Events

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

Please note that Jean-Efflam has made a small change to his programme. Instead of Ohana 12 Etudes d’interprétation for piano, IV. Main gauche seule (in memoriam Maurice Ravel) he will be playing Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales.

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
Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales
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. Jean-Efflam follows this first with Ravel’s six Valses nobles et sentimentales, written two years before World War I, and then with La Valse, a composition that was interrupted and terrifyingly changed by the same devastating war. A thrilling and disturbing finale.

Our thanks to the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, for their hospitality and support for the International Piano Series