News
Oct 10 2011
New Album Website
The Album Website for the new Mozart album is available now.
May 16 2011
Hélène appears on ...with Hope!
On Thursday Hélène appears on Daniel Hope´s new music talkshow ...with Hope!
19.5.2011, 8:45 p.m. ZDF Kultur (ZDF website).
1 February 2011
WQXR Feature
"As WQXR celebrates Powerhouse Pianists throughout January, we spotlight a pianist who is known to give the keyboard a workout. Hélène Grimaud is frequently admired for her enormous technical command and her keen musical curiosity, two qualities that inspire her latest album . . . "
Listen now to the feature on the WQXR website.
January 30 2011
New York Times feature
Recording as a Road to Recovery - a feature in the New York Times written by James R. Oestreich
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/arts/music/28helene.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=helene%20grimaud&st=cseJanuary 25 2011
Toronto Star Feature
Read now excerpts from a feature about Hélène in the Toronto Star written by John Terauds:
. . . On Jan. 22 she was to fly in to Toronto from Nagoya, Japan, for a solo recital at Koerner Hall the next afternoon. Even with weeks of advance notice and preparation, getting her to sit down for a few minutes of phone time is like running an ever-shifting obstacle course. Then, miraculously, there she is at the other end of the line, speaking in rapid-fire staccato syllables . . .
The latest [album] is called Resonances, a solo-piano outing constructed exactly like a concert program. It features notable and popular sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Liszt, and Romanian Dances by Béla Bartók. At the centre sits the enigmatically atonal Piano Sonata by early 20th century Viennese composer Alban Berg.
The artist says the album is tied together with “a red thread” that is the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which ceased to exist a generation before Bartók wrote up his folk-inspired pieces. Unlike her wolves, which travel in packs, Grimaud charts her own course. She calls the piano CD “an homage to the independence and diversity of this instrument, which is such an independent sort of animal.” The catalyst for this program was the Berg piece, which Grimaud encountered as a little girl. “At the time, I had no idea what it meant, but I knew that it would be significant for me sometime in the future,” she says.
The Mozart Sonata – No. 8, in A-minor – which Grimaud describes as the most avant-garde of his sonatas, is only one of two in a minor key. “It’s one where he drops the mask and speaks to us directly,” she explains. “It announces a lot of what is to come musically” . . .
In the end, is there a relationship between her out-on-the-edge playing and her dances with wolves?
“If you want to interact with a wild animal, you can only do so on their terms. You cannot hope for them to meet you on yours. You need to be 100 per cent in the moment, physically, emotionally and psychologically,” Grimaud explains. “It’s very much the same type of discipline and intention that it required to penetrate the music. That’s something that I’m absolutely convinced of" . . .
” http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/924933--helene-grimaud-dancing-with-pianos-and-wolves13 January 2011
Review: Grimaud shows Schumann how it should be done
SAN FRANCISCO -- Composer Robert Schumann was a pianist -- until he ruined his finger dexterity by monkeying around with a contraption known as a chiroplast . . . Going on two centuries later, along comes the great French pianist Hélène Grimaud, dispatching Schumann's Piano Concerto with a display of finger elasticity and strength that would have made the composer's jaw drop.
Thursday at Davies Symphony Hall, she joined the San Francisco Symphony and Kirill Karabits, its guest conductor, in a coiled dance through this mercurial work. It was sturdy and seething, this performance, with Grimaud gobbling up Schumann's fast-flying challenges, spitting them out with clarity and brilliance.
And what a sight to see: The pianist's hands are startlingly flexible. She is a lefty, and her left hand, in particular, bends this way and that, almost like rubber -- like Gumby. Thursday, this extreme elasticity and her obvious strength came together in explosive attacks; in lines that came ripping up out of the bass; or in finessed ribbonlike passages within which each note was clearly defined at bullet speed.
It was remarkable to watch as Grimaud dispatched the dense chordal sequences of the first movement's cadenza and the finale's leaping cascades. But Grimaud isn't some mere Olympian athlete. She is a complex and expressive player; I had the sense that her pedaling was evolving in real time, in response to Karabits and the orchestra -- those lushly vivid cellos in the Intemezzo, matched by Grimaud's softly prancing chords.
