This is without question the best recording that Hélène Grimaud has made for DG. The opening “Emperor” gushes forth like a sparkling fountain, at a freshly invigorating basic tempo. Give credit to Vladimir Jurowski for his excellent collaboration, and to a Staatskapelle Dresden that really stays on top of its collective toes. Grimaud even manages to make something special out of those upward scales that so often signal the pianist’s entrances and exits. Only in the slow movement does she indulge in a touch of the preciosity that mars some of her more recent efforts, but it’s a fleeting memory at best, and the finale goes with all of the joyful enthusiasm that anyone could ask.
If anything, the sonata is even finer. I have to confess I was a bit worried here: late Beethoven encourages so many pianists to do strange things in the name of “profundity” and “transcendence” and other impressive terms, and to put it kindly, Grimaud can be a bit spacey in this respect. To her credit, she simply plays really well, stylishly but with plenty of poetry too. The inner movements are particularly memorable: an alla Marcia full of rhythmic point and a truly cantabile adagio whose “affetto” never degenerates into mannerism. Grimaud potentially is one of the finest pianists in the business, and let’s hope this release signals for her a new level of maturity and artistic depth. The sonics, by the way, are also very good, with Grimaud’s piano particularly well-caught, and not too much performance noise. Impressive! [10/16/2007]
