Notes and Editorial Reviews
Aristocratic, elegant, tasteful, cultivated. These are only four clichés that most lazy critics use to describe the artistry of cellist Pierre Fournier, yet those four words constantly came to mind as I reacquainted myself with his Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, and Philips recordings, all gathered together here for the first time, complete in one package. Where to start?
You might go first to the dazzlingly executed passagework in the Chopin sonata’s difficult finale. Then you could sample the lightness and lilt of the Brahms E minor sonata’s Scherzo in all three of Fournier’s recorded versions. Then there’s Fournier’s impassioned yet controlled phrasing in the rhapsodic Fifth Variation of Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote,
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especially in his recording with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Speaking of the latter, it’s interesting how this orchestra could shed Karajan’s blended orchestral image and deliver gaunter, more firmly etched results with George Szell at the helm in the Dvorák concerto, or in the Elgar concerto led by Alfred Wallenstein. By contrast, the Bruch Kol Nidrei with Wallenstein finds Fournier’s cello too up-front in the mix. Nothing new needs to be said about Fournier’s Lalo D minor and Saint-Saëns’ A minor with Jean Martinon and the Orchestre Lamoreux, except that they are the most stylishly coherent interpretations on disc.
The Beethoven Triple Concerto and Piano Trios with Henryk Szeryng and Wilhelm Kempff remain references after more than half a century in print, while Fournier’s two DG Beethoven sonata cycles still provide fascinating and contrasted listening experiences on account of their different pianists: the earlier recording has the emphatically brash Friedrich Gulda, while the remake offers a more sympathetically collaborative partner in Kempff.
The Bach Suites may not match Heinrich Schiff’s sophisticated execution or Jean-Guihen Queyras’ extraordinary attention to detail, yet Fournier’s way of following through melodic lines to their final destinations represents a master class in bowing from which all cellists can benefit, and violinists too, for that matter.
Like most great cellists of the past, Fournier readily embraced miniature showpieces and transcriptions as ideal virtuoso vehicles, imbuing them with as much care and consideration as he did large-scale masterpieces. DG’s intelligent and clear “original jacket” packaging and Jürgen Ostmann’s appreciative yet never fawning booklet notes add value to a reasonably priced 25-CD set that cello fans should acquire while they can.
– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler) Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Cello in D minor by Edouard Lalo
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Jean Martinon
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Lamoureux Concerts Association Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1877; France
Date of Recording: 05/1960
Venue: Salle de la Mutualité, Paris, France
Length: 27 Minutes 5 Secs.
2.
Concerto for Cello no 1 in A minor, Op. 33 by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Jean Martinon
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Lamoureux Concerts Association Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1872; France
Date of Recording: 05/1960
Venue: Salle de la Mutualité, Paris, France
Length: 19 Minutes 20 Secs.
3.
Kol Nidrei for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 47 by Max Bruch
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Jean Martinon
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Lamoureux Concerts Association Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1881; Liverpool, England
Date of Recording: 05/1960
Venue: Salle de la Mutualité, Paris, France
Length: 10 Minutes 30 Secs.
4.
Schelomo by Ernest Bloch
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Alfred Wallenstein
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1916; USA
Date of Recording: 10/1966
Venue: UFA Recording Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 21 Minutes 56 Secs.
6.
Don Quixote, Op. 35 by Richard Strauss
Performer:
Giusto Cappone (Viola),
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896-1897; Germany
7.
Concerto for Cello in E minor, RV 409 by Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Rudolf Baumgartner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Festival Strings Lucerne
Period: Baroque
Written: Venice, Italy
8.
Concerto for Cello in B minor, Op. 104/B 191 by Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1894-1895; USA
Length: 38 Minutes 26 Secs.
9.
Concerto for Cello in E minor, Op. 85 by Sir Edward Elgar
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Alfred Wallenstein
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1919; England
19.
Sonata for Cello and Piano no 1 in F major, Op. 5 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello),
Friedrich Gulda (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1796; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1959
Venue: Brahms-Saal, Musikverein, Vienna
Length: 21 Minutes 35 Secs.
20.
Sonata for Cello and Piano no 2 in G minor, Op. 5 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Friedrich Gulda (Piano),
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Period: Classical
Written: 1796; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1959
Venue: Brahms-Saal, Musikverein, Vienna
Length: 21 Minutes 10 Secs.
21.
Sonata for Cello and Piano no 3 in A major, Op. 69 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Friedrich Gulda (Piano),
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Period: Classical
Written: 1807-1808; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1959
Venue: Brahms-Saal, Musikverein, Vienna
Length: 26 Minutes 56 Secs.
22.
Sonata for Cello and Piano no 4 in C major, Op. 102 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Friedrich Gulda (Piano),
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Period: Classical
Written: 1815; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1959
Venue: Brahms-Saal, Musikverein, Vienna
Length: 15 Minutes 29 Secs.
23.
Sonata for Cello and Piano no 5 in D major, Op. 102 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Friedrich Gulda (Piano),
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Period: Classical
Written: 1815; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1959
Venue: Brahms-Saal, Musikverein, Vienna
Length: 20 Minutes 8 Secs.
49.
Golden Cockerel: Hymn to the sun by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello),
Lamar Crowson (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1906-1907; Russia
68.
Don Quixote, Op. 35 by Richard Strauss
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello)
Conductor:
Clemens Krauss
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1896-1897; Germany
75.
Beau soir by Claude Debussy
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello),
Ernest Lush (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: circa 1880; France
78.
Granadina by Joaquin Nin
Performer:
Pierre Fournier (Cello),
Ernest Lush (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: by 1923
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