Schumann's concerto is unpredictable for all its familiarity -- like a favorite poem that keeps surprising with each new reading. This performance did justice to its quick-changing moods: Emotions tucked away, then bursting forth like cannon shots, keeping the listener on edge.
Richard Scheinin, mercurynews.com, 1/2011
2 December 2010
OPUS II MAGAZINE
Read an article about Hélène in the online version of the new Opus II magazine.
http://www.zko.ch/default.aspx?navid=124 November 2010
"OLYMPIAN CONTROL"
Hélène Grimaud's recital in London last night was met with a five star review in the Independent which commented
"In her hands this exquisite tone-poem (Berg Sonata) had the lunar clarity of a dream, its soaring cadences and arpeggiated chords seeming all the more passionate for being the last gasp of late Romanticism. Then, following this year’s fashion, she launched into Liszt’s gigantic Sonata in B minor, but from the first few bars it was clear that her interpretation was going to be different. At those points where other pianists tend to charge through the undergrowth, Grimaud remained in Olympian control; I have seldom heard Liszt’s melange of exaltation, serenity, and fury presented with such a sure sense of its poetry."
Read the full review online at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/helene-grimaud-royal-festival-hall-2142411.html24 November 2010
"A GLIMPSE OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL"
Joining forces with the Independent, the Evening Standard ran a five star review of Hélène Grimaud's London recital commenting:
"French pianist Hélène Grimaud stormed through a compact programme featuring two great single-movement sonatas in B minor, those by Liszt and Berg. But it was Mozart with which she began, playing up the Sturm und Drang of the A minor Sonata, K.310. The clamorous intensity of the first movement was bracing, to say the least, but a welcome antidote to the over-reverential approach of some Mozartians. Of the slow movement’s primary material she made a wonderfully long-breathed melodic arch, operatic in its cast . . . Berg’s Sonata of 1907–8 represents a late flowering of Romanticism, seen through the prism of Wagner, Liszt and early Schoenberg. Grimaud fused Lisztian virtuosity with expressionistic intensity in her reading, but conveyed also the elegiac sense of a world passing. To the magnificent Liszt Sonata she brought crackling double octaves, a quixotic but always searching introspection and something that one gets only in the finest performances of this questing masterpiece: a glimpse of the transcendental."
Read the full review online
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/review-23900636-hlne-grimaud-is-back-and-on-top-form.do15 November 2010
HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD IN CONVERSATION
"The Institut français (London) is delighted to welcome one of today's most charismatic musicians, the French pianist Hélène Grimaud, for an intimate talk, Question and Answer session and CD signing, on Sunday 21 November.
Hélène Grimaud is a favourite among international audiences, regularly receiving invitations to collaborate with world-class orchestras and to perform solo all over the world. She will be playing a solo recital at the Southbank Centre, on 23 November, as part of the new season of International Piano Series, with a playlist of piano classics drawn from over two hundred years of music (Mozart, Berg, Liszt, Bartok).
Hélène Grimaud's presence at the Institut français just before this concert is the perfect opportunity to discover more about this unique and renowned artist, whose vibrant skills and playing reflect her vivid and exceptional personality.
This exceptional talk at the Institut français is not to be missed!"
Sun 21 nov 5.00pm | £5, conc. £3 | in English |
9 November 2010
JEDE PAUSE IST EINE GUTE PAUSE
On the eve of her Berlin Philharmonie recital, Hélène Grimaud talks to Christine Lemke-Matwey in Der Tagesspiegel.
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/jede-pause-ist-eine-gute-pause/1978024.html2 November 2010
LIVE APPEARANCE ON ZDF MORGENMAGAZIN
Following an appearance at this year's Echo Award in Germany where she was awarded DVD of the year for "A Russian Night" Hélène Grimaud went on to perform live at breakfast tv in Berlin to promote her new album Resonances.
