Benjamin Ealovega the BarbicanCentre principal funderof is thefounder and Corporation The Cityof London

Roger Nichols Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Préludes, Book2 Part 3:7pm composés; Pour lesoctaves Pour lessonorités opposées;Pour lesarpèges Pour lessixtes; Pour lesdegrés chromatiques; Études –Pour lescinqdoigts;Pour lestierces; d’ouest La cathédrale engloutie;Cequ’avulevent Préludes, Book1–Lafille auxcheveux delin; , Book1 Debussy Part 2:4pm L’isle joyeuse Clair delune Images oubliées Arabesque No 1 Danse (Tarentelle styrienne) Nocturne Ballade slave Debussy Part 1:2.30pm Milton CourtConcertHall Sunday 25March 2018 plays Debussy Bavouzet Jean-Efflam a performance is strictlyprohibited. capturing images orusingrecording devices during during theperformance. Taking photographs, Please turnoff watch alarms,phones,pagers etc Part of Barbican Presents 2017–18

presenter

piano

2 located around thefoyers. online, aswell as viafeedback forms orthepods during your visit.Additionalfeedback canbegiven If anything limitsyour enjoyment pleaseletusknow advertising by Cabbell(tel 020 36037930) printed by Trade WindsColourPrinters Ltd; Programme produced by Harriet Smith; with ahandkerchief. you feel theneedto coughor sneeze, pleasestifle it sake of other audiencemembers andtheartists,if prevent coughingduringaperformance. But,for the We appreciate thatit’snot always possibleto earlier pianoworks, inwhich Debussy In Part 1, Jean-Efflam takes usback to the by astrong underlyingstructure. shimmering, itisunvariably underpinned of hismusicisoften deliquescentand Conservatoire. Thoughthesurface effect that beliedalongspellattheParis that hiswas musicwithoutrules,yet Debussy liked to give theimpression who willbeputtingtheworks incontext. French-music authorityRoger Nichols, garnered suchpraise. Heisjoinedby of Debussy’s solopiano musichave Bavouzet, whosecomplete recordings renowned French pianistJean-Efflam us onajourney of discovery thanthe 25 March 1918. Andwhobetter to take Debussy –whodied100 years ago, on greatest innovators inmusic–Claude Today marks thecentenary of oneof the Welcome

the effervescent was finding hisvoice, culminatingin Classical MusicProgrammer Paul Keene extraordinary event. I hopeyou enjoy whatpromises to bean a real bang. moods of mystery andwit,endingwith veritable aural treasure-trove, conjuring complete SecondBookof Jean-Efflam finishes theday withthe which show Debussy athis mostevocative. Prior to thatcomesthefirst setof and thecoruscatinglybrilliantlate with excerpts from Book1of the much hisown. We dipinto both inPart 2, are ingenres thatthePole had made very coincidence thattwo of his masterpieces Debussy adored Chopinandit’sno

L’isle joyeuse Préludes . Préludes Images Études , a , a , .

recent productions have alsodiscovered init more ethereal andmysterious, althoughmore influences are absorbed to produce something Opéra Comiquein1902, andinwhichWagnerian through the1890s, before itsproduction atthe Mélisande begun hisonlycompleted opera, By thetimeof modern music. described by Pierre Boulezastheawakening of sensual commentary onMallarmé’spoem à l’après-midi d’unfaune He emerged asamajorcomposerinthe inspired these, butmore patently inhiscomplex, Wagner- and signsof hisgeniusbeginto show inafew of for hismistress MarieVasnier, ahighsoprano, he had composedanumberof songs,notably precarious freelance life inParis. Inthemeantime 1887 intheEternal City, butthenreturned to a in 1884, hespentsomeof theyears 1885 to Gaining first prizeinthePrixdeRome competition needs to take account of thislongapprenticeship. composer whoespousedfreedom atallcosts he remained until1884 –ourview of himasa entered theParis Conservatoire in1872, where 22 August 1862 andafter private pianolessons Achille- was bornnearParis on profile Composer Cinq poèmesdeBaudelaire , whichhecontinuedto work on L’après-midi (1891–4), apowerfully , Debussy had already Pelléas et

