Jean Fournet (14 April 1913 – 3 November 2008) was a French flautist and conductor.
Fournet was born in Rouen in 1913. His father was a flutist who gave him some instruction on the flute and music theory. Fournet was then trained at the Conservatoire de Paris in flute by Gaston Blanquart and Marcel Moyse, and conducting by Philippe Gaubert (himself a flutist). He performed on the flute at age fifteen with the Orchestra of the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen. He first established himself as a conductor in his native country conducting in Rouen 1936-1940, Marseilles 1940-1944, and then as director of the Paris Opéra-Comique 1944-1957. He was also a professor of conducting at the École Normale de Musique de Paris 1944-1962. In 1949, and again in 1950, he was guest conductor with the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra.
His debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra was in 1950. The Netherlands became Fournet’s second home. He became principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hilversum 1961-1968, where he also taught conducting. He married Miriam-Hannecart Jakes, an American who performed the Cor anglais with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra from 1977.
He served as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra 1968-1973, and the newly created Orchestre National de l’Île de France 1973-1982. He was the conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra 1983-1986 (he was given the title Honorary Conductor in 1989, and on his death in 2008 he was honored again with the title Permanent Honorary Conductor). His debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago was in 1965 with a double bill of Carmina Burana and L'heure espagnole, and his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York was on 28 March 1987, when he conducted Samson et Dalila.
Fournet was also president of the jury of the Besançon International Conductor's Competition for many years.
He proved a welcome addition to opera companies in America, where the French style had become something of a lost art. Beyond stage work, he proved, both early and late, a persuasive interpreter of the French symphonic literature. He was known as a gentle perfectionist, rarely raising his voice in rehearsal. Jean Fournet's career extended over an extraordinarily long period. His final concert was conducted in January 2005, at age 91, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Following that concert he retired to his home in Weesp near Hilversum in the Netherlands, where he died in 2008, aged 95.
JeanFournet (14 April 1913 – 3 November 2008) was a French flautist and conductor. Fournet was born in Rouen in 1913. His father was a flutist who gave...
conductor in 1962, his successors were Franz Paul Decker (1962-1967) and JeanFournet (1968-1973). In 1973, Edo de Waart became principal conductor, and served...
Past chief conductors have included Paul van Kempen, Bernard Haitink, JeanFournet, Willem van Otterloo, Hans Vonk, and Sergiu Comissiona. Edo de Waart...
Bizet Les pêcheurs de perles Nadir 1960, Armando La Rosa Parodi 1966, JeanFournet 1970, Carlo Felice Cillario 1981, Gianfranco Rivoli 6 Georges Bizet La...
Federation In office 1972–1984 Preceded by Jacques Georges Succeeded by JeanFournet-Fayard Personal details Born (1923-10-01)1 October 1923 Kouba, French...
Joseph Jean Baptiste Xavier Fournet (May 15, 1801 – January 8, 1869), French geologist and metallurgist, was born at Strasbourg. He was educated at the...
Angers, and later at the Paris Conservatory, where he was a pupil of JeanFournet, Paul Van Kempen, and Ferdinand Leitner. He won first prize at the international...
Solesmes Abbey - Dom Jean Claire (choir director) Gregorian Chant Netherlands Radio Chorus; Rotterdam Philharmonic - JeanFournet (conductor), Franz Muller...
Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948), better known as Jean Reno (French: [ʒɑ̃ ʁeno]), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French...
1994) 1912 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (d. 1978) 1913 – JeanFournet, French conductor (d. 2008) 1916 – Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist...
first woman to hold a commercial pilot's license (d. 1996) April 14 – JeanFournet, French conductor (d. 2008) April 16 – Les Tremayne, British-born American...
du Fournet (Putanges-Pont-Écrepin, 2 March 1856 – Périgueux, 16 February 1940) was a French vice admiral during World War I. The Dartige du Fournet family...
Japanese performance of Debussy's Pelleas and Melisande, conducted by JeanFournet. In 1959, the orchestra made a subsidiary contract with Fuji Television...
Conductor, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra 1957–1961 Succeeded by JeanFournet Preceded by John Pritchard Music Director, Glyndebourne Opera Festival...
Le Fournet (French pronunciation: [lə fuʁnɛ] ) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Communes of the...
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