DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews
The Art of Pierre Fournier
Early performances for CBC-TV by the eminent cellist
Published on December 02, 2005
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The Art of Pierre Fournier
Program: BACH: Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009; KODALY: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8; SCHUMANN: Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70; DEBUSSY: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor; FRANCOEUR: Sonata for Cello and Piano in E Major
Pierre Fournier, cello/ Guy Bourassa, piano
Studio: VAI DVD 4356
Video: 4:3 Black & White
Audio: PCM mono
Length: 76 minutes
Rating: ****
Taped by Radio-Canada Television 7 May 1959 and 22 November 1950, the eminent cellist Pierre Fournier (1906-1986) makes elegant work out of everything he touches, in diverse styles, with the Kodaly Sonata’s being something quite special, since Fournier never recorded it commercially. Despite his absolutely conservative demeanor, Fournier has the opening Bach Suite No. 3 capering in its dance steps as well as sighing elegiacally in the Sarabande. The concluding Gigue dances, true, but it also whistles with aggression. It would seem that only one camera is operative in the Bach and Kodaly, fading in and out for close-ups and medium shots of the seated Fournier, whom we can note sings the melody lines to himself. The side views of Fournier detach his ever-active left hand, so its rapid shifts on the strings take on a life of their own, a kind of artistic Beast With 5 Fingers.
The Kodaly is the song of a lion, a powerful, virtuoso work with declamatory and psalmic passages reminiscent of Ernest Bloch. The camera virtually climbs on the cello’s bridge for some of the fingerwork and bowing between the two hands. The facility with which Fournier negotiates even the most grueling leaps and stretches is a thing of beauty. To watch his little finger of the left hand alone is to behold a nimble dancer in thrall to mercurial Slavic gods. The Adagio starts in darkness, with only the silhouette of Fournier making music. Several times the lighting cancels out all but Fournier’s head and hands, so the high wail of this meditation is literally disembodied. The use of double exposure manages to capture the vertical aspects of Kodaly’s harmony. The later duo concert with pianist Guy Bourassa immediately opens up our sense of space, since the cameras give us frequent perspective shots of the two artists from several points of view. The Schumann Adagio (for horn or cello) requires extensive leaps despite the flowing melodic line. The Debussy Sonata is all business, although its second movement consciously sings high to imitate a troubadour’s song. Francoeur, whose music I knew only by way of ersatz Fritz Kreisler, seems a sunny, dancing disposition, a cross of galant and early classical styles. In three charming movements, the E Major Sonata simply reaffirms Fournier’s innate aristocratic sensibility, a genuine prince of his instrument.
--Gary Lemco
Program: BACH: Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009; KODALY: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8; SCHUMANN: Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70; DEBUSSY: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor; FRANCOEUR: Sonata for Cello and Piano in E Major
Pierre Fournier, cello/ Guy Bourassa, piano
Studio: VAI DVD 4356
Video: 4:3 Black & White
Audio: PCM mono
Length: 76 minutes
Rating: ****
Taped by Radio-Canada Television 7 May 1959 and 22 November 1950, the eminent cellist Pierre Fournier (1906-1986) makes elegant work out of everything he touches, in diverse styles, with the Kodaly Sonata’s being something quite special, since Fournier never recorded it commercially. Despite his absolutely conservative demeanor, Fournier has the opening Bach Suite No. 3 capering in its dance steps as well as sighing elegiacally in the Sarabande. The concluding Gigue dances, true, but it also whistles with aggression. It would seem that only one camera is operative in the Bach and Kodaly, fading in and out for close-ups and medium shots of the seated Fournier, whom we can note sings the melody lines to himself. The side views of Fournier detach his ever-active left hand, so its rapid shifts on the strings take on a life of their own, a kind of artistic Beast With 5 Fingers.
The Kodaly is the song of a lion, a powerful, virtuoso work with declamatory and psalmic passages reminiscent of Ernest Bloch. The camera virtually climbs on the cello’s bridge for some of the fingerwork and bowing between the two hands. The facility with which Fournier negotiates even the most grueling leaps and stretches is a thing of beauty. To watch his little finger of the left hand alone is to behold a nimble dancer in thrall to mercurial Slavic gods. The Adagio starts in darkness, with only the silhouette of Fournier making music. Several times the lighting cancels out all but Fournier’s head and hands, so the high wail of this meditation is literally disembodied. The use of double exposure manages to capture the vertical aspects of Kodaly’s harmony. The later duo concert with pianist Guy Bourassa immediately opens up our sense of space, since the cameras give us frequent perspective shots of the two artists from several points of view. The Schumann Adagio (for horn or cello) requires extensive leaps despite the flowing melodic line. The Debussy Sonata is all business, although its second movement consciously sings high to imitate a troubadour’s song. Francoeur, whose music I knew only by way of ersatz Fritz Kreisler, seems a sunny, dancing disposition, a cross of galant and early classical styles. In three charming movements, the E Major Sonata simply reaffirms Fournier’s innate aristocratic sensibility, a genuine prince of his instrument.
--Gary Lemco
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