(1887–9). Available on iTunes, Soundcloud and the Barbican website Barbican the and Soundcloud iTunes, on Available Evgeny Kissin,Maxim Vengerov andNicoMuhly. Iestyn Davies, Joyce DiDonato, SirHarrisonBirtwistle, Sir JamesMacMillan, George Benjamin,Andrew Norman, artists from around theworld. Recent artists include for exclusive interviews andcontent from thebestclassical Stream ordownload ourBarbican ClassicalMusicpodcasts Barbican Classical MusicPodcasts Prélude Prélude the past100 years. opening pathsfor any numberof composersof (1915–17) hesucceededwonderfully inthissearch, (1912–13) andthelastthree chambersonatas the naked flesh of emotion’. Inhisballet one hasto find, thensuppress’, hewrote, ‘to reach exploring new meansof expression: ‘how much on 25March 1918, Debussy was continually During thefive years before hisdeathfrom cancer music, even ifthey disturbedthecritics. young composersnew ways of thinkingabout 1911–13) andorchestral with works suchasthepiano leading upto thewar saw hisreputation growing, audiences withitscomplex scoring.Theyears performance of birth of theirdaughter Chouchoubutthefirst 1904, andthefollowing year saw not onlythe into aliaisonwiththesingerEmmaBardac in After ashortlived first marriage, Debussy entered and atmosphere into thekeyboard repertory. Images time, pianoworks suchasthe false ideathathismusicwas formless. Atthesame Debussy disliked, sinceitpopularisedtheutterly early years of so-called‘Impressionism’ –aterm depths of anxietyandterror. These were the Profile ©Roger Nichols (1901–5 and1907) brought anew colour , which initially puzzled , whichinitiallypuzzled Images Préludes (1905–12) showing (1910 and (1903) and

Jeux

3 Profile 4 up inabrief,possiblyapocryphalaltercation Conservatoire, buthisapproach canbesummed attended CésarFranck’s organ classattheParis a regular basis.Asfor beinganorganist, hehad indicate thatimpatiencegot thebetter of himon reports from theother sideof thearrangement along theselines.Hedidteach, privately, but organist. Debussy, though,was not constituted to teaching ina conservatoire orto apostasan living. Many suchwinnersthengraduated either andtheunwelcome businessof makinga as winnerof thePrixdeRome, andreturned to where hehad beenservingatwo-year sentence Early in1887 the24-year-old Debussy leftRome, L’isle joyeuse lune de Clair bergamasque Suite insupportable temps un fait qu’il parce bois’ au plus n’irons ‘Nous de aspects 3 Quelques Louvre du Souvenir ‘Sarabande’: d’une mouvement le 2 Dans et doux) (mélancolique 1 Lent oubliées Images 1 No Arabesque (Tarentelle styrienne) Danse Nocturne Ballade slave Debussy Claude 2.30pm Mar 25 Sun (1892) (1892) (1903–4) (1903–4) ( c 1890/1903) (1890) (1890) (1894) (1894) (1862–1918) ( c

hear itplayed by other people–often asalutary with achancenot onlyto hearhismusic,butto and inany casesuchpiecesprovided acomposer Poulenc inthe1930s andDutilleuxinthe1940s, continued to askfor thesefor years, nudging the company after supper. French publishers well-brought-up young ladies couldplay to by writingshortpianopieces,of thekind Some smallincome,however, couldbeobtained of ‘GounodandCo’asbeing‘asinister farce’. where Iam.’Healsowrote off thereligious music Debussy: ‘Why shouldI? I’mperfectly happy with themaître –Franck: ‘Modulate, modulate!’ 1890/1905)

