Customer Reviews

Reflection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think this CD is, as is always the case with Helene Grimaud, thoughtful. As with her other recent thematic offerings, I appreciate the effort in putting together something more than an unrelated selection of pieces. In this case, we have a program which reveals in musical form the relationship between the Schumanns and Brahms -- a story I recently read about in the Brahms' biography by Jan Swafford, which in turn greatly piqued my interest in this album. The performances are, all around, very moving and the sound well balanced between instruments (and, in the case of the lieder, vocalist). Bravo, Ms. Grimaud, for another wonderful effort!

Whispers, poems, and pages have been floating around for years about the strangely romantic triangle that bound the composers Robert Schumann, Clara Wieck Schumann and Johannes Brahms - secrets that will be forever the purview of intuitive writers and philosophers and historians. This very intelligent and tender CD REFLECTION is one way of examining the closeness of these three remarkable and very human artists. And it is a complete success, musically and thoughtfully.

Incorporating some the finest artists available today this CD is the brainchild of the remarkable Hélène Grimaud, a pianist who not only is a remarkably fine artist but who also looks for more in her musical thoughts than merely the notes on the score. She offers here a collaboration with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle in an elegant and wistful performance of Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, rich in subtleties and deeply felt melodic line.

Grimaud then partners with Anne Sofie von Otter in three songs by Clara Schumann: 'Er is gekommen in Sturm und Regen', 'Warum willst du and're fragen?', and 'Am Strande' - songs that give both artists the opportunity to remind us how gifted Clara was with song writing.

The third member of this remembered and honored triad is Johannes Brahms and his 'Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E minor' is performed with passion and grand scale by Grimaud and the gifted cellist Truls Mørk. Grimaud then closes the recital with Brahms' 'Rhapsodies for Piano Nos. 1 (B minor) and 2 (G minor)', sublime works that not only serve as a fitting closure to this thoughtful program but that also leave us with the desire for more Brahms from Hélène Grimaud! This is a very special recording, well produced technically, and one with which we are left with the feeling that both the Schumanns and Brahms would have warmly applauded. Highly recommended as one of the important issues of the year. Grady Harp, December 06

I have three previous Grimaux recording, admittedly very ambitious Brahms works, that I would say are good - say four stars. Perhaps I had been put off by the quirky CD covers & all that talk about wolves. This time she really shines & displays a deep understanding of the works. The performances could be a tad over-emotional for my taste but still rate five stars.

From the opening performance of the Schumann Paino Concerto, you would peg Helene Grimaud as a cool modernist with a light French touch. She is joined by Salonen, himself a musician who takes a chilly view of the Romantics (when he conducts them at all). Together, they produce a very unsentimental but sensitive reading that happens to be in exceptionally good sound. The ability of engineers to capture the actual sound of a concert grand piano is improving every day. The Staatskapelle Dresden plays elegantly. If you want a Schumann A minor that's almost chaste but very well articulated, Grimaud's is a perfect choice.

She then goes on to prove herself a bit of a chameleon in the three lieder by Clara Schumann, with their restless accompaniment that often overshadow the vical part. Equally turbulent are the two Brahms Rhapsodies, although I think Grimaud strains a bit to sound individual. We're back to neutral territory in the Brahms cello sonata #1 with Turls Monk, in which both soloists are highly controlled and, if not cool, not abandoned by any means.

In all, an imaginative program shows off several sides of this mercurial artist. I'm not sure I really know who the real Helene Grimaud is, but her pianism is certainly appealing.

Lovely and committed playing by Grimaud and all concerned combined with an inspired selection. I'm usually not a fan of "concept" albums but this recording makes its musical and intellectual point deftly and with great musicality. Highly recommended.

