helene grimaud

[pianistimo]

just went to see her in philadelphia.  she played rach 2 tonight.  the first movement started out with a bang.  and she kept the momentum going very well.  the only criticism, and this really isn't criticism majorly, is that i heard definate small sectioning of the movement.  someone else said that that was the way they always heard it - but i felt that if that was so - there needed to be a little more variation of the sectioned parts (so we wouldn't always get the same phrasing idea) or possibly more volume at the end of phrases.  i was sitting way up above and looking down (A1 section) at the orchestra from behind and looking straight at helene instead of on the other side behind her (which i wanted - so i could see the keyboard). she has a beautiful face and is easy to watch.  she looked up and to the side - and very often at the conductor which is really great!

anyway,  the second movement was beautiful beautiful.  and the conductor yuri temirkanov was conducting it so beautifully with his hands (no baton for him).  at one point, he made a turning motion with his hands (as if to say - this is the key - to someone's heart - and the heart of the piece). 

last movemetn...surprise.  i didn't like it.  helene is a consumate romantic - but she is not a battle ax.  i wished for rachmaninov at that point.  i'm very sorry helene.  ok.  my advice - (as amateur as my advice is) would be that the piece start off with a SLIGHTLy slower tempo (just slightly) so as to show her technique off better.  I don't know if that was the conductor's tempo, or hers, but it seemed to be just SLIGHTLy too fast.  it was as if she was trying to impress, instead of LETTING impress.  she could easily have still had a standing ovation, but more repeated notes would have come out to the hearer.

ps  helene has some of the cleanest pedalling i've heard.  her weakness might be that she tries too hard to make dynamics even with the orchestra...when they should come to her.  they should tone down, let her play fast, and impressively without burdening her -  on the last movement. 

she was very close to the orchestra.  i would have liked to see her on a bigger stage and slightly separated.  she is a fabulous pianist.  very slight of body, but very powerful.  the french horn player really played to her in one part - and it was very poetic.

[gruffalo]

i really want to see at least one of her performances. but i cant really afford to travel to US, even if i did, im still at school (last year) so i dont have the time right now.
Has she made any recordings of the Rach2 on CD?

[xvimbi]

i really want to see at least one of her performances. but i cant really afford to travel to US, even if i did, im still at school (last year) so i dont have the time right now.
Has she made any recordings of the Rach2 on CD?

No need to travel to the US. Grimaud is French. You have a much better chance to catch her in Europe. Check out: https://www.helenegrimaud.com

[gruffalo]

still dont have time or money to travel out of UK unless family holiday, and my parents arent exactly that crazy about piano that they would pay to go to see one performance.
maybe when i leave next year to go to University i will have more time and more money to do these kind of things.

[jas]

maybe when i leave next year to go to University i will have more time and more money to do these kind of things.

Time, maybe. Money, not a chance. Sorry.

Jas (speaking from experience; I thought the same thing...)

[thalberg]

Yes, she has recorded the Rach 2.  I like the recording and recommend it.  It's an extremely expressive and interesting addition to the pool.

[rob47]

I'm randomly in love with her.  The way she talks is so......incredible, in french or english; her piano playing is quite impressive.  These two things make her even hotter to me.  I have a bizzare tendency when watching her Beethoven 4 video, to just listen to what she's talking about at the beginning, listen to G--g-g-g-g-d-d-d-d-g-g-g-g- A--d-d and then turn it off.

hmm...not that I don't love Beethoven..

how old is she anyway?

[pianistimo]

she doesn't look very old.  but, rob, can you imagine how many proposals she's probably already had.  it's old hat by now..."i'm sorry, there's about 1000 men in front of you."  maybe you'll have to take one of those buzz/light up things they give you at restaurants to let you know when you might have a turn to just ask a question (that's she might say 'no' to).  but, that's ok.  if you're really in love with her, you can get around that somehow. persistence?  waiting another half century.

[bernhard]

she doesn't look very old.  but, rob, can you imagine how many proposals she's probably already had.  it's old hat by now..."i'm sorry, there's about 1000 men in front of you." 

I am told that extremely beautiful women often find difficult to date, since everyone believes they are out of their reach, and that there are 1000 men in a queue ahead of them. One may be surprised at how many of them are actually at home watching TV because they have no one to go out with. In the case of Grimaud instead of watching TV she pracitses the piano, and that is how she became so good. (It also may explain the animal thing). Give her a ring.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[pianistimo]

can you explain the animal thing?  all i noticed is that she decided not to wear a formal and wore some nice slacks and a blouse.  she seems very agressive playing the piano, but serene and delicate walking in and out.  i was so proud of her.  like seeing a woman climb mount everest, playing the rachmaninov.  she's my other hero, besides lance armstrong.

[bernhard]

can you explain the animal thing? 

That is my explanation. She cannot date because everyone think they will not have a chance. The same thing happened to Brigitte Bardot.

[bernhard]

(I mean they are both animal rights activists)

[pianistimo]

oh, cool!  that just made her more of a hero.  i like her.