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Mozart: Piano Concertos Vol. 8

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Concertos - Released October 6, 2023 | Chandos

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With this 2023 release, the cycle of Mozart's mature piano concertos by pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, with the Manchester Camerata under conductor Gabor Takács-Nagy, reaches its end. The series, with a modern piano but an economical approach that shows some influence from the historical performance movement, has found both critical and popular success, and this finale will not disappoint. Bavouzet is a technically clean pianist who can impress with the elegance of any given phrase, but what strikes the listener considering his Mozart work as a whole is the way he approaches each piece as an individual. His Mozart is entirely different from his Haydn, as revealed in a long series of fine piano sonata recordings, and he is very sensitive to the development of Mozart's style, capturing subtle interaction between piano and winds in the big middle-period concertos and backing off to a simpler melodicism in these late ones. In the Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, K. 537 ("Coronation"), he prepares his own version of the incompletely notated left-hand part, and he adds some light ornamentation to the rather bare, slow movement. Bavouzet's Mozart albums have included overtures from the period of the concertos involved, and here, one gets no fewer than three from the last three Mozart operas. Takács-Nagy integrates these with the concertos beautifully, and the program as a whole has a satisfying effect that brings to mind Mozart's remark about the connoisseurs and the amateurs; the album can be appreciated at multiple levels. Chandos' engineering work at the Stoller Hall in Manchester is once again exemplary. This release made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Mozart Piano Concertos 11, 12, & 13

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Symphonies - Released March 8, 2024 | Chandos

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The "Mozart, Made in Manchester" series from pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the Manchester Camerata under conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy has been a joy from the start. It is not that Bavouzet does anything so radical. He plays a modern piano, although there is an overall sparse approach that probably traces itself to the historical performance movement. These are just impressively sensitive performances that bring out the individuality of each work. Here, Bavouzet takes on three Mozart concertos from the early years of his life in Vienna as he broke free from the stultifying circumstances he had experienced in Salzburg. These three piano concertos are brimming over with formal experimentation that Bavouzet brings out in full; sample the tempo-shifting Rondeau finale of the Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415. The Manchester Camerata, with some youthful musicians taken on from the city's Chetham's School, offers lively playing that conductor Takács-Nagy calibrates beautifully to Bavouzet's detailed readings. Releases in this series have included a Mozart overture, and here, one gets a vigorous, almost rollicking Overture to Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384, which emphasizes the battery of Turkish percussion in the piece. This unusually satisfying Mozart recording made classical best-seller lists in early 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Debussy : Complete Works for Piano

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released October 1, 2012 | Chandos

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
Praised for his meticulous fidelity to the composer's intentions, as well as for his rich tonal palette and the warmth of his expressions, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has won many admirers for his five albums of the complete solo piano music of Claude Debussy. These recordings were produced by Chandos between 2007 and 2009, and they have now been gathered into a handsome box set; each disc is presented with its own cardboard sleeve and the original liner notes that accompanied each release. The roster of artists who have recorded Debussy's keyboard music is a long and distinguished one, though Bavouzet is easily ranked in the upper echelons, equal in stature among such luminaries as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Krystian Zimerman, Maurizio Pollini, Angela Hewitt, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Pascal Rogé. Experienced listeners will already have favorite recordings of the Préludes, Images, Estampes, and Études, as well as the perennially popular Suite bergamasque, Children's Corner, and other picturesque pieces. However, many will be won over by the consistency of Bavouzet's playing, and newcomers will find that his disciplined yet gorgeous readings are a great way to begin appreciating these charming classics. Chandos provides excellent sound that gives the piano a clear presence yet takes nothing away from Bavouzet's atmospheric colors or the radiant acoustics. Highly recommended.© TiVo
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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 7

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Symphonies - Released February 10, 2023 | Chandos

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Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet continues his exploration of Mozart's Piano Concertos for Chandos Records, with Gabor Tackas-Nagy at the helm of the Manchester Camerata. This 7th volume features two brilliant, yet fundamentally different masterpieces; The Concerto in C minor is a seminal work of tormented Romanticism, while the Concerto in C major is asynchronous and untouchable; the archetypal classical concerto.The expressive violence of the Concerto in C minor is somewhat softened by the elegance brought by the French pianist and his accompaniment, as if to show that there was a politeness in the despair that prevailed during the torments of the 18th century, which would only darken over the course of the following century. There is a common misconception that there are hints of the French national anthem in the opening allegro maestoso of the Concerto in C major, composed several years earlier. Bavouzet makes delightful use of this confusion by using the young pianist Kenneth Broberg’s cadenza (a passage played by the piano alone, right before the final reprise with the full orchestra), which incorporates the French anthem in a way that is as incongruous as it is ingenious.The album begins with the overture to The Marriage of Figaro, which is a contemporary of the two solo works, and has the same theatricality as almost all of Mozart's concertos. The more attentive and knowledgeable listener will find within each of them passages referencing the operas, as if the composer wanted to hold up a mirror between two musical forms he was particularly fond of. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Pierre Sancan: A Musical Tribute

