BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3: Opp. 54, 57, 78, 79, 81a, 90, 101, 106, 109, 110, 111
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
Chandos CHAN 10925(3) 211:40 mins (3 discs)
After recording an accomplished Haydn sonata cycle, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has now completed a Beethoven one. And if this latter provides a suitable outlet for his virtuosity, it also gives great scope to his artistry. Presenting the last 11 sonatas in chronological order, his final three-CD release begins with a sweetly unassuming account of Op. 54, the first movement capriciously playful, and the perpetuum mobile pellucid.
As Bavouzet uses very little pedal, his characteristic sound is clean and dry, and when he gives us histrionics they are Beethoven’s own; there’s nothing vain or pretentiously ‘original’ in these interpretations. The first movement of his Appassionata…
