French keyboard wizard reveals his classical side and revels in Ravel.

City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney
November 17, 2014

French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is currently making a welcome return to Australia in concert and recital. Last night saw an all Beethoven first half followed by a second half of complete contrast – Ravel and, a relative stranger to our concert programs, Bruno Mantovani.

Bavouzet cheekily chose to begin his program with Beethoven’s valedictory sounding Sonata No 26 Les Adieux. Despite its wistful opening, the sonatas first movement soon shifts into one of those conversational exchanges with which later Beethoven abounds. With his fiercely interrogatory style, these sonatas suit JEB very well indeed, marrying natural French elegance with an instinct for colour and structural narrative. The lyrical ‘Absence’ Andante was beautifully sprung to poignant effect. Of course, Les Adieux is really all about the return and the Vivace fortissimo played nicely into Bavouzet’s extraordinarily secure technique.

Sonata No 22 followed, one of Beethoven’s odd two-movement sonatas. Bavouzet seemed more immediately at home here, attacking the frenetic opening movement (bizarrely labelled ‘In tempo d’un Menuetto’) with a wider range of emotional dynamics than can sometimes be the case. He made his points...