Where are all the pianophiles? This was posted before Bundervoet's death in 2015! What a magnificent, passionate performance, full of sweeping conviction undergirded by a profound musicality. I like this even better than Egon Petri's recording.
Agnelle Bundervoet's ability to perform the Bach's piano repertoire, to the most difficult contemporary works equally brilliantly, earned her the admiration of the critics and also pianists as eminent as Yvonne Lefébure. She played with Paul Paray, Eugène Bigot, Pierre-Michel Le Conte, Charles Brück. Each concert was a triumph. After one, a critic who never had anything good to say about anyone raved about her in the press and arranged to meet her. He introduced himself as the director of Ducretet-Thomson and expressed his deep admiration. 'Well', she asked, 'why don't you make a recording of me'? Due to the simple reason that Bach was lacking in the DT catalogue, the resulting disc was a Bach recital. Agnelle herself made the choice of works - Busoni transcriptions of 'Wachet Auf' and the Chaccone and two Toccatas and Fugues. Uniquely and justifiably, she was awarded a 'Grand Prix du Disque' for her first recording, her playing displaying an extraordinary musical maturity. However, she was not invited to record again for Ducretet-Thomson. Neither was she paid.
Never heard of her. Incredible playing, certainly plays like a titan, and it turns out she's still alive! Also this appears to be a repost, although I wouldn't have seen (and so heard it) it otherwise. Thanks for posting!