( c 1890/1903) –

Yvonne in1894 Debussy dedicated three providing Renoir withmodelsatthekeyboard. To underwent Debussy’s pianoteaching, aswell as 17-year-old Yvonne and 14-year-old Christine, duly painter HenriLerolle, whosetwo daughters, the envy. Amonghisnew acquaintances was the have filled many of Debussy’s colleagues with Mallarmé’s approval openeddoors thatmust have both contrast andunity. that are retained inthemiddlesection,sothat we semblance of formal control, in theflowing triplets piece’s undoubted charmdoesnot negate some suggestion weaving around anelusive reality’. The line asanintricate web of associationand at Mallarmé’sTuesdays, theideaof thepoetic have heard talk of arabesque asapoeticfigure the additional notion thatDebussy ‘mightalso Blessed Damozel demonstrated inhisearliersettingof Rossetti’s and thatof thePre-Raphaelites, asisalso testifies to Debussy’s interest inJapaneseart Also datingfrom 1891, theEmajor orthodoxy. that would aimfor liberation from academic song’, whichlooks forward to many later pieces 7/4 metre, labelled‘Inthemannerof apopular in the the title the dreamer. Ravel orchestrated itin1923 under ‘private’ oneinwhichwe hearstrains of Debussy piece, thoughits‘public’outer sectionsenclosea emotions. The on amodalversion of themelody, hintsatdarker modulations. Thefaster middlesection,based textbook rules,andeven afew Wagnerian of triads underthebeginningof thetune,breaking touches: inthe things Russianthatfollowed. There are individual a favourite of Ravel’s) andby thefashion for all specifically mentionsBalakirev’s heard atthe1889 International Exhibition(Howat undoubtedly influenced by theRussianmusic out, muchnearer to beingRussian,andalmost pianist andscholarRoy Howat haspointed The ‘Slavic’ and‘Styrian’ features are, asthe cashing inonthesuccessof Debussy whenanew editionappeared in1903, slave exercise. In1891 apublisherproduced his and Nocturne Danse Tarentelle styrienne . There are Russianelementstoo Tarentelle Ballade , notably thecentral sectionin . Stephen Walsh putsforward the undisguised succession theundisguisedsuccession isasprightly, energetic Pelléas et Mélisande , both revised by Tamara Arabesque , also , also Images Ballade Ballade

The The .

favourite of 19th-century French opera composers affirming compositions.Thekey of Amajorwas a touches to to becomehissecondwife, heputthefinishing 1904, after elopingwithEmmaBardac, whowas meantime are unknown. Meanwhile inAugust what changesDebussy may have made inthe written in1890, itwas not publisheduntil1905; sentimentale’ or‘Lovers’ Stroll’ andthat,though to say thatitsprevious titlehad been‘Promenade No words canadd muchto ‘Clairdelune’,except stop’. belonging to ‘aclockthatdoesn’tknow whento occasions. Itendswithbellnoises,describedas popular songthatDebussy usedonthree other the weather isunbearable’ andisbasedonthe aspects of “Nousn’irons plusaubois”because bears anepigraph whichtranslates as:‘Some ‘Danseuses deDelphes’.Thefast third movement to befollowed by ‘Hommage àRameau’ and the first of Debussy’s hieratic, ceremonial pieces, with someof itschromaticisms suppressed, is ‘Sarabande’, later to reappear in first timeherpleasure inPelléas’s company. The words ‘Pourquoi partez-vous?’, intimatingfor the that concludesAct 1of (mélancolique et doux) You andMe?Thefirst piece,marked the PianoandOneself.’Orpossibly, between music. They are rather “conversations” between regularly patronised by peoplewhodon’tlike nervous entering the“brilliantlylitsalons” two of them:‘Thesepieceswould feel extremely least, for somekindof private with words thatseemto speakof thedesire, at the first movement of the overtones of theharmonicseries.Here, asin but withDsharpsandGnaturals), derivingfrom called the‘harmonicscale’(inthiscaseAmajor, the magic stems from hisuseof whatissometimes Chopin andLiszt.Onthetechnical front, muchof makes itatruedescendantof themasterpieces of that Debussy combineswithsuchasure hand, to theastonishing range of motifs andtextures the bluesea’).Thesheerenergy of thework, allied could symbolise ‘a beautiful sunlit morning – joy of maybe itwould alsoto Messiaen, for whomit a memoryof thisdictated thekey to Debussy (as when insearch of acheerfulmood,andperhaps an ineffable naturalness andpoise. L’isle joyeuse La mer , ends with the cadence , endswiththecadence Pelléas , oneof hismostlife- , this lends the music , thislendsthemusic , on Mélisande’s , onMélisande’s entente Pour lepiano Lent Lent between the between the

