Subtitled Reflection, Hélène Grimaud's latest album, carefully programmed as always, is a meditation on the nature of love as embodied in the triadic relationship between Schumann, his wife Clara, and Brahms, whose love for both of them was the dominant influence on his life and work. The disc finds the French pianist at her visionary best.
It opens with a passionate yet unsentimental performance of Schumann's Piano Concerto conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen that ranks among the finest ever recorded. Anne Sofie von Otter is the soloist in a turbulent group of Clara's songs, while Truls Mork joins Grimaud for a powerful version of Brahms's First Cello Sonata. The album closes with Grimaud playing Brahms's Op 79 Rhapsodies, another overwhelming performance that captures the composer's shattering isolation as well as his deep affection for his best friend's wife. A truly great achievement, this is unmissable.
