Helene Grimaud’s resonance to woo Korean audience

Pianist Helene Grimaud’s piano recital to be held on Jan. 29 at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall is among the must-see shows for classical music fans this year.

The deep-green eyed pianist famous for her thundering finger work will return to move the Korean audience again with her virtuosity and deep impressionism. She will be performing Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor; Berg’s Piano Sonata Op. 1; Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B Minor S178; and Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances BB 68, which are all featured on her latest album, “Resonance.”

Born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France in 1969, the pianist became the youngest student at the National Conservatory of Music when she was 13 and made her recording debut performing a Rachmaninoff sonata two years later. Since then, she has explored the world of various artists ranging from Mozart to Bach, Rachmaninoff and Beethoven.

“Grimaud is one of a handful of female pianists with a strong presence in the predominantly male-dominated classical music scene. And it makes her even more special that she is not afraid of working on rather manly composers while other women pianists tend to delve into relatively feminine pieces of Mozart or Schubert,” said Jake T. Ryu, a music critic.

He said Grimaud has the ability to mold different styles of music with her signature pianism ― it is soft and transparent, he says. “We can feel the power of her strokes while gently touching down the keys. It seems impossible but she manages to pull it off,” he said. “Once you encounter her music, you just want more of it,” he said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)