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Symphonies - Released May 5, 2023 | Chandos

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
The music by Pierre Sancan on this album is all but unknown, even in France, and it may seem quite a surprise, even with the star power of the popular pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, that it turned up on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2023. The only possible explanation is that the music is a total delight. Sancan was a teacher of Bavouzet, among others, as well as a pianist; even the booklet here offers the disclaimer that he was born too late and wrote neoclassic music in the middle of the 20th century. It would be nice if the discourse could get away from this idea, the notion of inevitable progress being quaintly Victorian by now. In any event, the music is lively and light in spirit. Those who enjoy the similarly underrated Jean Françaix will love Sancan, but the most remarkable feature is that Sancan wrote truly virtuosic music. It is very French, not keyboard-banging virtuoso music in the Russian sense, but its technical demands are considerable. There is a fine piano concerto and some short piano pieces (hear the two-minute Boîte à musique), but the real highlight is the three-movement Sonatine for flute and piano, where the two instruments interlock in difficult skittering figures. Bavouzet surely knows this music better than anyone else, and his performance here with flutist Adam Walker is wholly compelling. This is a unique document, a wonderful window into a French tradition too often dismissed as academic.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22, K. 482 & No.23, K. 488

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Concertos - Released April 1, 2022 | Chandos

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Described by BBC Music Magazine as "Mozart music-making of altogether superior quality", Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s acclaimed Mozart Concertos series reaches Vol. 6. Along with Concerto No. 24, K. 491, the two concertos presented here were composed in Vienna in the winter of 1785-1786, at a time when Mozart was working on Le nozze di Figaro. He was at the height of his fame as composer, virtuoso pianist, and teacher. These three concertos were all written for his own use in the concerts of that winter, and remained unpublished during his lifetime. Der Schauspieldirektor was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II for an important state visit and performed at Schönbrunn palace on 7 February 1786. The Overture highlights Mozart’s innate ability as an orchestrator, and serves as a demonstration piece for Gábor Takács-Nagy and the wonderful musicians of Manchester Camerata. © Chandos
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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 11

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released July 29, 2022 | Chandos

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A complete set of Haydn's piano sonatas, complete with other almost entirely obscure short piano pieces, may have seemed an odd and unwieldy career move for pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, but he has more than amply justified his choice. His detailed readings of sonatas from all parts of Haydn's life (all played on the piano) have given the lie to a general perception that just a few of them are worthwhile. Listeners sampling the set could do worse than jump in at the end here. Bavouzet has saved both Haydn's first and last sonatas for this album, which is short on representatives of his middle period, but the release has all of the virtues of the set in general. Bavouzet is careful and precise without losing the humor that is almost always present in Haydn's music. He finds originality in the early pieces. Actually, the piece denoted the Piano Sonata No. 14 here is likely to have been the first one, not the Piano Sonata No. 1, but all of Bavouzet's performances of the early works catch Haydn's very early appreciation of the possibilities of register. Those possibilities come into full flower with the Theme and Variations in C major, Hob. 17/5, of 1790, a profound and almost unknown work. There is no question that the last two Haydn sonatas would have been works that the young Beethoven knew well and that influenced him mightily, but Bavouzet avoids leaning into their proto-Romantic qualities; his interpretations, here as elsewhere in the set, are of a piece despite the great stylistic changes they cover. Chandos' sound from Potton Hall continues to be ideal, and one cannot help feeling a little sadness that Bavouzet's 11-year journey through Haydn is over.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 1

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released September 1, 2016 | Chandos

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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 3

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Concertos - Released November 1, 2018 | Chandos

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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 2

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Concertos - Released September 1, 2017 | Chandos

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Haydn: Piano Sonatas Vol. 10

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released February 25, 2022 | Chandos

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His recordings and concert performances have long established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation. This latest album - the tenth - in his cycle of the complete Haydn Sonatas is built around the Grand Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50, a late work the first movement of which is one of the most highly developed that Haydn ever conceived for the keyboard. Bavouzet has surrounded this with less well-known works: two very early sonatas (No. 3 and No. 4) provide a stark contrast to the later works (No. 28 and No. 45). The album ends with the Arietta con 12 Variazioni. Bavouzet notes: "The Variations in E-flat major and the Sonata in A major, Hob. XVI:30 were for me the marvellous revelations of this programme. In the E-flat major Variations (the lovely theme of which Mozart borrowed in his Sonata, K. 282!), the chief question was to decide whether to repeat the theme at the end, as certain editions recommend. After several experiments, I finally opted for a solution perhaps a little anachronistic, by construing the entire last variation as a long, gradual crescendo which takes us from the sombre and serious atmosphere of the preceding variation towards the brilliant light of the unadorned chords that conclude this magnificent cycle". © Chandos
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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 9

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released March 1, 2021 | Chandos

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Following his acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s Concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet returns to his exploration of Haydn’s Sonatas, described by the magazine Gramophone as "a major modern recording landmark in the Haydn discography". As in previous instalments, Bavouzet has programmed sonatas from Haydn’s early, middle, and late periods, giving added interest to the recital. Sonatas No. 10 and No. 2, dating from the 1750s and ’60s respectively, share the key of C major, but differ in form. The short No. 2 was almost certainly written for pupils whilst Haydn was working as a teacher. No. 10 is more ambitious and extensive. Sonatas No. 41 and No. 44 date from the early 1770s and show some influence from C.P.E. Bach and the "Sturm und Drang" movement. More virtuosic than the earlier sonatas, in these the trademark humour of Haydn is also more evident. Sonatas No. 52 and No. 53 were composed a decade later and are conspicuously more demanding, technically and musically. As in the case of the previous volumes, this album was recorded at Potton Hall in Suffolk, on a Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano. © Chandos
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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 6

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released May 1, 2017 | Chandos

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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released September 1, 2011 | Chandos

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Debussy: Complete Works for Piano

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released October 1, 2012 | Chandos

Hi-Res Booklet
Praised for his meticulous fidelity to the composer's intentions, as well as for his rich tonal palette and the warmth of his expressions, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has won many admirers for his five albums of the complete solo piano music of Claude Debussy. These recordings were produced by Chandos between 2007 and 2009, and they have now been gathered into a handsome box set; each disc is presented with its own cardboard sleeve and the original liner notes that accompanied each release. The roster of artists who have recorded Debussy's keyboard music is a long and distinguished one, though Bavouzet is easily ranked in the upper echelons, equal in stature among such luminaries as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Krystian Zimerman, Maurizio Pollini, Angela Hewitt, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Pascal Rogé. Experienced listeners will already have favorite recordings of the Préludes, Images, Estampes, and Études, as well as the perennially popular Suite bergamasque, Children's Corner, and other picturesque pieces. However, many will be won over by the consistency of Bavouzet's playing, and newcomers will find that his disciplined yet gorgeous readings are a great way to begin appreciating these charming classics. Chandos provides excellent sound that gives the piano a clear presence yet takes nothing away from Bavouzet's atmospheric colors or the radiant acoustics. Highly recommended.© TiVo
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Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Plays Haydn Piano Concertos

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Concertos - Released September 1, 2014 | Chandos

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Of the profusion of Haydn keyboard sonata recordings that have appeared in the 21st century, the modern-piano versions by French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet came almost out of nowhere and have been regarded as among the very best. Bavouzet's Haydn is almost preternaturally alert to detail at both the micro and macro levels; he can both make listeners laugh out loud and marvel at the intricacies of Haydn's movement structure in even little-known works. The question was whether Bavouzet could do it again in Haydn's three keyboard concertos, little-known works in which, in lesser recordings, the composer seemed unmoved by the dramatic quality intrinsic to the concerto form. The answer is that Bavouzet is as brilliant as ever, and he has essentially rewritten the book on these pieces. He nails the madcap humor of the folkish finale of the Piano Concerto in G major, Hob. 18/4, and the harmonic density of the slow movements. He also brings together the opening movements, the way they deepen from almost inconsequential material, in a way that perhaps no one else has done before. It gives the effect of a kind of mind meld, and Bavouzet is accompanied with extreme agility by the Manchester Camerata under Gábor Takács-Nagy. Superior Haydn.© TiVo
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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 5

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released April 1, 2013 | Chandos

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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released April 1, 2011 | Chandos

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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 8

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released July 1, 2019 | Chandos

Hi-Res Booklet
After leaving the boys’ choir of St Stephens Cathedral in Vienna, one of the ways the young Haydn found to support himself was as a harpsichord teacher. The three early sonatas featured on this recording were almost certainly intended for his students: short, light pieces with few technical demands. The two larger sonatas, both in the key of E-flat major, were written some twenty years later and are far more extensive. Both require significantly greater prowess from the performer, and represent Haydn’s ingenuity and skill to the full. The two additional works included here, whilst single-movement compositions, are substantial pieces. The Adagio ma non troppo would become the slow movement of Piano Trio No. 36, whilst the Variations on ‘Gott erhalte’ is based on the second movement of the ‘Emperor’ Quartet (Op. 76 No. 3), which is itself a set of variations on an anthem composed by Haydn at the request of an Austrian politician for the 29th birthday of the Emperor, and intended as a patriotic hymn comparable to ‘God Save the King’ in England – and a response against the "Marseillaise". © Chandos
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Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 7

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Classical - Released July 1, 2018 | Chandos

Hi-Res Booklet