Helene Grimaud

Hélène Grimaud's 2010 album Resonances has a program with a unifying theme, though some explaining is needed to tease it out of the music. All of the works presented on this CD are notable products of the musical heritage of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the connections Grimaud makes go backward in time to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then pass through Franz Liszt to Alban Berg and Béla Bartók.

Inspired by the Romantic storyteller E. T. A. Hoffmann’s eccentric alter ego, Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana is a work Hélène Grimaud has known since she was a teenager and has recorded once before – yet, as she says, “you can spend a lifetime with a piece like this and always find something new”. In revisiting it here, she’s paired it with two pieces by Schumann’s protégé, Johannes Brahms, including a set of songs in which Brahms distilled his unrequited love for Schumann’s widow Clara, and for which Grimaud is partnered by sensational young baritone Konstantin Krimmel. The Extended Edition of her album For Clara complements pianist Hélène Grimaud’s recording of Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Brahm’s Op. 117 Intermezzi and Op. 32 songs with a recording of her 2022 performance of the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Camerata Salzburg at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. The second movement, which is now available, gives a first impression of Hélène Grimaud performing one of the most widely recorded piano concertos from the Romantic period.

The French pianist Hélène Grimaud is one of the most sought after contemporary pianists. Her great musical sensitivity and technical skills are indisputable, but she also has a radiant personality, with a stage appearance that captivates every audience. Now she has a long-standing contract with Deutsche Grammophon, while in the past she recorded for Erato. Her very first recordings were released by the Japanese audiophile label Denon, and according to many, these recordings are her very best. This set contains all the CDs (five in total) that she made for Denon between 1985 and 1992, with the great romantic repertoire in which she excels in clarity, sensitivity and structural build-up, and especially that very personal style that has become her unique trademark.