Jean-Efflam Bavouzet- International Piano Series

Tickets £18 - £40 (concessions for under 30s, students and carers. 

The original performer for this concert date was British pianist Jonathan Powell, whose sad death was announced at the beginning of January.

Beethoven Sonata for Piano no.3 in C major, op.2
Hummel Sonata in E flat major, op.13
Interval
Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien
Ravel Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn
Ohana 12 Etudes d’interprétation for piano, IV. Main gauche seule (in memoriam Maurice Ravel)
Ravel La valse for solo piano

We are enormously grateful to Jean-Efflam Bavouzet for stepping in to the Series at this late date. A pianist of international renown, his recordings and performances of the complete solo piano works of Haydn and, more recently of Ravel, have received widespread acclaim. Those who attended his February 2024 concert at SJE Arts will remember also that he a brilliant communicator.

Jean-Efflam brings a programme of beautiful music wrapped in a web of connections. Beethoven’s virtuosic piano sonata no.3 is dedicated to his teacher Haydn. Hummel, a contemporary and friend of Beethoven’s, also took lessons with Haydn. Schumann wrote his piece after witnessing the extravagant Mardi Gras celebrations while he was staying in Vienna.

Ravel’s short Menuet – it is only a minute and a half  – was a commission to mark the centenary of Haydn’s death. Maurice Ohana’s fourth Etude is a tribute to Ravel, whose left-handed concerto was written for a pianist injured in the First World War. And finally, Ravel’s La Valse, a composition that was interrupted and terrifyingly changed by the same devastating war. It will be thrilling to hear Jean-Efflam play this piece.