5 Programme notes 6 published inOctober 1905, canbeheard asa and the Fromont. Hehad justcompleted the until July1903, whenhesenttheseto thepublisher Viñes, butthecomplete listof titleswas not fixed l’eau’ and‘Mouvement’) to thepianistRicardo he played versions of two of them(‘Reflets dans in someform asearlyDecember1901 when The sixpiano octaves les Pour Pour les composés arpèges oppos sonorités les Pour Pour les chromatiques degrés sixtes les Pour tierces les Pour doigts cinq les Pour Études qu’a vent d’ouestCe le vu engloutie La cathédrale lin cheveux de aux fille La 1 Book Préludes, 3 Mouvement 2 à Hommage Rameau l’eau dans 1 Reflets 1 Book Images, Debussy Claude 4pm Mar 25 Sun Images Images , thefirst bookof whichwas (1915) (1915) were inDebussy’s mind – ées Estampes (1901–5) (1901–5) (1910) (1910) ,

– purely structural terms. that overtly descriptive music shouldalsowork in of such‘colourful’composersasBerliozandLiszt pedal –butequallyDebussy shared theconcerns depending largely ontheuseof thesustaining the printed page isoften not atallwhatyou get, has beencalledoneof illusion–whatyou seeon Chabrier andRavel’s following earlierintimationsinvarious piecesby development alongthesamecolouristiclines,

Jeux d’eau . The technique . Thetechnique Debussy’s widow, whoinsisted that,over and conceals somehumanpassionifwe are to believe cheveux de lin’,beneathitsdemure exterior, increase inexcitement. Even so,‘Lafille aux Jean-Efflam Bavouzet represent agradual The three them as‘admirable masterpieces’. progress was swift. Ravel, for one,recognised 1910. Butoncehegot down to composingthem, years before theFirstBookwas publishedin together acollectionof He seemsto have beenthinkingof putting 1903 –whichpossiblyinspired hispiece. of thefirst two acts of Rameau’s as Debussy putitwhenreviewing aperformance need of emphasisingthingswithblows of thefist’, pretence towards Germanprofundity, orto the part of thegeniusof Rameau, ‘withoutany of that effortless internal dynamismthatissomucha more traditional rhetorical structures andof the outwardly placid andmonumental, partakes of The central ‘Hommage àRameau’, while measure. atmosphere, withafew fanfares added for good between academic note-spinning andimaginative it achieves anextraordinary played ‘withafantastical butprecise lightness’, early in thefinal ‘Mouvement’, whichisalmostan The essentialcircularity of thispieceisechoed unseen hand. go onbeingunsettledby pebblesthrown from an throughout thepiece,reflections inthewater is immediately interrupted by chromatic chords: dreamlike opening,astandard eight-barphrase, trifle exaggerated, whatisdisturbingtheway the in harmonicchemistry’.Whilethisisperhapsa written ‘according to themostrecent discoveries Debussy jokinglyreferred to thepieceasbeing if anything, to therelationship beingreversed. off from its key of Dflat majormightsuggestitwas aspin- The smallwave forms of ‘Reflets dansl’eau’and étude La mer, préludes (‘Pour lestriolets’?).Marked to be except thatthechronology points, from thisbookchosenby Préludes rapprochement for two or three Castor et Pollux

in in the strugglecontinuesto theend.In‘Pour les the ‘naughty’oneand,asin‘Reflets dansl’eau’, Corner ‘Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum’ from special place inDebussy’s affections (justthinkof practising, onewhichfor somereason helda Czerny’, starts from animage –of thechild ‘Pour lescinqdoigts’,subtitled‘after Monsieur the astonishingly productive summerof thatyear. creative urge. Hisown setof 12 were written in and lookingagain atthe editions nolongeravailable because of thewar, Chopin’s pianomusicto replace theGerman In 1915 Debussy was working onaneditionof poems inFrench translation. as 1886 Debussy had ordered acopy of Shelley’s mighty harmonies’–we know thataslongbefore West Wind another possiblesource was Shelley’s and return to tell of whatthey have seen,although of Paradise from HansChristianAndersen’sstory anger in music, lookingback to themusicof Golaud’s vent d’ouest’isof anintensity rare inDebussy’s superbly majesticritual.Finally‘Cequ’avule preoccupations, water andbells,inapieceof admired, hecombinestwo majorImpressionist it by Edouard Lalo,acomposerDebussy much probably alsoby theopera engloutie’, inspired by thetale of thecityof Ysand that Ican’tcommitto paper’. In‘Lacathédrale else more definite, more real, far lessliterary, official reference point,itdepicted ‘something beyond thepoemby Leconte deLislewhichisits breaking into Chopinesquetriplets. the samepairof notes intherighthand,andsoon Chopin’s ‘studyinsixths’Op 25No8,starting with Chopin, settingitinDflat major, thesamekey as Debussy mostobviously acknowledges hisdebtto starkly triumphantfinal chords! In‘Pour lessixtes’ the echoesof What atreasure-house of textures here, from Préludes from thepenultimate numberof theBook 2 tierces’, Debussy had to find somethingdifferent ); here the‘good’handissoonsubverted by , ‘Lestierces alternées’, andsucceeded. Pelléas et Mélisande , includingtheline‘thetumultof thy , inwhichthefour windsare sentout Pelléas ’s seaandlove musicto the Études Le roi d’Ys . The title comes . Thetitlecomes sparked his sparked his Children’s Children’s The Garden The Garden Ode to the Ode to the based on based on

