Benoit Duteurtre

Benoît Duteurtre is a novelist, essay writer and critical musical French, born in 1960. He is also producer and organizer of a musical radio program. He shares his time between Paris, New York and the Normandy.

Biography

Youth

Benoît Duteurtre was born on March 20th, 1960 with Holy-Addresses, in the agglomeration of the Havre, in Normandy where it spends his first years. He is the son of Jean-Claude Duteurtre and Marie-Claire Georges and great-grandson of the president Rene Coty by his mother. He enters to Saint-Joseph, private establishment of catholic teaching of Le Havre. Duteurtre starts to write very young person. To the fifteen years age, it presents its first texts to Armand Salacrou, dramatic author bench in Le Havre, which encourages it to continue its efforts. Le Havre, city strongly destroyed during the Second world war and rebuilt according to the principles of the structural classicism, will often reappear throughout its work.

Musical formation

In 1977, Duteurtre begins studies of musicology to the Université of Rouen. The same year, it meets Karlheinz Stockhausen and the following year, Iannis Xenakis. In 1979, Duteurtre studies one month with György Ligeti. It obtains its license of musicology.

First publications

In parallel, Duteurtre continues to write. In 1982, it forwards to Samuel Beckett a text entitled Nuit ; Beckett will require of the young man to publish it in the Revue Editions of Midnight . In same time, Duteurtre is assembled to Paris and plays of the piano for the musical festival of the Printemps of Bourges , with the Théâtre of the Almond trees, located at Nanterre. He also plays for Paris Latino, a tube of the summer. He is also salesman with the BHV, sounder, and plays of the piano for courses of dance.

The first novel of Duteurtre, Sleep lost , is published in 1985; he is then journalist for several Parisian newspapers. In this work is introduced a depressive young man who leaves soon his birthplace to live in Paris. In 1987 is published the Cows (re-examined and famous In connection with the Cows in 2000), novel which tells the life of a boy divided between his school year in Le Havre and its holidays with the mountain. The magazine Infinite the directed by Philippe Sollers publishes some of its news. He also writes a moment for the review Playboy French edition but also for the catholic Life , the French Letters , Révolution and Détective .

Duteurtre discovers New York in 1990 and fall under the charm. He will explain to have drawn from this experiment a better comprehension of the behavior of France towards the United States.

In 1991, Benoît Duteurtre becomes musical adviser for the Biennale of Lyon of the French music and makes his beginnings with the radio in an emission of music. Its novel in love one in spite of him is published in 1989 follow-up by All must disappear in 1992. In this work Duteurtre tells through its character - an young man who missed his vocation by musician and launches out in journalism - the personal experiences of his journalistic activity and critic musical. It sends this novel to Guy Debord which answers him in a friendly way in these terms: " It was enough for you to see the same century and its kind of art, you felt it justement." . All must disappear also reveals the questions that the author is posed on the Modern music, in particular about the evolution of the French classical music of the end of the 20th century and the reasons for which this music cannot attract itself many people. These ideas will be presented later in its test Requiem for an avant-garde .

Requiem for an avant-garde

Requiem for an avant-garde , a test published in 1995, analyzes and critical the modern music and its institutionalization in France. The book causes a strong reaction in the press. The daily newspaper Le Monde compares Duteurtre with Robert Faurisson, a revisionist. Duteurtre attacks the newspaper and gains the lawsuit. Le Monde is constrained to publish its right of reply. the Point , Le Monde of the Music , Tuning fork but also the International Herald Tribune publish articles which support the work of the author.

Although the criticism of the work and the influence of Pierre Boulez is a big part of this test, Duteurtre is also interested in the problem arising from current nostalgia of the Belle Time and its consequences on France of today. This idea will often reappear in its novels to come.

Work since the end of the year 1990

In 1995 Marcel Landowski and Duteurtre create association new Musique in freedom in order to promote new type-setters.

In 1996 is published the novel Parisian Gaieté which treats Parisian gay community. The hero, a soon thirty year man, worries about the monotony of his life. Funny of time , a continuation of news published in 1997 receives the price of the news of the French Academy. Milan Kundera writes the foreword and publishes a friendly criticism in Nouvel Observateur . Philippe Muray also writes an article which, while noticing the perspicacity of the characters and situations of Duteurtre, underlines the role of the Writer in the world.

the misunderstandings is published in 1999 and puts in scene a young Arab immigrant, a woman head of undertaking, a studying young man of Science-Policies and a homosexual handicapped person, whose courses cross and are influenced. In 2001 its novel the Voyage in France receives the Prix Médicis. In this work a young American impassioned by Paris of the end of the 19th century discovers France of today. He will have to cross a man, journalist, forty, living in Paris, which alternates in its life periods of depression and euphoria.

Service Customers , published in 2003 is a series of short chapters which approaches the difficulties that each one can meet vis-a-vis the assistances commercial and technical of the companies which sell mobile phones, tickets of plane or connections Internet. This work is in a friendly way commented on by François Taillandier in the daily newspaper Humanity . the Rebel , novel published in 2004, tells the life of a presenter of television of left and careerist, and the events which will lead it to meet a young Egyptian data processing specialist and homosexual, a swindler and the chairman from a French large company.

The musical comedy of Jerome Savary Vive the Op3era Comique , whose text was written by Duteurtre, is presented to Paris with the National theater of the Op3era Comique in March 2004. The following year is published the novel the Little girl and the cigarette which sees the descent into Hell of a civil servant and the consequences that the last request for one involves condemned to death.

Railroad , published in 2006, presents the diary of a woman of about fifty years which shares its life between its brilliant career with Paris and its love for a small hovel in a village of mountain where it tries to live crossed modern world. This last work is also a reflection as for the evolution of our company and with the ahead forced walk of a progress which seems to involve many regressions.

Duteurtre also takes part in the literary review the Workshop of the Novel , at the sides of authors like Milan Kundera or Michel Houellebecq. It publishes in March 2007 an article at the time of the birthday of died of Philippe Muray entitled Muray is a festival .

Appeared in August 2007, the happy city puts in scene Town Park, a fictitious city reconverted in amusement park cultural and managed by a company, the Compagnie . Among the inhabitants transformed into organizers, a scenario writer for televised series will try to adapt to the new air of time. Also in 2007 appears My beautiful time , collection of articles published in the press which forms according to the " author; a kind of self-portrait ".

Today

Translated in about fifteen languages, Benoît Duteurtre is journalist for the weekly magazine Marianne , also writes for Le Figaro and Paris Match . He is also producer of a radio broadcast Étonnez me Benoît diffused on France Musique and belonged to the reading panel of the Denoël editions. Side music, Duteurtre works on Veronique , an operetta of André Messager put in scene by the actress Fanny Ardant who will be given to the Theater of Châtelet at the beginning of 2008.

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