Mikhaïl Bouzine pf

B Records 

This comes from series of albums recorded by prize-winners of the Orleans Competition of contemporary piano music in France. Other winners include Maroussia Gentet (a splendid programme including music by Stroppa, Nante, Jolivet and Schoeller) and Takuyi Otaki (Bartók).

Bouzine’s ingenious programme is split into sections, opening with Snoop Dogg’s You Betta Ask Somebody and Langgaard’s Le Béguinage. Works by a slew of fascinating composers make up four ‘Acts’ that close with an Epilogue (Cage’s 0’00”). At the heart of the recital is Cardew’s Three Winter Potatoes, ideas of revolution and songs of the common man. The result is fun and enlightening, not least because we are in the hands of a master pianist who truly understands this music.

The jerky strains of Christophe Bertrand’s Haiku open Act 1, delivered with a teasing lightness of touch. The harmonic softness of Lourié’s A Phoenix Park Nocturne comes in high relief. Stockhausen’s Klavierstück VIII is a piece that succeeds via its concision, and Bouzine’s reading is superb. He daringly contrasts it with Kabalevsky’ child-like Clowns before Xenakis’ glorious Evryali, full of dancing beauty. Act 2 finds the modernity of CPE Bach’s character piece La Stahl fitting perfectly into the album’s ethos, while Cardew’s The Croppy Boy (‘croppy’ = rebel) could almost be a 20th-century unmeasured prelude.

The lonely spaces of Act 3 accord Cardew’s Winter Potatoes its due: as it stands alone, we focus on Cardew’s stuttering, hyper-beautiful invention. The final act includes a Clara Schumann post-Bach Prelude and Fugue before Cage draws us into reflection – his 0’00” is also known as 4’33” No 2…