Marcelle

The French pianist Marcelle Meyer made these recordings of music by Francois Couperin, Rameau, Domenico Scarlatti and Rossini in Paris between 1946 and 1955. Celebrated for her performances of French piano music, notably perhaps that of Chabrier, Debussy and Ravel, Meyer was none the less a zealous champion of the eighteenth-century harpsichordists. Bach's keyboard music played an important part in her daily studies and, together with Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti, occupied a significant place in her public recital programmes.

A significant number of women were active as professional composers in inter-war France. Although they worked alongside their male peers and were accepted by concert organisers, performers, critics and audiences alike, they are little known today, and their works are rarely performed in concert or recorded. Composer, conductor, pianist and teacher Marcelle de Manziarly is one of these forgotten musicians.