Morgen

Album review

For some, Evgeni Bozhanov is one of the greatest pianists of the new generation. Though his album releases are somewhat scarce. A Chopin recital appeared on Fuga Libera in the wake of the prizes he won in 2010 at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and in 2012 he gave a magnificent and original recital in Warsaw. In the summer of 2018 an astonishing double Mozart-Chostakovitch album appeared on which he performed two concertos with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Chamber Orchestra conducted by Radoslaw Szulc. Evgeni Bozhanov has a way of performing which is totally unique and his poetic visions are almost unsettling with their audacity. Here, the Bulgarian pianist invites us to join him on his quest into the heart of romanticism with this superb programme composed of transcriptions from famous pieces by Brahms (Poco Allegretto from the Third Symphony, Op. 90 and Andante sostenuto from the First Symphony, Op. 68) and Richard Strauss (the famous Morgen melody, prized by so many sopranos) which surround Schubert’s last Sonata in B flat major (D. 960), a piece that has been recorded many times in recent years by the new generation of pianists. In Schubert’s final masterpiece, Evgeni Bozhanov is less extravagant than one might have expected, instead offering a very soft, tender interpretation. Has Evgeni Bozhanov signed a partnership with the Belgian company Avanti Classic, following his participation in Martha Argerich’s last Hamburg festival? It would be about time. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz