Among the amazing French pianists who were regrettably long overlooked but are fortunately enjoying a posthumous revival today is the fabled Agnelle Bundervoët (pronounced ‘Bunder-wet’). The Lazare-Lévy pupil produced a handful of recordings in the mid-1950s before rheumatoid arthritis put an end to her concert career. These discs continue to be highly prized by collectors, though these marvellous performances are now almost all available in digital reissues alongside a handful of precious broadcast performances that she was able to give when her physical condition allowed.

Born October 12 1922, Bundervoët was a child prodigy, with perfect pitch and impeccable rhythm (as accurate as a metronome), who developed her musical capabilities in a number of avenues: soprano, chorus director, organist (praised by the legendary Marcel Dupré), teacher, and composer, all in addition to her prodigious skills as a pianist. A month before her 13th birthday she was to be enrolled in the higher class of Lazare-Lévy at the Conservatoire but the maximum number of students had been reached; refusing to join Marguerite Long’s class (at that young age she already disagreed with the teacher’s musical and technical approach), Agnelle was entrusted to the care of Gabriel Grovlez, a pupil of Diémer (alongside Cortot, Casella, and Lazare-Lévy himself) who had premiered Ravel’s Sonatine. After a year with Grovlez she was able to join Lazare-Lévy’s class until Vichy restrictions on Jewish teachers led to Marcel Ciampi taking over in 1940, under whose guidance she was awarded her Premier Prix in 1941.

Continuing to perform and hone her skills after the War, she would marry the head of the Publican resistance network, Maurice Braun, whom her colleague the violinist and conductor Maurice Hewitt (with whom she had performed) had befriended in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Her repertoire at the peak of her career in the 1950s consisted of 40 works for piano and orchestra, among them four each by Bach and Mozart, three by Beethoven, the titanic first concertos of both Brahms and Tchaikovsky, both by Chopin and Ravel, all concerted works by Saint-Saëns and Liszt, and forays into more modern repertoire with the Khatchaturian (two broadcast recordings exist), Shostakovich’s 1st, and others by Hindemith, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.

Turning from performing to teaching, Bundervoët nevertheless maintained her prodigious technical skills. Her pupil Frédéric Gaussin (who studied with her from 1989 to 1994) stated that “the ever-watchful eye of Lazare-Lévy and her fierce determination to exceed the limitations imposed by her frail constitution had made her an expert in the conduction of muscle impulses, the transfer of mass, the suppleness of the arms and the adjustment of the hands to the keyboard. I watched her practice Lyapunov’s Etude Lesghinka in a very impressive way.” He adds that “she is remembered as a charisimatic teacher, one who was very demanding, generous, implacable but fair.” In exclusive memory shared for this post, Gaussin recalls that “she played, even at a rather advanced age, in a very beautiful way, with a warm sonority, a fabulous legato, an incredible science of touch. She truly could sing and conduct a melodic line. She really was powerful, too, and pressed the keys more heavily, more loudly than one could think of. The few recordings she left do not do justice to the quality of her tone. She knew that, and strongly disliked those records.”

Despite the pianist’s opinion of her recordings, they do reveal some superb pianism and have gone from being virtually unknown cult classics to performances now readily available worldwide. Bundervoët’s first recording is a 1954 10-inch Ducretet-Thomson LP featuring Bundevoët playing four works by Bach (never officially reissued, it’s available on CD via Sakuraphon). The story goes that a finicky critic – one Serge Moreux – enjoyed her playing in concert so much that he asked her to make this record, as he also ran this label; she was never paid for the disc, which went on to win the Grand Prix du Disque by the Academie Charles Cros in 1955. Throughout these four works, Bundevoët plays with clearly forged lines, transparent textures and voicing, rhythmic vitality, and fluid phrasing, and at times with great gusto: her Chaconne features some very big-scale playing with impassioned climaxes. However, it’s interesting to know that Bundevoët was not enthusiastic about this recording, believing that the sound quality betrayed her tone and intentions in the Chaconne (fascinating to consider given how widely praised it is by listeners today).

