French pianists often seem to fall short of achieving the level of success on the international stage that Russian—or perhaps even German or Italian—ones do. Two notable exceptions to this “rule” were Alfred Cortot and Samson François (a student of both Cortot and Long). Both were iconoclasts who, while doubtless benefitting immensely from their pedagogical tradition’s thorough training, also rebelled against its obsessions with the notions of jeu perlé and plus de clarté and gained a wider global recognition in the process. Marguerite Long was the doyenne of the quintessentially French style of piano playing that emphasized finger independence, litheness, evenness, volubility, and lightness avant tout. In a pianistic world that often hails men for blustering through virtuoso repertoire, Madame Long’s brand of rarefied feminine elegance has sometimes been myopically dismissed as superficial outside France—by those who’ve listened to her playing at all, that is.  [Continue reading . . .]