photo by Christian Steiner

"Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has the look of a young Liszt; flowing locks and sharp nose, and is not bad at the piano either! Certainly this Prokofiev concerto fizzed and popped with ever-watchful accompaniment from the genial Sinaisky... the concerto itself ...was written as a virtuoso showpiece for the composer, the middle movement variations were persuasively done, and Bavouzet certainly has a sweep that ensured that the cross-hand swirling passages in the final movement were both a visual and an aural treat. He then gave a scintillating yet subtle encore [Debussy]."
http://www.classicalsource.com
London Philharmonic
Prokofiev Concerto #3
Vassily Sinaisky conducting

"The young French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, made his debut. His imaginative, accurate, and beautiful playing honored his impressive pedigree -- he studied with Genevieve Joy, the wife of Henri Dutilleux, and worked on this piece with Messiaen's widow, Yvonne Loriod, for whom it was written."
[Messiaen's Reveil des Oiseaux with The Boston Symphony]
The Boston Globe

"crystal clear accuracy, an extremely wide dynamic range, and an impetuosity that gives an added frisson, without becoming self-indulgent."
LudwigVanWeb.com

"Jean-Efflam Bavouzet "speaks" Bartok without an accent. Invited by George Solti, the young pianist makes his debut with L'Orchestre de Paris in the Bartok 3rd Piano Concerto conducted by Pierre Boulez." [Headline]
Le Figaro

“… spontaneous elegance, subtle sound clarity in the best French style…. Even in the monstrously difficult Gaspard de la Nuit Bavouzet keeps his identity: elegant, colour-conscious, playing with supreme composure.”
Stereo Magazine, Germany


"the instrument sounds marvellously liquid in Jeux d’eau and at the closing ‘très expressif’ Bavouzet almost makes it weep. You can also hear all the details, which in Gaspard de la Nuit are scrupulously observed without losing sight of the overwhelming total picture. Ondine is the most seductive feminine siren imaginable. Scarbo is thrilling both for its bravura and evocative force. More unusual still is Bavouzet’s account of Miroirs in which Une barque sur l’océan is superbly grand as well as tender, while Alborada del gracioso has startling percussive attack and rythmic accuracy. Overall, I think Bavouzet’s recordings are the more remarkable of the two... matching the great version of the past, including Michelangeli and Argerich."
BBC Magazine

"He gave the 12 independent universes of Debussy's Book Two the same degree of violence, delicacy, humor, and poetry he had devoted to Book One - and then, with extreme generosity and perfect Gallic aplomb, went on to show us that he was just as much at home with a totally different kind of genius."
San Diego Reader
 

Characterized by critics and audiences as mercurial, elegant, dynamic and poetic, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has performed with leading international orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra; the Gurzenich Orchestra of Cologne, the Bournemouth Symphony, Hallé Orchestra/Manchester, Weimar Staatskapelle, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Hungarian and Polish National Phliharmonic and Symphony National de Belgique. Recent performances include debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ingo Metzmacher, an appearance with the Berliner Sinfonie Orchester under the baton of Jean-Claude Casadesus and a return to the L'Orchestre de Paris to perform with Pierre Boulez.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was invited by Sir George Solti to perform Bartok’s Third Concerto with him and L'Orchestre de Paris in Paris/Salle Pleyel and Rome/Santa Cecilia in January 1998. After Solti’s death, Pierre Boulez conducted these concerts to exceptional critical acclaim. Bavouzet has appeared with the finest ensembles of his native France, including the Orchestre National de France with Charles Dutoit at the Stresa and Merano Festivals, Orchestre de Capitol de Toulouse, Orchestre de l'Ile-de-France, and the National Philharmonic Orchestras of Lyon, Metz and Nancy. Conductors with whom Mr. Bavouzet has collaborated include Vassili Sinaisky; Yutaka Sado, Marek Janowski, Armin Jordan, Leonid Grin, Jorge Mester, Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro, Emmanuel Krivine, Andrew Litton, Kent Nagano, Michel Plasson, Youri Simonov, David Atherton, George A. Albrecht, Pavel Kogan, and Mark Ermler. He is frequent guest at European and American festivals including La Roque d'Anthéron, Théatre des Champs-Elysées Sunday Morning Series, La Folle journée/Nantes, Chopin Festival Paris, Piano aux Jacobins, Schleswig-Holstein, Ruhr Klavierfestival, Badenweiler Musiktage, Ludwigsburg, Harrogate, Kalamazoo, American Spoleto, Mainly Mozart, Bard Festival, Yokohama, Sakharov, and Sarov.
 
He made his North American debut in 1986 under the auspices of Young Concert Artists, and has since toured numerous times throughout the United States and Canada, appearing in such venues as New York's 92nd Street Y and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The pianist has made a number of highly acclaimed recordings. His latest, Debussy's Complete Works for Piano (Vol. 1) was released in 2007 on the Chandos label. Gramophone Magazine calls the CD "a recital that fully justifies the anticipation." More reviews. His recording of Ravel’s complete solo works for piano on the German label MDG, released in December 2003, was greeted with equal enthusiasm by the press and public. The double album was been awarded the Choc by Le Monde de la Musique; the Diapason d’or; and was chosen as CD of the month by the German review Stereo. The BBC Music Magazine called it "Thrilling both for its bravura and evocative force" and named his Gaspard de la nuit First Choice from among 32 historical recordings. "He plays with such remarkable authority, expressive strength and unadulterated brilliance. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is one of France’s best kept secrets. In fact Bavouzet’s playing is restricted to a most narrow range: wonderful to superb." The British MusicWeb. A Liszt recital was released in October 2005 on the MDG label.

Among his other recordings are Haydn and Schumann recitals for Harmonic Records. The Haydn won the "Choc" Award by Le Monde de la Musique in 1992; the Schumann CD was voted one of the Best Recordings of the Year by Le Monde in 1994. The world premiere of the complete Ohana Etudes was released by Harmonic Records in 1998, and received the "Choc" Award by Le Monde de la Musique in 1999. He has also recorded the Debussy Etudes and an all-Chopin CD for the Japanese label Octavia Records.

His musical tastes are eclectic and distinctive. His concerto repertoire includes all the concerti of Bartok, Beethoven and Prokofiev. In November 1999 he performed the complete Prokofiev piano concerti in two nights with the Nizhni Novgorod Philharmonic in Russia. This season he is touring with the complete solo works of Ravel in one recital, and is one of the featured artists in "The 32 Beethoven Sonatas" cycle being performed throughout France and abroad. He is also involved in a new project of the complete Schumann piano works. His recitals often include contemporary repertoire by Boulez, Ligeti, Stockhausen and Ohana.

Renowned pianist Zoltan Kocsis recently joined Bavouzet for the premiere of Bavouzet’s own transcription of Debussy’s Jeux for two pianos; for several years the two pianists played regularly in duo recitals throughout Europe. Bavouzet’s transcription of Jeux is to be published by Durand.

Formerly a student of Pierre Sancan at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, in 1999 he was named Professor for Life in the Piano Department of the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany.