Pierre Fournier
Pierre Léon Marie Fournier was born into a military family. His father was a general; his mother was musical and taught him piano lessons. At the age of 9, he suffered a mild attack of polio. Weakness of his legs made pedaling the piano difficult. So he turned to the cello, and after making rapid progress, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire. His teachers there were Paul Bazelaire and Anton Hekking; he graduated in 1924 at the age of 17. Fournier made his debut the year after his graduation. This was a solo appearance with the Concerts Colonne Orchestra, which received favorable notices. The almost invariable comment in reviews was the perfection of his bowing technique. He began a successful career as a touring concert artist and as a performer in chamber music concerts, gaining a great reputation in Europe.
In 1937 to 1939, he was the director of cello studies at the Ecole Normal. It was often said that he became a friendly rival with his contemporary, cellist Paul Tortelier, and after attending a Tortelier concert remarked to him, "Paul, I wish I had your left hand." Tortelier responded, "Pierre, I wish I had your right." To Fournier, the secret of his great right hand (i.e., bowing technique) was keeping the elbow high, holding the bow firmly, but allowing the hand and arm to move fluidly. He prescribed the Sevcik violin bowing studies for his cello students.
In 1941, he became a member of the faculty at the Paris Conservatoire, but during the war years, his concert touring career was impossible. Once the war was over, though, was able to resume and he rapidly increased in fame and international stature. His old audience found that he had grown in artistic depth. Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti, meeting Fournier in rehearsals for a 1947 Edinburgh Festival appearance, had not heard him for over ten years and wrote that he was "tremendously impressed by the Apollonian beauty and poise that his playing had acquired in the intervening years. Szigeti, Fournier, violist William Primrose, and pianist Artur Schnabel formed a piano quartet in those years and gave some fabled concerts at which they played virtually all of Schubert's and Brahms' piano chamber music. Sadly, the BBC acetate air checks of this cycle were allowed to deteriorate and have been lost.
Fournier made his first U.S. tour in 1948. His chamber music partner Artur Schnabel spread the word among cellists, other musicians, and critics that they were to be visited by a great new cellist. The New York and Boston critics were ecstatic. He had to give up his Conservatoire post because of his expanding concert career; he appeared in Moscow for the first time in 1959. Commentator Lev Grinberg wrote that he was notable for a romantic interpretation; clarity of form; vivid phrasing; and clean, broad bowing all "aimed at revealing the content."
He had a broad repertoire, including Bach, Boccherini, the Romantics, Debussy, Hindemith, and Prokofiev. Composers Martinu, Martinon, Martin, Roussel, and Poulenc all wrote works for him. He had a standing Friday night date to privately play chamber music with Alfred Cortot, the eminent French pianist, at which they might be visited by musicians like Jacques Thibaud. In 1953, he became a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and was promoted to officer in 1963.
In 1972, he retired to Switzerland and gave master classes. He still gave concerts, even as late as 1984 when he was 78, and a London critic praised the fluency of his playing and his strong and solid left-hand technique.
© TiVo
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R. Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra; Don Quixote (Clemens Krauss: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 5)
Pierre Fournier, Ernst Morawec, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Clemens Krauss
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suites pour violoncelle No. 1-6, BWV 1007-1012, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by RTS Radio Télévision Suisse - Evasion Music on 1 Aug 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Dvořák: Cello Concertos (Remastered 2023)
Pierre Fournier, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Rafael Kubelik
Classical - Released by Artemisia on 1 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms, Kodály, Debussy & Tchaikovsky: Works for Cello (Live)
Pierre Fournier, Franz Holetschek
Chamber Music - Released by Orfeo on 4 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Masterpieces for Cello, Vol. 10
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 13 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms & Grieg: Cello Sonatas
Chamber Music - Released by Stradivarius on 27 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boccherini - Vivaldi - Haydn
Classical - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Masterpieces for Cello, Vol. 7
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 6 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giants of the Cello, Vol. 5
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 13 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Collection of Beethoven Sonatas
Pablo Casals, Mieczysław Horszowski, Pierre Fournier, Artur Schnabel
Classical - Released by ArnebAudio on 3 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello and Piano
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Classical - Released by Regis Records on 1 Jan 1992
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pierre Fournier Schumann and Dvorak Cello Concertos live
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Classical - Released by Archipel on 11 Dec 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák and Schumann Cello Concertos
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Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on 8 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Masterpieces for Cello, Vol. 3
Pierre Fournier, Friedrich Gulda
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 13 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: Dos Sonatas para Cello y Piano
Pierre Fournier, Wilhelm Backhaus
Chamber Music - Released by RHI on 29 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giants of the Cello, Vol. 4
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 13 Dec 2014
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Boccherini, Schumann & Elgar: Cello Concertos
Pierre Fournier, Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks, Kölner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Sir Georg Solti, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by Archipel on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Masterpieces for Cello, Vol. 5
David Oïstrakh, Pierre Fournier
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 13 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pierre Fournier, cello • Jean Fonda, piano : Ludwig van Beethoven
Classical - Released by Ermitage Records on 2 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sviatoslav Richter Archives, Vol. 13: Schumann
Sviatoslav Richter, Yuri Bashmet, Pierre Fournier, USSR State Orchestra, George Georgescu
Classical - Released by DOREMI on 7 Aug 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cello Masterpieces: Pierre Fournier Plays Lalo, Schumann & Tchaikovsky (Remastered 2015)
Pierre Fournier, Orchestre Lamoureux, Philharmonia Orchestra, Jean Martinon, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 7 Aug 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo