Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 / Piano Sonatas Nos. 30 & 31, Opp. 58, 109, 110

When she signed up with Teldec, I imagine Grimaud felt obliged to accept the orchestras and conductors that the label offered her. A sleepy Kurt Sanderling all but scuttled her account of the Brahms D minor concerto, and Kurt Masur, in his literal, correct way, is not the best fit in the Beethoven Fourth. After the soloist's sensitive entry, Masur sets a stolid pace that brings no sense of anticipation or joy. Are we simply going to plod on? Not after Grimaud seizes the reins, urging the pace and infusing her part with zealous vitality. A previous reviewer called Masur's accompaniment "unassuming," meant as a compliment. It shouldn't be. The sense of a live occasion fires up Grimaud; for Masur and the Philharmonic it's another day at the office. At least they never fail to make beautiful sounds.Happily, charisma wins the day. Grimaud attacks phrases that usually lie back and enjoy relaxing. (The only other soloist who attempts such an explosive reading, oddly enough, is Rubinstein, in another concert with the New York Phil., but from the Forties with the mercurial Mitropoulos.) She manages to be exciting without (too much) clattering or hectoring. The piano she's playing is a very good instrument, and as usual with Teldec, the sound if first rate throughout. Avery Fisher Hall is dreadful as a concert venue but has often worked well as a recording one. The original Gramophone reviewer in 2000 commented that Grimaud's extremism and unpredictability would either thrill or infuriate. Maybe so, but like a similarly original Mikhail Pletnev, it's always worth taking the risk.I can't resist quoting a passage from that Gramophone review which dredges up a forgotten lady pianist form 1913 known as the "Valkyrie of the piano," applying the same reaction to Grimaud. "Hence her unbelievable endurance and joy in playing, her enormous, inexhaustible strength. Hence her thundering octaves; her staccato filed to the sharpest point; the sheen, the intensity, and the evenness of her passages; the iron heaviness of her chordal effects, inspired by the most fiery of temperaments." All true except for the iron heaviness, which isn't unleashed in this performance. Grimaud isn't Arrau, after all.It's unusual to fill out a concerto with two sonatas. Grimaud plays Op. 109 and Op. 110 with the same dramatic variety and unrpedictability as in the Beethoven fourth. Because shes on her own, there are no constraints, and I must admit feeling some discomfort with hr go-for-broke approach. there have been very few French pianists in the past who played Beethoven's sonatas convincingly - I'm not sure I can name one - and it only makes sense that Grimaud's style would be quite unattached to German tradition. She's not reckless or headlong, however, although anything marked Vivace or Molto allegro does race along, usually with a powerful attack (as in the second movement of both sonatas).Richter could get away with frontal assaults because of his imagination, personal authority, and total commitment to the score. I think Grimaud walks in those shoes now. Her faults - impatience, occasional brusqueness, over-emphasis - belonged to Richter as well. I can't agree with the Gramophone that this is love-it-or-loathe-it playing. It's possible to be volatile without being coarse. Grimaud has enough poise, as in the opening of Op. 110 or the finale of Op. 109, to balance her forcefulness, and I don't hear much willfulness at all. I can't help but admire her a great deal in all these pieces.

Not available on U-Tube for previewing but successive concerts of her Bethoven's 4th are -- and all are intricately fine. No two performances are alike. Here, Kurt Maseur and the N.Y. Philharmonic do a fine job in collaboration. Very special. On a very good system, the sound reproduction is flawless.

I'm MOST impressed with "the new gal on the block." Her technique is crisp, tempo just right in all THREE Works. Tho I have in my classical library of more than 10 recordings of Beethoven (IMHO), his Greatest piano sonata the Great Opus 111, I think I will buy her, when she records this, in the very near future. She puts her heart & SOUL in her performances. Recording 2nd to none. Just BRILLIANT.

I love the Beethoven 4th Piano Concerto, and I had heard that Grimaud was interesting, so I got this 3 years ago.The concerto is a serviceable performance, but neither thoughtfully deliberate nor powerful; I can't figure out what she had in mind when preparing it, for to my ears it seems to jump abruptly from aggression to dreaminess, with neither sort of characteristic executed with precision.The sonatas sound like a recording of a different pianist - when I play this CD, I start with track 4. Lovely stuff: focused, gradual progressions from theme to theme, as if she's always thinking of the previous stretches and building on them. If you seek a good introduction to late Beethoven sonatas, this is the best choice I can think of, because it is moving but not cerebral, and I say this as someone who doesn't mind the cerebral, analytical sort late Beethoven which alienates some listeners.

It's albums like this that inspired me to sell all of my popular music, the rock and roll, the alternative, the pop, and everything else in exchange for building an excellent and exclusive classical music collection, with artists like Helene at the top. I've never been so happy with my music.

Absolutely beautiful CD!

I have never heard Beethoven's 4th concerto played better than this! Good couplings, too....

Lovely, artful and technically superb in all aspects and for all pieces recorded. Must now see if she has recorded Beethoven's moonlite sonata.