Too little is known of this French pianist, a pupil of Isidore Philipp, who may still be alive. She lives in or near Marseilles and played after age 90. Early recordings of Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin and Jeux d'eau are exemplary: a great modern artist is heard, far better than the idolized Marcelle Meyer, who tended to cover works with texture and is remembered for the sake of having left many recordings. Valmalete instead understands every phrase and gesture. She may have been related to a Parisian impresario Valmalete who ran a concert agency before the Second World War. Even among the French connoisseurs little is known of her activites and life. Perhaps more information will arise and be posted
© Allan Evans, 1996