Hélène Sio J'veux Tout Savoir

Hélène Grimaud headlines a spectacular evening with the illustrious Camerata Salzburg, directed from the front desk by concertmaster Giovanni Guzzo, at the famed Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She selected pieces that are all in minor keys yet composed during intensely creative periods in both Mozart’s and Schumann’s careers. Mozart did not write many works in minor tonalities but Grimaud chose it, because it “provides a glimpse behind the mask of jollity that surrounds many of his famous works.“ As an encore: a work by another composer to have accompanied Grimaud through much of her career, Valentin Silvestrov. “Hélène Grimaud and the Salzburg Camerata hypnotise the audience in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on this unforgettable evening with piano concertos of the early romantic era of Mozart and Schumann that are unique in terms of sound.“ (operaversum.de)

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.

Louis Lortie is well-known for his Ravel. His recording of the two piano concertos is one of my favorites. This set pairs him with a childhood friend, a fellow pianist from Montréal, Hélène Mercier now long resident in Paris. They play a couple of Ravel's own one-piano, four-hands arrangements (Mother Goose & Rapsodie Espagnole) and three two-piano, four-hands arrangements (Introduction and Allegro, La Valse, Boléro). Actually, Mother Goose was originally written for four-hands at one piano, for a couple of talented children of friends of Ravel's; he later orchestrated it and that is now probably the more familiar version.

Hélène Grimaud is a pianist who defies feminine stereotypes. Her favored repertory has been Brahms, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Schumann, and Liszt, not the less muscular music of Mozart (which she didn't perform until she was 21 or record until 2010), Poulenc, or Chopin. Grimaud's lush sound and sweeping interpretations drew comparisons to such pianists as Martha Argerich and Jorge Bolet.

At the end of the 17th century, the violin is on the point of achieving artistic supremacy all over Europe. England remains the last stronghold of the viola, the quintessential aristocratic instrument, carrying the values of nobility and emotion which music is supposed to incarnate and taking at the time French style as a model. It was a musician hailing from Naples who was to introduce London to the delights of the violin and the spice of Italian music, for which the British would become passionate.

Hélène Grimaud headlines a spectacular evening with the illustrious Camerata Salzburg, directed from the front desk by concertmaster Giovanni Guzzo, at the famed Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She selected pieces that are all in minor keys yet composed during intensely creative periods in both Mozart’s and Schumann’s careers. Mozart did not write many works in minor tonalities but Grimaud chose it, because it “provides a glimpse behind the mask of jollity that surrounds many of his famous works.“ As an encore: a work by another composer to have accompanied Grimaud through much of her career, Valentin Silvestrov. “Hélène Grimaud and the Salzburg Camerata hypnotise the audience in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on this unforgettable evening with piano concertos of the early romantic era of Mozart and Schumann that are unique in terms of sound.“ (operaversum.de)

Together with photographer Mat Hennek, French star pianist Hélène Grimaud, comes up with a multimedia concert project at the Grand Hall of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. Grimaud's virtuous piano performance is accompanied by Hennek's highly praised photo series "Woodlands", which depicts genuine portraits of trees, Grimaud's piano recital includes works by romantic and impressionistic composers. They are connected by seven "Transitions", written exclusively for Grimaud by British composer and DJ Nitin Sawhney. The motives of Hennek's Woodlands series create an extraordinary visual backdrop, which in combination with Grimaud´s pianistic "impeccable clarity and articulation" (Hamburger Abendblatt) and the Elbphilharmonie's splendid acoustics grants a concert experience of a special kind.