns and Stephen Heller, he began a brief solo concert career, making his London debut in 1890. From 1903 to 1934 he was professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire, where he taught many notable students, including Albert Schweitzer. He lived in America from 1941 to 1955, teaching privately, mainly in New York. At the age of 91 he played the demanding piano part of the Franck violin sonata at his farewell concert. His influence was mainly as a teacher, and he published several books of technical exercises for the piano.