I've looked forward to playing this again for ages, there's something about Helene Grimaud, this disc also comes with a DVD, and it shows Grimaud discussing Beethoven, and shows a few snippets of the recording rehearsals, and it's great to see her in action, the way she plays is poetry in itself, plus this is a near perfect rendition of this Concerto, i don't hear any unusual ideas, it's really about giving us straight Beethoven, not diluted with crazy personal interpretations, and a lovely recorded sound to boot, this is another treasured DG disc, i hope she goes on to record Schubert's Impromptus at some time, now that really would be heaven!, here's the entry for my last Blog post about this disc [30th December 2011].
Helene Grimaud is French, she's now 43, and she made this recording in 2006, the front cover picture [by Mat Hennek] is absolutely fantastic, a treasurable portrait, all dressed in black, probably a black & white photograph expertly tinted, and the idea to place the lettering over the black of her body is inspired, nice colours too, it really works so well, one of the best things DG have ever done, along with Hilary Hahn's Bach Violin Concertos.
I was really taken aback by the first movement, i just forget how revolutionary it is, i have a disc in my collection called in German 'Die Funften' [the Fifths, or the Fives], which has Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto alongside his Fifth Symphony, i think it's a great idea to couple the two together, they are similar in their strong revolutionary statements, and i felt that today, the start of Beethoven's Concerto is almost as revolutionary in concept as his Symphony, it startled me today, such powerful music, in analysing this first movement again today, i feel Grimaud / Jurowski take it slightly too fast, and too sweet, a more darker and grandiose feel to the music would show the greater universal-ness of the work, but there's a tremendous amount of music making going on here, deep down it's a happy work, i can hear laughing in the music, especially the last movement, the first movement is vast [just over 20 minutes], and a vast conception to go with it,.
Here's the DVD that comes with the disc, being played on YouTube, a nice teaser for the whole thing.
Here's the DVD that comes with the disc, being played on YouTube, a nice teaser for the whole thing.
