Hélène Grimaud ~ Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Wow! This is one hell of a performance! Grimaud has fought hard during her career not to be typecast as a "French" pianist doomed to spend her life playing cute little concertos by Saint-Saëns and keyboard fluff by Satie, and with this performance she really throws down the gauntlet. This is as classically Germanic a performance as you're likely to hear: rock solid, moderate tempos, a gorgeously modulated piano sonority, and a view of the music that perfectly balances passion with classical discipline. She is helped in no small measure by Sanderling, one of the great Brahms conductors of our day, and also by a live recording that catches the whole inspirational event on the wing. This is one of the great ones, make no mistake. --David Hurwitz

Hélène Grimaud ~ Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1, Music, Johannes Brahms, Kurt Sanderling, Hélène Grimaud, Staatskapelle Berlin, Classical, Classical Artists, Classical Music, Concerto, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous Music, Orchestral & Symphonic, Piano Concerto

Average customer rating:

Superb Piano Playing

Grimaud is fine, but Sanderling is dead at the switch

A must have for your collection

A revelatory performance.

Grimaud at her best

Hélène Grimaud ~ Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1
Johannes Brahms , Kurt Sanderling , Hélène Grimaud , and Staatskapelle Berlin
Manufacturer: Erato
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Grimaud, Hélène | ( G ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Tracks:

Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 In D Minor: Maestoso
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 In D Minor: Adagio
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 In D Minor: Rondo - Allegro non troppo
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 In D Minor: Applause

Amazon.com essential recording

Wow! This is one hell of a performance! Grimaud has fought hard during her career not to be typecast as a "French" pianist doomed to spend her life playing cute little concertos by Saint-Saëns and keyboard fluff by Satie, and with this performance she really throws down the gauntlet. This is as classically Germanic a performance as you're likely to hear: rock solid, moderate tempos, a gorgeously modulated piano sonority, and a view of the music that perfectly balances passion with classical discipline. She is helped in no small measure by Sanderling, one of the great Brahms conductors of our day, and also by a live recording that catches the whole inspirational event on the wing. This is one of the great ones, make no mistake. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Superb Piano Playing.......2006-10-18

Among my 17 versions of this concerto (including the two of Arrau, Kovacevich and Weissenberg) this ranks among the best of the crop. Unfortunately, the timpany and horn parts are way too subdued, but Grimaud's superb interpretation compensates for that. The slow tempi don't bother me. They remind me of Richter-Haaser's memorable performances of both Brahms concerti reflecting the weighty character of the piece. I recently heard Grimaud playing the concerto live with Ashkenazy conducting. The tempos were faster, baut that does not take away anything from this CD. The performance was as memorable as those live performances of Curzon, Arrau and Richter-Haaser. Grimaud is an impressive Brahms interpreter, perhaps the most outstanding one since since Julius Katchen.

Grimaud is fine, but Sanderling is dead at the switch.......2006-08-28

Only one reviewer below notices what would grab any listener's attention immediately--the snali's pace of Sanderling's first movement. Brahms wrote a long orchestral introduction, but here we must wade through molasses for 4:15 min. before Grimaud enters, and when she does, I hear good but hardly revelatory pianism. In fact, compared to Sanderling's heavy lifting, she seems out of synch with her reserved entrance. However, Grimaud is no keyboard banger, and despite the slow crawl she's able to really perform. I'm afraid I got so tired of the thunderous plodding all around her that I wasn't able to appreciate all her points.

Actually, I was surprised to find that Grimaud's tempos are only 3 min. slower than average in the first movement, 2 min. in the second, and 2 min. in the third, but that's a lot in a work as broad to begin with as the Brahms First. Her Adagio is forceful rather than lyrical, in keeping with her determinaiton not to sound lady-like. Here she's closer to Claudio Arrau than to any other femaile virtuoso. The most conventional movement is the finale, which she and Sanderling seem to agree upon--they match each other in rhythmic bounce and cheerfulness, which makes for an agreeable time and earned my respect far more than what preceded.

In all, I can see why this Gallic powerhouse has a fan club, but I'll wait for other examples of her skill that aren't so hampered by the conducting.

A must have for your collection.......2004-02-12

If you like Brahms and/or just like piano repertoire, this d-minor masterpiece is a must have. And Ms. Grimaud's recording deserves to be heard as well. My favorite recording of this work so far is Alfred Brendel's. Leif Ove Andsnes has a wonderful recording as well. Be warned, some people complain that Grimaud's tempo for the 1st movement is too slow (alsmot as slow as glenn gould's infamous performance with leonard bernstein as conductor). If I could play the Brahm's concerto myself, I wouldn't play it as slow as Grimaud, but she still pulls it off very convincingly and passionately.

A revelatory performance........2002-01-01

This recording reveals a tragic grandeur of the concerto that
seems to have escaped other performers. The broad tempo of the
first movement seems just right for this purpose, and there is
an admirable gravity to Ms. Grimaud's playing. Would people one
day talk about this performance in the same hushed tone as
Richter's 1958 performance of Pictures at an Exhibition?