7 Programme notes 8 end of 1911. Thiswork seemsto have continued work on theSecondBookof piano piece, February 1910, Debussy wrote onlyonetiny After finishing hisFirstBookof d’artifice Feux 12 11 Les tierces alternées Canope 10 P MC Esq, àSPickwick 9 Hommage 8 Ondine lune de clair du audiences des terrasse 7 La –excentric Lavine 6 General 5 Bruyères d’exquises sont danseuses fées 4 Les vino del puerta 3 La mortes 2 Feuilles 1 2 Book Préludes, Debussy Claude 7pm Mar 25 Sun – traditional triadic shapescertainly form partof from various sources, like a‘salade composée’ that thesearpeggioshave been‘puttogether’ much discussed,butoneinterpretation may be study ‘Pour lesarpègescomposés’hasbeen The meaningof thefinal word inthetitleof the distant trumpetcallsalways atthesamepitch. harmonic wanderings firmly contained by Debussy’s pianopieces,itsapparently aimless for thetitleof themostsheerlybeautifulof all the technique of illusion.Thismustbeacandidate successive, had after allbeenacrucialelementin contrasts of sonority, whethersimultaneous or almost hislastreturn to theworld of the In ‘Pour lessonorités opposées’Debussy makes La plusquelente Préludes , before starting Préludes at the atthe Images in in

(1911–13) :

envelope. inspiration almostburstingthrough theformal themes anddynamicsdogive theimpression of used of arunaway horse!Thesharpcontrasts of mean ‘quick-tempered, hot-headed’, andiseven – aswell as‘passionate’, ‘emporté’ caninfact to be‘joyful andpassionate, freely rhythmical’ octaves’, ontheother hand,whichDebussy asks for thepianist!Nosuchproblems in‘Pour les primary andthesecondary. More decisions border countryas small typesuggeststhatthey inhabitthe same intervals. Theirnotation both inordinary andin sevenths andninthsaswell asintermediate them, butincombinationwithDebussy’s usual his energies inthatintervening periodbetween just thefirst three of theseton5March. Mostof already introduced themto theworld, playing 19 April 1913, by whichtimethecomposerhad until shortlybefore thevolume was publishedon agréments between the between the time inthethose same gardens, whilehewas in 1909 whenshehad beenhaving alovely composer itbrought back memoriesof London by one of hisfriends,and nodoubtfor the daughter Chouchouhad been given thebook Kensington Gardens of funasafallen leaf’inBarrie’s is almostnothing thathassuchakeen sense illustration by ArthurRackham entitled‘There but another source says itwas inspired by an walk they had taken together. Thismay betrue, Debussy wrote ‘Feuilles mortes’ after anautumn by Debussy’s widow Emma;according to her, cheveux de lin’noted above) vouchsafed to him remarks aboutthe composer Roger-Ducasse passedonsome In aletter to Nadia Boulanger of 1924, the months earlier). heard thefirst performance given somesix Debussy’s sketch (thoughhemay well have on 28 December1911, exactly atthetimeof his Ravel’s bitonal discoveries in,for example, over aCmajorlinetakes alittlefurther that theplacing of all-black intention of creating agrey tonality, butfor all black andwhite notes, presumably withthe creates itsfoggy impression through mixing up withthepace of modernmusic.Thepiece Debussy wanted to make hismarkaskeeping the first of thesetto bewritten, it’sclearthat the endof December1911. Ifthis was indeed we dohave asketch for ‘Brouillards’ dated to Dating isfar lesssure thanfor thefirst set,but dangers beyond thatof wayward virtuosos. paper, composingmusicthatwould runno again alonewithhispianoandmanuscript have beenagreat pleasure for himto beonce So, after asixmonths’gapto recover, itmust he, ‘butInever talk aboutitwithstrangers.’ Debussy had ever seenParadise: ‘Yes’, replied prompting Bakst to askpointedly whether Léon Bakst aboutthefinal ‘chorusseraphicus’, disagreement between himandthedesigner wishes were not always honoured. There was of production andchoreography meantthathis late delivery of thetext, butinevitably theclaims poet’s florid style,andatspeedbecause of the write ‘public’musicfor itto tryandmatch the Gabriele d’Annunzio.Not onlydidhehave to ‘mystery’ writing incidental musicfor themammoth the two books of Valses nobleset sentimentales Le martyre desaintSébastien Préludes Préludes . Debussy’s six-year-old had beenexpended (ason‘Lafille aux appoggiaturas , published , published Peter Pan in by by

