Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

“This was one of the great performances of the Ravel, taking it into territory way beyond the realm of art deco cool, with which it is primarily associated. That tough streak in Bavouzet's playing brought out levels of harmonic bitterness we don't usually hear... In many respects, this was Bavouzet's concert rather than Ashkenazy's.” (The Guardian, December 2011)

“...with Ashkenazy and the orchestra providing a circumambient glow, Bavouzet achieved an almost Mozartian eloquence; his pianism in the concluding Presto was both electrifying and flawless. Tackling Manuel de Falla’s ‘Noches en los jardines de Espana’ after the interval, he dazzled again...for this flamboyant Frenchman it could mark the beginning of British stardom.” (The Independent, December 2011)

"If, like me, you have been badly missing Alfred Brendel in Haydn since his retirement, let us celebrate a special moment: Volume 3 of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s Haydn project establishes him as a worthy successor. And better still, its scope is more ambitious and is going to include many more sonatas than Brendel recorded…. Do please listen to him." (Gramophone, December 2011)

“The sound of the Bavouzet fingers is distinctive. It is searching, penetrating, imaginatively fired, and endlessly curious in its exploration of any composer’s unique sound palette and language.” (The Times, October 2011)

“Bavouzet is probably setting a new golden standard for these works on the modern piano… The subtlety, humour and grace of his playing is undergirded by a keenly perceptive intellectual grasp and unfailing musicality. No doubt these performances will afford pleasure and in insight for many years to come.” (Haydn Vol. 3 - International Record Review, November 2011)

“It was a treat to hear Bavouzet, a truly first-rate pianist, in Prokofiev’s Third Concerto….his passagework was astonishingly elegant, his ideas fresh, and in the third movement, his playing dazzlingly and unconventionally fast. It made you want to hear him again soon..." (Boston Globe, October 2011)

“Bavouzet shows exquisite taste, always making us aware that behind Haydn’s classical lines lies a hugely inventive personality.” (Haydn: Sonatas Vol. 3 -Financial Times, September 2011)

“The excellent pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was the soloist in the first piece on the program. Mr. Bavouzet’s sparkling playing seemed to emerge organically out of the orchestral lines, balancing Classical purity and Romantic passion.” (The New York Times, April 2011)

“Between the Debussy and Stravinsky works came Ravel's jazzy Piano Concerto in G major, always a pleasure to hear, especially when it is dispatched with such breezy insouciance, playful charm and elegance of touch as Jean-Efflam Bavouzet brought to it. His interplay with Gatti's simpatico musicians had the fizz of vintage Champagne. This was the gifted French pianist's Chicago debut, and I look forward to hearing more from him.” (Chicago Tribune, April 2011)

“These performances sound natural, appropriate and in perfect structural and expressive proportion… Bavouzet’s recordings have a strong claim to be the finest Haydn playing of recent vintage on modern piano. They are the work of an insightful musician of profound culture and wide interests, whose intellectual and emotional identification with Haydn is unreserved, and whose playing, beautifully captured in technical terms, is a delight to listen to.” (International Record Review, April 2011)

“Bavouzet stands high above the majority, and as a complete set of the three concertos, his version is a clear winner.” (Pianist Magazine, April-May 2011)

“In three short pieces by Debussy … Jean-Efflam Bavouzet created a sound world of exquisite delicacy, built on the twin pillars of his imagination and his technical control. That was remarkable, but for those who know his Debussy recordings, not unexpected.” (The Sydney Morning Herald, March 2011)

“…the CD’s raison d’être is the Ravel. Bavouzet’s G major concerto is the best since Michelangeli’s 50 years ago: it has style, verve, poetry and balance”  (Financial Times, January 2011)