Yvonne Loriod, 86, Messiaen’s Wife And Foremost Interpreter

A piano prodigy who had mastered all of Beethoven’s sonatas by age 12, she met her composer husband when she took his harmony class at the Paris Conservatoire; he went on to write two great piano cycles and many solo parts in orchestral and chamber works for her. She was also an early specialist in the music of Pierre Boulez.