First of all, let me scream like a groundhog! Grimaud has been one of my favorite pianist for a long time. It all started with her Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto, then I fell in love with her Brahms Sonatas and Debussy, and last semester, when I played Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato, I adored her interpretation the most. Her seriousness and respect for modern pieces really stand out—unlike some pianists who treat contemporary works carelessly. This was my first time hearing her live, and she was playing French repertoire—Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. I was beyond excited!
Hearing it live, though, was a bit like my experience with Kissin’s concert: excellent, but not overwhelmingly stunning. In the first movement, some melodies hidden in the rapid alternating chords didn’t come through clearly. The orchestra was just okay, though their voice leading was slightly better. The second movement was breathtakingly beautiful—delicate as a silk scarf brushing through sunlight in a spring garden. As for the third movement, some of the smaller dialogues between the piano and winds were almost entirely lost. I think the main issue was with the woodwinds (though it could also have been my seat placement, where the piano lid happened to block the winds). They were too light, making the piano seem like it was overpowering them. That said, the big running passages where the bassoon and piano echo each other came through nicely. Coordination like this being hit-or-miss is fairly common, but after the extraordinary precision I experienced in a recent Tchaikovsky 1 performance, my standards have probably been raised too high.
Ravel himself said that this concerto wasn’t meant to be profound—it was just written for fun, "for pleasure." Similarly, Fauré described his Requiem this way: it wasn’t written for any grand purpose; he simply wanted to compose it. Fauré was tired of playing the dramatic organ-heavy Dies Irae sections found in traditional requiems, so he left them out entirely, aiming for peacefulness instead. In fact, the first modernist pieces were often centered on tranquility and serenity. Overall, this entire concert embodied simplicity, joy, and calm—a perfect match for a relaxing evening.
P.S. The organ in this performance was way more present than in the Enigma Variations I attended earlier—very happy about that!
