Hélène Grimaud made her first five CDs for the Denon label, when the pianist was in her mid-teens through early 20s. Brilliant Classics has reissued them as a super-bargain boxed set. Even in her formative years, Grimaud’s world-class pianism and first-rate musical mind seemed fully sprung. Listen as she fearlessly tears through Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata, or notice the way she brings out the symphonic underpinnings of the same composer’s Op. 33 Etudes-Tableaux and Liszt’s Dante Sonata and you won’t doubt that a mature artist is at work. She makes Chopin’s G minor Ballade colorful and exciting by playing it as the composer intended, rather than re-writing his dynamics, phrasings, and ritards. Sonically, her 1992 Rachmaninov Second scores over her later traversal on Erato (see my review by typing Q3366 in Search Reviews), while fans of her terrific Erato Ravel Concerto should find the earlier Denon version equally incisive and commanding.
But Grimaud’s heart and soul lies in the German repertoire, evidenced by her lean, powerful accounts of Brahms’ Second and Third Sonatas and Op. 118 Piano Pieces (the latter, again, compares well to her Erato remake). There are more demonic and mercurial Schumann First Sonatas and Kreislerianas around (Andsnes in the former, Argerich in the latter), but Grimaud’s direct, uncluttered style and ideal tempo choices command your full attention. In sum, this is a collection that will do any piano library proud. [8/4/2004]
