Find Grimaud's previous DVD release from the Elbphilharmonie on Arkiv as well!

Hélène Grimaud headlines a spectacular evening with the illustrious Camerata Salzburg, directed from the front desk by concertmaster Giovanni Guzzo, at one of the world's most famous contemporary concert halls, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She selected pieces that are all in minor keys, yet composed during intensely creative periods in both Mozart’s and Robert Schumann’s careers.

Mozart did not write many works in minor tonalities but Grimaud chose to emphasize the minor mode because it “provides a glimpse behind the mask of jollity that surrounds many of his famous works.“ As an encore: a work by a living Ukrainian composer whose music has accompanied Grimaud through much of her career, Valentin Silvestrov.

“Hélène Grimaud and the Salzburg Camerata hypnotise the audience in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on this unforgettable evening, with piano concertos of the early Romantic era of Mozart and Schumann that are unique in sound.“ (operaversum.de)

Bach's cello suites are an immovable milestone and touchstone for every cellist. Six weighty monologues in Bach's unmistakable language, to which the playing technique was only gradually able to fully respond. To follow the genius's train of thought through this musical microcosm is a unique attraction, presented by Martin Ostertag with fine nuances and great sensitivity. Martin Ostertag studied with Leo Koscielny at the University of Music Karlsruhe and with André Navarra in Paris and Detmold. In 1967, he was laureate of the International Competition of the City of Vienna and in 1968, made the Young Concert Artists national selection by the German Music Council. After that, he was first principal cellist of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Amati Ensemble Berlin, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and finally, starting in 1974, the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden and Freiburg. Since 1980, Martin Ostertag has been professor of cello at the University of Music Karlsruhe.

Renaissance woman H�l�ne Grimaud is not just a deeply passionate and committed musical artist whose pianistic accomplishments play a central role in her life. She is a woman with multiple talents that extend far beyond the instrument she plays with such poetic expression and peerless technical control. The French artist has established herself as a committed wildlife conservationist, a compassionate human rights activist and as a writer. Now this is a small sensation: MDG is presenting H�l�ne Grimaud's early recordings for the DENON label from 1985 to 1992 in a set of two albums including great romantic repertoire by Brahms and Schumann. These recordings now once again available after many years, have been carefully restored and remastered by MDG master sound engineers and reveal an original artistic personality who achieved perfection at an early age and for whom the label "child prodigy" very evidently would be an understatement.

Classical Music