Death of two eminent French pianists

We have been informed of the passing of two important players.

Bernard Ringeissen, who died on April 4 at the age of 90, was an early champion on record of the music of Charles-Valentin Alkan, a composer whose textual difficulties defeated most mortal pianists.

Jean Fonda, who was 88, was the son of Pierre Fournier, with whom he recorded classical duets. Jean was, for me, an invaluable source of information about the Karajan clique and his father’s role within it. In 1985 he received a truly hateful review of a Beethoven-Schummann recital at the 92nd Y from Bernard Holland in the New York Times.

(Better, maybe, than no review, which is what most pianists in NY recieve today.)

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