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Pierre-Laurent Aimard has for decades acted as the foremost contemporary exponent of modern piano music, building a reputation for profound musicality across the works of widely varied composers and even further-ranging techniques. In an immensely satisfying traversal of the genre, this 6 disc set of Debussy, Ravel, Boulez, Berg, Ives, Messiaen, Ligeti, and Carter works is a snapshot of Aimard doing some of the best work of his storied career.

Simon-Pierre Bestion has chosen to mirror two Stabat Mater that are more than 150 years apart: "in these two works I can feel the same tonal language, the same expression of sorrow" says the founder of La Tempête… "I have decided to ‘augment’ Scarlatti’s orchestration and ‘diminish’ Dvořák’s, so they can meet on even ground. To the Scarlatti I have added string parts sometimes doubling the vocal lines, colla parte , as was often done at the period: this not only allows the sound to be amplified, but adds an extra timbre to the voice. For the Dvořák, I have transcribed the original piano part into its minimum orchestral dimension, that is, for strings. This creates a common sound world between the two works – I would even say they have the same kind of lyricism in common, with just the timbres of the piano, organ and theorbo standing out."

Pierre-Laurent Aimard honours Franz Liszt’s 200th birthday (October 22, 1811) with his most ambitious recording for Deutsche Grammophon to date. In this extensive 2-CD set, Aimard juxtaposes a selection of Liszt’s works with compositions by Liszt’s contemporaries and successors who were inspired by the Hungarian composer. Recorded live in Vienna’s Konzerthaus over two evenings, Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s Liszt project is a pinnacle of the Liszt Year commemorations.

Famously conducted the world premieres of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and other prominent works including Petrushka, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, and Debussy's Jeux. Monteux was the principal conductor of the French repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.