JACQUELINE BLANCARD (1909-1994)
Swiss pianist

Jacqueline Blancard, it would seem, may well be a figment of our communal imagination.  There appears to be no available information concerning this wonderful pianist.  I have even searched the French search engines and apart from listings of her recordings, I encountered only a request for information from a Frenchman asking if anyone knew anything about her. This enquête unearthed several interesting facts:

- that she was Swiss
- that she taught at the Conservatory of Lausanne
- that she gave the Swiss premier of Ravel's concerto for the left hand in 1937 conducted by Ernest Ansermet
- that she was the first to record Ravel's concerto for the left hand in 1938 (on the Polydor label under Charles Munch), in advance of the famous recordings by Alfred Cortot and Jacques Février.

At least I am not alone in my ignorance.  But if any of you, my dear readers, knows something more of Jacqueline Blancard, please let me know so that I may share it.  Clearly to be given the honor and privilege of such important premieres by the likes of Munch and Ansermet while still in her twenties is indicative of the esteem in which she was held.

So we shall have to rely entirely on our ears, and enjoy every minute of it.  I must say I am especially fond of Jacqueline Blancard's Schumann and Brahms performances which have, at her hands, a limpid fluidity through which new discoveries are made. 

Mozart Sonata in G major, K 283

i Allegro
02:50 ➢ ii Andante
06:36 ➢ iii Presto