Grimaud at her best.......2001-04-13

Helene Grimaud, a young pianist, merits serious consideration as a fine interpreter of Brahms. This recording with the legendary Kurt Sanderling conducting the Berlin Staatskapelle deserves the favorable notices it has received in Grammophone's annual guides to classical music CDs. Hers is a vibrant, passionate performance. She may lack Kovacevich's abandon, but is his equal when it comes to lyrical playing and technique of the highest caliber. She is blessed in having Sanderling and the Berlin Staatskapelle as faithful accompanists; the Berlin Staatskapelle's performance is as good as those with their music director, Daniel Barenboim, in their recently released Beethoven symphony cycle. Of the recent recordings I have heard of Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto, this certainly ranks among the best. I don't know whom I adore more - Grimaud the splendid pianist, or Grimaud the devout lover of wolves. Hopefully some of her profits from the sale of this CD will go towards funding her wolf conservation center near New York City.

Hélène Grimaud plays Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Ravel (Box Set)

Average customer rating:

An Admirable, Distinguished Collection Of Helene Grimaud's Earliest Recordings
Not just exceptional piano playing for a teen-ager - exceptional piano playing, period.
Gorgeous Music - Great Value

Hélène Grimaud plays Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Ravel (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000D1FCP
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Customer Reviews:

An Admirable, Distinguished Collection Of Helene Grimaud's Earliest Recordings.......2007-05-25

This is truly a magnificient box set which demonstrates the early artistry of one of our finest contemporary pianists, the celebrated French pianist Helene Grimaud. It's an amazing collection not only because it was recorded when Grimaud was in her teens and early twenties when she was contracted to Denon, but more importantly, it demonstrates just how accomplished a musician she was at the start of a brilliant career. Her excellent playing of these works, especially of the Schumann and Brahms pieces, can hold their own against legendary competition from the likes of Claudio Arrau, Alfred Brendel and Murray Perahia, to name but a few of the most noteworthy interpreters - past and present - of these scores. However, I think the real gems are her spellbinding, exquisite performances of the Rachmaninov piano concerto and solo pieces, which I find as admirable as those I've heard from Vladimir Ashkenazy and Zoltan Kocsis, to name but a few. Those unfamiliar with the earliest phase of Helene Grimaud's distinguished career as a celebrated solo pianist will find this box set most rewarding.

Not just exceptional piano playing for a teen-ager - exceptional piano playing, period........2006-12-03

Brilliant Classics, a cheapo-cheapo label based in the Netherlands, has licensed from Denon the five recordings which launched Helene Grimaud's career, and marketed them at a price which makes them a steal. Miss Grimaud was 15 when she recorded the first of these five, the Rachmaninoff collection, in 1985, comprising his second piano sonata (in Horowitz' abridged edition) and a selection of Etude-Tableaux, plus two Preludes. She went on with Schumann (1st piano sonata in 1987, Kreisleriana in '88), Chopin (1st Ballade) and Liszt (Dante Sonata - both in '87), Brahms (second piano sonata in '88 followed by third piano sonata and Klavierstücke opus 118 in '91), and it was all topped-off, in 1992, by the concerto recordings: Ravel's G major and Rachmaninoff's 2nd, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted bu Jesus Lopez-Cobos. She then moved own to Erato, and now DG - and that was it for Denon.

So these discs span the 7 first years of her recording career, and it is not easy stuff that she tackled either. These are among the most daunting compositions of the piano repertoire, not only technically but also musically.

It would be unfair to Miss Grimaud to say that these are astounding recordings for a 15-to-22 year-old girl. These are astounding recordings, period. Throughout she displays unflinching muscularity, gripping rhythmic bite, magnificent control of the long line and the succession of variegated moods, from drama to lyricism, and admirable attention to the inside voicing and complexities of contrapuntal writing. All these recordings are not just fine visiting cards for a fledgling pianist - they are equal to the best. Brilliant as reissued the Denon discs as they were originally, short timings and all - the Rachmaninoff is 44 minutes long and the longest of the five is under the hour - but given the price and the excellence of piano playing it is still a bargain.

Miss Grimaud is now in the public's eye almost more for her infatuation with wolves than for her pianistic skills - and the Brilliant release surfs on the wave, albeit with some discretion, by the choice of its cover art. But judging from these recordings, one suspects that this kind of claptrap is almost detrimental to her cause. The wolf hype would easily lead you to think that some wise-axxed PR was trying to make up by that tacky attention-catcher for what her mere pianism was unable to achieve. Not so. Miss Grimaud's pianistic and musical gifts can amply stand on their own. Let the wolves howl, and hats off to the pianist.

Gorgeous Music - Great Value.......2004-07-31

This box set consists of 5 CDs of Helene Grimaud's beautiful piano playing. These CDs were originally released by Denon which has a great reputation for audio quality. Grimaud plays Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerto 2, Piano Sonata No.2 and others), Ravel (Piano Concerto in G major), Chopin (Ballade No. 1), Schumann (Piano Sonata No. 1 and Kreilserana), Liszt (Apres une lecture de Dante), Brahms (Piano Sonata Nos. 2 and 3 and Klavierstucke Op. 118).

A lot of great music beautifully played and recorded without breaking the bank.

Highly recommended.

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