the moonlight. Here thedistant trumpetcallsare poeticisedby to theabandonedcityof Amber, nearJaipur. describing thevisitby thehistorian René Puaux article inthenewspaper des audiencesduclairdelune’,inspired by an life, we thenmove to highlife with‘Laterrasse alludes to inthelow-lying maintune.From low piano withhistoes, somethingDebussy possibly According to oneaccount, healsoplayed the and halfwarrior’, hencethetrumpetcalls. once describedas‘acomicjuggler, halftramp ‘General Lavine –excentric’, amusic-hallartist return to thepopularworld withaportrait of After thecalmreflectiveness of ‘Bruyères’, we from aRackham illustration to fées sontd’exquises danseuses’certainly derives quick tempers andsuddensiestas, while‘Les general French view of Spainasaplace of passionate tenderness’, inconformity withthe ‘brusque oppositionsof extreme violenceand del vino’–thepianistisenjoinedto produce stir Debussy’s Iberomania anew in‘Lapuerta by theAlhambra inGranada was enoughto Manuel deFalla showing theMoorishgate find inspiration inthedance.Apostcard from these two nature pieces,thenext two like ghostsfrom anenchanter fleeing.’ After unseen presence theleaves dead/Are driven, the West Wind in Book1, again referring to Shelley’s was aspin-off from ‘Cequ’avulevent d’ouest’ producer of struggling atCovent Garden withtherefractory kno, hebecomes G (though elsewhere inDickens’s text, asany fule Perpetual President-Member PickwickClub adorned withtheinitialsP by the decidedlysolidflesh of MrPickwick, rival’s. Ondine’sinsubstantiality isanswered volume of stories, isnolessalluringthanhis a Rackham illustration, thistimeto aFrench Indeed hispiece,again inspired directly by pyrotechnics. Simplicitycanbeitsown reward.’ might besaying, ‘Noneedfor allthose men, it’shard to quellthenotion thatDebussy antipathy thatthenreigned between thetwo which hemusthave beenfamiliar. Given the in different view of thewater nymph from Ravel’s scamperings of ‘Ondine’,Debussy takes a character piecesintheset.In thescherzando The two following Gaspard delanuit Pelléas andthelines‘Thou,from whose préludes . Athird possibilityisthatit C afew years earlier, with M P Le temps C (General Chairman- P are thefinal M P Peter Pan C, standing for inAugust 1912 préludes Ode to . .

