Pierre Fournier

‘In the Brahms, Oistrakh and Fournier make an incomparable team. The eloquence of Fournier’s phrasing and Oistrakh’s golden tone are beyond praise. Helped by a first-class recording and excellent orchestral playing, Oistrakh’s performance of the Bruch is a winner.’ (The Gramophone)

“Davis is excellent in moulding the tensions in the first movement and Fournier’s playing throughout is superbly expressive…” BBC Music Magazine

“While this pairing of the Elgar and Dvorák Cello Concertos does not eclipse the famous Deutsche Grammophon recordings that Fournier made with the Berlin Philharmonic in the 1960s, it is still a testament to an artist who combined elegance and an eloquently phrased cello line with a profound understanding of style and expression...Even with the rather matt acoustics, Fournier's intensity, finesse and rich, mellow tone are all there as a reminder of the great musician he was.” The Telegraph, 9th August 2008

Basle Cathedral was packed on two Sunday evenings in the autumn of 1962 to hear Fournier play the complete set of Bach Suites. “One man and four stirings mesmerizing more than 2000 people … an indescribable palette of colours, or contrasts … an extraordinary demonstration of thought, of mastery, of style.” Few listeners to Fournier’s Bach performances have been able to forget them; the audience before the isolated figure high on the square platform in the nave of Basle Cathedral was no exception. In the hands of this half-sceptical believer whose vocabulary was so often religious (he called the Suites “the cellist’s breviary”), an epicurean whose work was ruthlessly self-disciplined, the Suites distilled Bach’s humanity and his indestructible faith, the sensuality and the spirituality fused in sound.” – Angela Hughes, Pierre Fournier: Cellist in a Landscape with Figures (1998) Quotes taken from reviews in Basler Nachrichten (29 October 1962), Basler Volksblatt (30 October, 23 November 1962)

“Fournier's rendition of the Cello Suites displays more aristocratic, more 'refined' playing than Casal's, but its equally dedicated. It's also recorded with a fullness of tone which still makes the instrument sound almost alarmingly present.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2007 ****