Background
He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army general. His mother taught him to play the piano, but he had a mild case of polio as a child and lost dexterity in his feet and legs.
He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army general. His mother taught him to play the piano, but he had a mild case of polio as a child and lost dexterity in his feet and legs.
He received early training from Odette Krettly, and from 1918 studied with André Hekking and later with Paul Bazelaire. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory at 17, in 1923.
Having difficulties with the piano pedals, he turned to the cello. He became well known when he played with the Concerts Colonne Orchestra in 1925. He began touring all over Europe.
At various stages he played with many of the most highly acclaimed, prestigious musicians of his time, and recorded the complete chamber music of Brahms and Schubert for the British Broadcasting Corporation on acetates.
However, these deteriorated before the recordings could be transferred to a more durable medium. He is also praised for his recordings of the Bach suites (Beethoven-Saal, Hannover, December 1960), which are regarded even now as some of the best versions ever made.
His other discs include LPs of Beethoven"s cello sonatas and Elgar"s Cello Concerto. These have long since been available on Civil Defense. He made his first tour of the United States in 1948 and played to great acclaim in New York and Boston.
His performance in America became an embarrassment when it was revealed in 1949 that Fournier had collaborated with the Nazis during the occupation of France.
He was found to have performed 82 times on "Radio-Paris" – a German station – for which he had been paid a total of 192,400 francs. In France, the "National Purging Committee"s Professional Branch for Dramatic and Lyric Artists and Performing Musicians" had found him guilty of collaboration, and had banned him from performing for a period of six months. After 1956, he made his home in Switzerland, although he never relinquished his French citizenship.
He received the dedication of both Bohuslav Martinů"s Cello Concerto Number.
1 (1930, rev 1939, 1955) and Francis Poulenc"s Cello Sonata (1948). He continued performing in public until two years before his death at the age of 79.
Till the end, he taught privately at his home in Geneva: the British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber was among his pupils. Fournier played 3 instruments: A Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume 1863, a Matteo Goffriller 1722 and a rare Charles Adolphe Maucotel 1849.
With the Maucoutel he played the last 18 years of his career and made all his recordings.
In the period 1925-1929 he was a member of the Krettly Quartet, led by Odette"s brother Robert Krettly.