PIERRE FOURNIER (Paris, 24.6.1906 – Geneva, 8. 1. 1986)

A pupil of Paul Bazelaire and André Hekking, he was cello professor at the Paris Conservatoire between 1941 and 1949. An Officer of the Légion d’Honneur, he lived in Switzerland where he taught at the Zurich summer school. Numerous compositions were dedicated to him, including Frank Martin’s Cello Concerto, Poulenc’s Cello Sonata and the 1955 version of Martinu’s Concerto. In 1943 he replaced Casals in the Trio that the latter formed with Jacques Thibaud and Alfred Cortot, and in 1947 he joined Josef Szigeti (violin) and Arthur Schnabel (piano) to perform chamber music. He also played with Henryk Szeyng and Wilhelm Kempf. Acclaimed throughout the world, he has collaborated with the greatest conductors, including Furtwängler, Karajan, Walter, Kiemperer, Monteux, Szell, Munch, Ormandy, Reiner, Mitroupoulos, Stokowski, Krips, Ansermet, Barbirolli.

The pianist JEAN FONDA, son of Pierre Fournier, has had a brilliant international career, both with his father and with the greatest soloists of the 20th century (including Gregor Piatigorsky, Henryk Szeryng, Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Pierre Amoyal), and as a soloist. In this capacity he has performed under the direction of Rudolf Kempe, Raphael Kubelik, Sir John Barbirolli, Jean Martinon, Paul Sacher, Paul Klechki and Carlo Zecchi. He has made two CDs for the ADDA label, the first dedicated to Schumann, the second to the complete piano works of Leos Janácek.