0:00: Bach/Busoni – Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645

4:06: Bach/Busoni – Chaconne in D Minor BWV 1004

18:10: Bach – Toccata in D Major, BWV 912

29:34: Bach – Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914

In the three years spanning 1955 to 1957, Bundervoët recorded three albums for French Decca that had limited circulation and still fetch massive fees at specialty stores and online auctions (I’ve seen them go for four figures). Fortunately these recordings of works by Liszt, Brahms, and Schumann have now been reissued on the Eloquence label of Australia: French critic Jean-Charles Hoffelé made the suggestion for the set to Eloquence producer Cyrus Meher-Homji, who had not long before come across Bundervoët via one of my Facebook posts. My colleague Frédéric Gaussin, an expert scholar on the French piano school who had studied with Bundervoët, wrote wonderful notes for the booklet of the release (his additional testimonials for this online tribute are shared above).

Bundervoët’s first Decca album was devoted to Liszt and was recorded October 29 & 30 1955. Featuring a few shorter works alongside more large-scale masterpieces such as the Rhapsodie espagnole and the Mephisto Valse No.1, this album showcases the pianist’s deft finger-work and impressive dynamic and tonal range. Her Rhapsodie espagnole is notable for its balance of poetry and dazzling virtuosity, though one should not expect the kind of fireworks that one would hear from Cziffra (who was a close friend) or Barere, with impressive clarity of line (even in octaves and as the melody moves from one hand to the other) and idiomatic timing that is never exaggerated (Gaussin stated that she despised sentimentality).

Her second Decca album was devoted to Brahms and set down on March 17, 1956, including the two Rhapsodies Op.79 plus the Rhapsody Op.119 No.4 and the titanic Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel Op.24. There are a few moments in the Fugue that are slightly less commanding but overall it is a stunning traversal, and we can hear her fully at her best in the other works as well, such as the Rhapsody in G Minor Op.79 No.2, with both heroic and more lyrical passages being wonderfully characterized: midway through the work, her subtle pedal technique as well as dynamic and technical control create quite an eerie atmosphere, brilliantly contrasted with big-boned playing in the main subject.

The third and final Decca album that Bundervoët recorded (on September 24, 1957) was devoted to the music of Schumann: the Intermezzi Op.4 (apparently the world premiere recording), the Fantasiestücke Op.12, and the Toccata Op.7. Here in that premiere recording of the Intermezzi Op.4 (all in a single clip that had been uploaded prior to the official Eloquence reissue) we witness her beautiful tonal colours, flawless articulation, glorious phrasing (what dramatic but natural rise-and-fall shaping), and tasteful timing.

Despite having largely retired from performance, Bundervoët continued to give radio broadcasts and make the occasional concert appearance. The Meloclassic label released a superb CD of her playing the Khatchaturian and Saint-Saëns 2nd Concertos along with the Franck Prélude, Choral et Fugue (click here to order) and after some superb Ravel and Debussy recordings were available on a very pricy limited edition subscription LP, a Japanese CD set issued these alongside a few more fantastic broadcasts (it is now out of print and some of the performances are shared below). It is hoped that all of Bundervoët’s broadcast performances will be systematically made available – the pianist herself was particularly pleased with one of the Schumann Fantasie Op.17 but that has yet to surface.

By contrast, Bundervoët in more contemporary music: the Thème et variations by Jacques de La Presle, from a marvellous June 28, 1969 broadcast recording of this work dedicated to her. As always, the artist plays with a sumptuous singing sound, with lyrical phrasing and sparkling runs, and atmospheric pedalling.

A January 9, 1960 broadcast recording of the fabled French pianist Agnelle Bundervoët playing Debussy’s Images Livre 1. This marvellous performance (from a now-deleted Japanese CD set) captures the artist’s evocative, sensitive, yet controlled pianism at its best: exquisite tone in every note, magnificent pedal effects, precise and consistent articulation, phenomenally refined dynamic shadings, and clear phrasing all serve her masterful conceptions of each of these three works.

Perhaps the pinnacle of Bundervoët’s recorded artistry is a stellar November 10, 1959 radio studio broadcast recording of Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, in which she plays with thoroughly beguiling tonal colours, marvellous pedalling, incredible clarity, and flawless technical command (all the more remarkable considering the circumstances that had already limited her performing career by this point), perfectly capturing the mood of each of the three movements of Ravel’s masterpiece.