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1178954/Hlne-Grimaud-verzaubert-das-Moma-Caf28 October 2010
JUXTAPOSING THE AUSTRIA OF MOZART AND BERG AND THE HUNGARY OF LISZT AND BARTÓK
. . . [Mozart]:the very difference of Grimaud's approach is of interest . . . hers is an individual interpretation, and welcome as such, and her turbulent and edgy view of the first movement [holds the attention] . . . The slow movement offers breadth, balm, and contrasts, to which Grimaud brings heartfelt intuition, and the work is completed by a restless and sonorous finale . . . [Berg]: this is Berg made intensely voluptuous, his music aflame with everything, both musically and worldly . . . [Liszt]: Grimaud certainly has the measure of the work's long-line, and brings to it much that is coruscating and thrilling, rhetorical yet focussed, and also majestically expressive . . .
CD review Resonances, Colin Anderson, Classicalsource.com, 17 Oct 2010
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=860624 October 2010
“ICH MÖCHTE AM KLAVIER STERBEN”
Hélène Grimaud (40) was obliged to cancel her concerts and for six months she disappeared from the public eye. She was “ill”, it was simply stated. Now the French lady is back on form. On tour in Germany she is promoting her new CD release Résonances Read more in Axel Brüggermann’s candid talk with Hélène Grimaud about illness, music and values in life in the German publication Die Bild.
http://www.bild.de/BILD/unterhaltung/leute/2010/10/24/star-pianistin-helene-grimaud/ich-moechte-am-klavier-sterben.html22 October 2010
HELENE GRIMAUD´S KIND OF BLUE
Hélène Grimaud just shared her musical madeleines and her personal playlist with Olivier Bellamy, one of the coolest men in France. Among the more surprising highlights: she's a Miles Davis fan.
Continue reading "Helene Grimaud's Kind of Blue":
http://operachic.typepad.com/opera_chic/2010/10/helene-grimauds-kind-of-blue.html#more19 October 2010
HELENE GRIMAUD ON THE MAGIC OF LIVE PERFORMANCE
See a new video on the BBC website. Please click here.
19 October 2010
LES RESONANCES D’HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD
Click here for France’s Quobuz magazine and filmed interviews with Hélène about her new release:
http://www.qobuz.com/info/MAGAZINE-ACTUALITES/VIDEO-DU-JOUR/Helene-Grimaud-evoque-son-nouvel49457?page=article13 October 2010
LIVE AT DE LAASTE SHOW IN BRUSSELS
Click here to watch Hélène's live appearance at Belgium's popular daily talk programme where she appeared the evening before her Brussels recital.
http://www.cobra.be/cm/cobra/cobra-mediaplayer/muziek/1.88304121 Sep 2010
MANDARIN ORIENTAL ANNOUNCES AUTUMN “FANS”.
The luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental this week launched their autumn campaign featuring renowned personalities from the cultural and business scene. Alongside Hélène Grimaud are musicians Harry Connick Jnr and Bryan Ferry as well as ballet dancer, Darcey Bussel, and actresses Sigourney Weaver and Helen Mirren. Find out more on:
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/our_fans/20 Sep 2010
“INSPIRED MINDS” - DEUTSCHE WELLE RADIO FEATURE
“In this week’s Inspired Minds Hélène Grimaud speaks to Breandáin O’Shea about her special relationship to Beethoven’s music, her frustration as she tries to create the ultimate legato line on the piano and how she loves the independent nature of the instrument.“ Part 1 or a two part feature is now available to listen to online at:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5899324,00.html13 Sep 2010
“ZWEI SOLISTINNEN, ZWEI TRIUMPHE” THE GENERAL ANZEIGER BONN REVIEWS BEETHOVEN FEST BONN CONCERT WITH THE DEUTSCHE KAMMERPHILHARMONIE BREMEN AND PAAVO JÄVRI
