Helene Grimaud Tickets

Helene Grimaud
French-born classical pianist Hel?ne Grimaud, a U.S. resident since 1991, Helene Grimaud is acknowledged as one of the best pianists of her generation. She plays Beethoven, Brahms, and Rachmaninov with unique authority, and her lunar beauty has cast her as classical music's ultimate pin-up.

She has performed in most major halls around the world, with most major orchestras and conductors and with some of the finest chamber musicians, including the violinist Gidon Kremer. The public loves her and musicians respect her.

In 2007, Helene Grimaud was named one of the international brand ambassadors for Montblanc and the new face of an extensive advertising campaign. Her latest album Bach has been listed for 8 weeks in 2 different charts.

Helene Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1969. After her mother introduced her to a piece by Schumann, she took up the piano at 6 and made quick progress. Growing up in Aix-en-Provence, France, She began studying at the Paris Conservatory at 13, played her first concerto concert at 14, and made her first recording a year later.

She also finished her high-school studies and collected a bachelor's degree in ethology (the study of animal behavior) by correspondence. She made her first recording at the age of 15 and won the French equivalent of a Grammy at age 16 for her recording of Sergei Rachmaninoffs Sonata No. 2, and she has also recorded the Gershwin Concerto in F and the Ravel Concerto in G with David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony.

Her international concert career began in 1987 with performances at MIDEM in Cannes, La Roque d'Antheron Piano Festival and a concert with the Orchestre de Paris at the invitation of Daniel Barenboim.

Grimaud is a very tactile performer. From her early twenties on, Grimaud's lush sound and sweeping interpretations drew comparisons to such pianists as Martha Argerich and Jorge Bolet. She feels her way through the notes, rarely looking at the keyboard. Her playing has been called stormy, passionate and intuitive, and she regularly attracts overflow crowds.

That coiled energy explodes in performances of stunning beauty and insight, such as the Beethoven Concerto No. 4, performed and recorded in 1999 with the New York Philharmonic that left the audience gasping for breath. At the French 'Victoires de la Musique' she was nominated Soloist of the Year in 2000, and in January 2002 was appointed an Officier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minist?re de la Culture. won great acclaim worldwide when crowned in 2005 with the Echo Classic Award in the category Instrumentalist of the Year.

2006 was spent in performing throughout the USA, Europe and in Japan, including concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, San Francicso Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Vienna Symphony and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (London Proms), as well as recitals at New Yorks Carnegie Hall, with the LSO Chamber Ensemble and at festivals including the Lucerne Festival and the Musikfest Bremen

Her 2007 performance of Beethovens the Emperor Concerto (the Piano Concerto No. 5), with Jurowski and the Dresden State Orchestra was an exhilarating new interpretation of this masterpiece. By taking a different, introspective approach, Grimaud sheds new light on this classic. Beethoven is Grimaud's hero. His music is an incredible teacher, allowing her to reach new musical landscapes.

Grimaud is attracted to the struggle in Beethoven's music, and to his ability to ascend beyond the human condition. These things make his music timeless, yet contemporary. Her introspective nature is quite effective in Beethoven's bold concerto. . Her Beethoven is effervescent. Each note sparkles as it flows elegantly to the next. Jurowski plays with the tempo, giving Grimaud a chance to savor each orchestral entrance. . With her tender, reflective approach, Grimaud invites us to drift away with her.

Her records tend to be concept albums rather than conventional agglomerations of works. Her CD, Credo and Reflection released by Deutsche Grammophon is about the works by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Brahms. On the Reflection CD, Ms. Grimaud takes her theme of love and loss from the historical moment when Brahms entered the household of Robert and Clara Schumann, comforting Clara through Roberts mental decline and death, and becoming infatuated with Clara himself.

In addition to songs by Clara and solo and chamber music by Brahms, it includes Schumanns Piano Concerto, with the Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. 'Hel?ne Grimaud: Bach' is released by Deutsche Grammophon in October.

The other great interest of her youth was animals. In 1999, along with J. Henry Fair, a photographer who was then her companion, Grimaud opened the Wolf Conservation Center, an educational facility in South Salem, N.Y. On 29 acres, the center currently is home to 17 wolves.

The 37-year-old artist has also written a memoir, Wild Harmonies: A Life of Music and Wolves which appeared in France (Variations Sauvages) in 2003 and quickly become a best seller. it consists of autobiographical material with discussions of wolf lore. A second book of hers, Le?ons Particuli?res, has also been published in France.

Among the famous orchestras with which she has preformed so far are the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Berliner Staatskapelle, Royal Philharmonic, Bayerische Rundfunk, Tonhalle Zurich, Russian National Orchestra, the Oslo, Rotterdam, Israel and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo NHK Symphony.

In North America, she has worked with the Boston, San Francisco and Toronto symphonies, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.

In addition to Barenboim, she has collaborated with conductors including Abbado, Blomstedt, Bychkov, Conlon, Chung, Davis, Dutoit, Hogwood, J?rvi, Janowski, Masur, Pletnev, Sawallisch, Temirkanov, Ashkenazy and Zinman.