Interpretation ****** Sound ***** Repertoire *****
Marco Frei - Piano News - Germany - July/August 2010
*****
Riccardo Risaliti - Musica - May 2010
International Piano Choice
“Every second of this CD is a delight, with Bavouzet’s artistry carrying anything that might sound routine.”
Michael Church - International Piano Magazine - May/June 2010
Artistic Quality – 10 Sound Quality – 10
“We badly need a great Haydn sonata cycle on a modern instrument, and on evidence here Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s promises to be just the ticket. It’s fabulous, as wonderful in its own way as was his Debussy cycle for this same label. His approach couldn’t be more intelligent …Interpretively, this is as good as it gets... The sonics are totally at one with the performances: brilliantly vivid, but never hard. I can’t wait for Volume 2.”
David Huwitz - ClassicToday.com
‘Editor’s Choice’
“Bavouzet turns from Debussy to Haydn with vivid results... Clarity and control from Bavouzet… the first disc in what I hope will be a long and comprehensive series.”
David Threasher - Gramophone magazine - May 2010
“The French pianist renowned for Debussy has now turned his attention to Haydn, and the results are effervescent and dazzling.”
Nicholas Kenyon - The Observer - 4 April 2010
CD of the Week
“Unadulterated bliss.” *****
Hugh Canning - The Sunday Times - 28 March 2010
“The first volume of a projected collection of the complete sonatas, this delightful disc contains four pieces across a 15-year period when the fortepiano was supplanting the harpsichord. Unlike Mozart’s sonatas, they still have a Baroque feel which Bavouzet doesn’t seek to play down, and he conveys Haydn’s impish spirit with the utmost clarity.” ****
Paul Gent - The Telegraph - 26 March 2010
"... this first disc [Haydn series] suggests that however extensive his survey turns out to be, the results should be well worth hearing... Though he exploits all the tonal possibilities of the modern concert grand, Bavouzet also makes full use of the latest ideas on performance practice. It’s the best kind of historically alert piano playing." ****
Andrew Clements - The Guardian - 26 March 2010
“…This first release is a long-term series offers four sonatas, dispatched with scintillating brightness and many ornamental trills. Bavouzet’s fingers are so spiky and sprightly that you might yearn for some flowing legato. It’s impossible not too be impressed, though, by the grand carnival of the relatively lengthy No 31 in A flat.”
Geoff Brown - The Times - 13 March 2010
Performance **** Recording ****
Bayan Northcott - BBC Music Magazine - April 2010
“…Bavouzet seems completely in his element throughout this fine disc, the recorded sound is close but natural, and the booklet notes by Marc Vigal are as elegant and insightful as the playing. I look forward to the next volume in this series.”
Charles Timbrell - International Record Review - March 2010
“…Altogether, this beautifully recorded disc promises well for another classic Bavouzet set to compliment his prize-winning Debussy recordings.” *****
Jeremy Nicholas - Classic FM Magazine - April 2010
Album of the Week’
“…Bavouzet shines brilliantly in Haydn’s first ‘great concert sonata’, but he is just as good with the intimate moments: roll on the rest CD in this complete cycle.”
Michael Church - The Independent - 27 February 2010
My Wish List