Bonn. Mit den Solistinnen Hélène Grimaud und Sol Gabetta hatten die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen und ihr Dirigent Paavo Järvi in ihren beiden Konzerten am Eröffnungswochenende des Beethovenfestes das große Los gezogen. Während die französische Pianistin Grimaud in Beethovens fünftem Klavierkonzert fulminant auftrumpfte, verzückte Gabetta in der Beethovenhalle mit dem hinreißend gespielten a-Moll-Cellokonzert von Robert Schumann . . . Erstaunlich auch, dass eine Pianistin wie Hélène Grimaud, die das Konzert während ihrer Karriere bereits unzählige Male gespielt hat, sich vorbehaltlos auf das Abenteuer Järvi einlässt. Den ungemein schnell genommenen ersten Satz spielt sie nicht nur virtuos, sondern auch mit enormer Risikobereitschaft, die der Musik eine ungeheure Spannung verleiht. Auch der Kontrast zu den ruhigeren Stellen wird dadurch sehr viel deutlicher: Wenn das schlichte, lyrische zweite Thema in der Kadenz erklingt, wirkt das so intim, so anrührend wie eine Kindheitserinnerung. Das Adagio stand zunächst unter keinem guten Stern: Weil ein Zuschauer ohnmächtig hinausgetragen werden musste, konnte der Satz erst im zweiten Anlauf komplett gespielt werden. Dann aber beeindruckte Grimaud mit einer großen emotionalen Tiefe, die sie mit feinsten klanglichen Finessen erzielte. Virtuos und mit außerordentlichem rhythmischen "Drive" ging es im Finale dann dem Schluss entgegen. Bernhard Hartmann, General Anzeiger Bonn, 13 September 2010
http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/index.php?k=loka&itemid=10003&detailid=7853235 Sep 2010
“OHNE FALSCHE ROMANTIZISMEN” AUSTRIA’S WIENER ZEITUNG AT THE GRAFENEGG FESTIVAL
Die kühle Witterung hat am Samstagabend beim Musikfestival Grafenegg die Verlegung des letzten Wolkenturm-Konzerts ins Auditorium bewirkt. Dem eindeutigen Erfolg des Sidney Symphony Orchestra unter der Leitung von Vladimir Ashkenazy sowie der Pianistin Helene Grimaud konnte dies jedoch keinen Abbruch tun
. . . Bei Ravels G-Dur-Klavierkonzert glückte Grimaud eine eindrucksvolle und überzeugende Interpretation. Gleichsam mit leichter Hand, aber stets präsent und präzise perlten die virtuosen Passagen, die langen melodischen Linien spannten sich an glitzernden und leuchtenden Punkten entlang, der zweite Satz (Ravel vermerkte: "Fast hätte es mich umgebracht") ohne falsche Romantizismen, fast neutral wie Satie und umso wirkungsstärker.
Wiener Zeitung, 5 September 2010
3 Sep 2010
THE SCOTSMAN REVIEWS AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
For the second of their Festival programmes, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra presented an intriguing selection of works . . . The performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, meanwhile, showed the composer's attempts to combine various styles had mixed results.
As well as his native Basque influences, he quotes from Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the first movement and borrows heavily from Satie for the wistful piano solo that starts the slow movement.
A beautifully controlled performance from pianist Hélène Grimaud gave coherency and sparkle to some of Ravel's more quirky experiments and Ashkenazy teased out the playful aspect of the cartoon-like final movement.
Susan Nickalls, The Scotsman, 3 September 2010
http://news.scotsman.com/features/Concert-review-Sydney-Symphony-Orchestra.6512577.jp25 Aug 2010
THE EVENING STANDARD REVIEWS AT THE LONDON PROMS
. . . In Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major the soloist was Hélène Grimaud, herself an impulsive, even idiosyncratic artist . . . her rhythmic control could also be as sharp as the whipcrack that opens the work.
The long arching melody she unfolded in the second movement was perfectly weighted, the lingering entirely spontaneous.
Barry Millington, The Evening Standard, 25 August 2010
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/review-23870816-proms-2010-keeping-genius-in-order.do28 Jan 2010
In Search of Beethoven
Hélène Grimaud appears in the recent film "In Search of Beethoven". You can find out more about this fascinating film which brings together the world's leading performers and experts on Beethoven to reveal new insights into this legendary composer. The line-up of performers and interviewees includes Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Roger Norrington, Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Frans Brüggen, Ronald Brautigam, Vadim Repin, Janine Jansen, Paul Lewis, Lars Vogt, and Emanuel Ax among others.
http://www.insearchofbeethoven.com