9 Programme notes 10 Since thetitlesof allthese the world of poeticdescriptionaltogether. With ‘Lestierces alternées’ thecomposerleaves first setby ‘DanseusesdeDelphes’. era of theancientworld first conjured up inthe mantelpiece inDebussy’s study, returns usto the funerary urn,two of whichstood onthe portrait of theCanopicjartop of anEgyptian together withonethatisnew. ‘Canope’,a two preoccupations we’ve already heard, The setendswiththree patriotism. the openingbarsunambiguouslyproclaim his Member PickwickClub).Whatever histitle, préludes préludes thatembrace come only comeonly answer to theponderous enunciationsof fiery interplay of pyrotechnics andreflections’. In Seine ‘to witnessskyandearthjoinedinthis it, thecrowds gatheronthebridgesover the Paris on14 Julywhen,asonewriter hasput ‘Feux d’artifice’ bringsusback to France, to ‘Tomai deséléphants’,basedonKipling.Finally, replacement for anaborted prelude called alternative possibilityisthatitwas alast-minute at theend,onesuspectsDebussy of atease; an Programme notes ©Roger Nichols inventive miracles. down onthefireworks andonDebussy’s equally heard onlyindiscreet snatches, asthesungoes Save theKing in‘Pickwick’,the Marseillaise God God is is Benjamin Ealovega the BBC PhilharmonicunderNoseda won a of thecomplete Prokofiev piano concertos with He records exclusively for Chandosandhis set which includedaconcertattheRoyal Festival Hall. tour withLesSièclesunderFrançois-Xavier Roth hr-Sinfonieorchester under Juraj Valcˇ uhaanda Opera House underNoseda,appearances with under Jurowski, aswell asconcertsattheZurich of NorthAmericawiththeLondonPhilharmonic Nicholas CollonattheBBC Proms, amajortour Concerto withtheBBC Philharmonicunder Highlights of pastseasonsincludeRavel’s G major the Royal Scottish NationalOrchestra. Orquestra SinfônicadoEstado deSão Paulo and Detroit andMelbourneSymphony orchestras, the Philharmonie deParis, theCityof Birmingham, the Monte-Carlo PhilharmonicOrchestra at the Symphony orchestras and appearances with the BBC, NHK,SanFrancisco andSeattle Highlights of thisseasonincludereturns to among others. Gábor Takács-Nagy andSirAndrew Davis, Noseda, François-Xavier Roth, CharlesDutoit, Ashkenazy, Vladimir Jurowski, Gianandrea collaborating withconductors includingVladimir and LondonPhilharmonicOrchestra, aswell as NHK andSanFrancisco Symphony orchestras ensembles suchastheCleveland Orchestra, BBC, concert career andregularly works withleading enjoys aprolific recording andinternational Award-winning pianistJean-Efflam Bavouzet Jean-Efflam Bavouzet About the performers Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano

and isalsoachampionof lesser-known French Kurtág, MauriceOhanaandBrunoMantovani Pierre Boulez,Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Jean-Efflam Bavouzet hasworked closelywith in NorthAmerica. numerous recitals throughout Europe, theUKand Perth International ArtsFestival. Hewill alsogive month hepresented thisprogramme atthe2018 mark thecentenary of Debussy’s death,andlast Today’s seriesof recitals here attheBarbican music project atMunich’sPrinzregententheater. with composerJörg Widmanninachamber and theWigmore Hallandhascollaborated performs atvenues suchastheLouvre inParis As arecitalist, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet regularly piano sonatas. recording projects includeacycle of Haydn’s a concertos, winningboth a orchestra. Healsorecorded theRavel piano and Stravinsky’s complete works for pianoand piano sonatas, acycle of Bartók’spianoconcertos Other recordings includethecomplete Beethoven and embarked onaseriesof Mozartconcertos. recorded several of Haydn’s pianoconcertos Manchester Camerata andTakács-Nagy, hehas 2014 d’honneur for hisservicesto French culture. In 2006hewas appointed Chevalier delaLégion Quartet and thecomplete songsof HenriDuparc. including mostof Ravel’s pianoworks, hisString He hasalsoedited awiderange of French music, Years phies of Debussy andRavel and French composerssince1870, including biogra ed andcontributed to over 20books, mostlyon BBC broadcaster in1980. Hehaswritten, translat becoming afreelance writer, pianist,lecturer and in various institutionsanduniversities before bra andFrederick Sternfeld, Roger Nicholstaught After studyingmusicatOxford with Edmund Rub Roger Nichols at theRoyal NorthernCollege of Music. Magnard. He istheInternational Chair inPiano music, notably thatof GabrielPiernéandAlbéric BBC MusicMagazine Gramophone , ahistory of music inParis from 1917 to 1929. presenter Award. Together withthe award. Hisongoing Gramophone The Harlequin The Harlequin and and - - -

11 About the performers Piotr Anderszewski A5 mono programme ad.indd 1 12 Variations Beethoven’s performs pianist monumental Diabelli stylish The recital in Anderszewski Piotr Wed 11 Apr barbican.org.uk/classical now at Book and selected Bach Preludes and Fugues Bach and selected 07/03/2018 16:04