If you are looking for a Schumann piano concerto that is not coupled with the Grieg, you've come to the right place. At first, this coupling may seem strange, but there is a compelling logic to it. Brahms was an intimate friend of the Schumanns (perhaps in more ways than one although there is no clear evidence to support this view). Clara Schumann was a fine composer in her own right, but has been overshadowed by her more famous husband (both she and Fanny Mendelssohn). Helene Grimaud proves herself to be up to the task here and she delivers a sparkling concerto performance as does the Dresden Staatskapelle orchestra (the same orchestra that premiered the work with Clara as the soloist). Five stars for her performance, five stars for the orchesta and five stars for the sound. Truls Mork recorded the Brahms E minor cello sonata previously, but coupled with the F major which is the usual coupling. The sonata was written in Brahms' youth and is full of energy, passion and stunningly beautiful melodies. Mork does not disappoint and Helene Grimaud is more than a competent partner. Her piano sings without overpowering the cello. A lovely performance, although I must confess that I am slightly more partial to Starker/Buchbinder. Very good recorded sound in the sonata. The two lieder are not familiar to me so I have no point of reference and can only say that Anne Sofie von Otter sings like an angel. (German and English texts are provided for the lieder.) The two piano rhapsodies are also unknown to me. They make a nice filler for this very fine disk but the piano gets a little clangy in the rhapsodies and I wish the engineering had been better. But no one will be buying this CD for the filler. Notes in English only. All in all, a very musical and well thought out and executed program.

it is very strange with me that repeat listening to Grimaud's all DG recordings has made me tired of her playing. It is the same with this recording; the first listening was ok except the 3rd movement of the piano concerto where Grimaud "crushed" the first five very important notes recurring throughout the movement. It was the most ruined rendition of this beautiful phrase that I've ever heard. (a simple comparison with the most recent noble performance of this piece by Andsnes reveals the difference right away and then the fact that her colleagues were excellent to cover her.)

And the second listening and onwards assure me that Grimaud plays all the music in the same style - big and loud low register supported by pedals, which always produces quite an impressive sound effect at the first listening, and her obssessive focus on poetic and sensitive phrasing in the slow passages, no matter what she plays. And clearly she is less confident in her right hand than her left - many times in this recording, melody lines on the right hand are heard 'muddy' in the concerto and the rapsodies. She overpowers von Otter's singing, too, which she shouldn't have for Clara Schumann's lieder even if the piano part needs rigor and passion.

In my conclusion of this recording, the overall performance is good mainly because of her outstanding colleagues.

But the most disturbing is her self-indulgence on so called "themed" albums. It may be another way of effective communication with listeners, but unfortunately, it doesn't resonate with me. It seems to me that her own philosophy comes first and the music next. At the listening guide linked on her website, she kindly guides this theme "love" by explaining the relationship between three great musicians. She tells the concerto was written for Clara, the lieder for Robert, which natually makes you anticipate a similar link for Brahms. However, the link is broken there.

She even introduces an episode with her playing of the first rapsody in background about when Brahms visited the Schumanns for the first time as if the rapsody had been heard by the young Brahms. This is not true-the pieces Brahms played at that time were from his early sonatas, not the rapsodies written in his later life. Grimaud could have devised a better program to illustrate the beautiful relationship between three musicians because there're quite a number of Brahms' pieces profoundly inspired by the Schumanns. I wonder why Grimaud chose the rapsodies she recorded in 2000, even before she signed the contract with DG. She might not have had enough time to learn/practice other pieces as she has to write, tour, and raise wolves.

I once admired her freshness very much before she became a big star of DG, but not any more. She is stagnant and her playing is all the same. When I looked at the program for her first Carnegie Hall recital in coming November, I couldn't be more disappointed - all the solo pieces featured in her lastest two DG albums; how commercial and lazy even! The initially announced Chopin Sonata #2 has been just recently replaced by Bach/Busoni Chaconne, but it's also the same.. She has already played the piece so many times since several years ago (a video clip is even circulating on the net) and probably it will be put in her next recording scheduled next year.

I'm not impressed by her any more.