If one were to search for a performer of Debussy and Ravel with the insight, mastery and style which Artur Schnabel brought to Beethoven and Schubert, it would be Jacques Fevrier (1900-1979). Gifted with a mordant wit, sarcastic temperament, and an unwavering sense of sacrifice to his art, Fevrier attained an understanding of certain composers which remains unparalleled. The son of a composer and colleague of Ravel, Fevrier began his piano studies with Eduard Risler and had advice from Ricardo Vines and Marguerite Long. A close association with his lifelong friend and contemporary Francis Poulenc made him a foremost interpreter of Poulenc's music. With the composer, Fevrier took part in the premiere of Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos. He gave first and early performances of works by Stravinsky and Igor Markevitch. Ravel selected him to perform the Concerto for the Left Hand after Wittgenstein's six-year exclusive performance rights expired: one of Ravel's final activities was to coach Fevrier in the work. He toured America in 1938 to perform the concerto with Serge Koussevitzky. After the Second World War, Fevrier was appointed to teach chamber music at the Paris Conservatoire, whose regrettable internal politics prevented his ever joining the piano faculty. Among his students are Gabriel Tacchino, Alain Planes, and Roy Howat. While walking on a country road one day in 1979, a motorcyclist struck Fevrier: he died from the injuries a few weeks later.
Fevrier's performances of Debussy and Ravel are on par with those by Cortot and Gieseking, often surpassing their musical penetration. Fine recordings was made with his student Tacchino of the Mother Goose Suite and piano four-hands works by Schubert. A sensual tone, heightened sense of rhythm and harmony establish Fevrier's recordings as classics which all music-lovers ought to explore. Sadly, his Ravel and Debussy editions remain elusive or out of print. After Cortot, he was the foremost pianist active in France.
© Allan Evans, 1998