Hélène Grimaud

Hélène Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France.[1] She described family nationalities in a New York Times interview with John Rockwell: "My father came from a background of Sephardic Jews in Africa, and my mother's ancestors were Jewish Berbers from Corsica."[2][3] Her father was adopted as a child by a French family and he became a university tutor teaching languages.[4] According to Luc Antonini [5] the name Grimaud is typical of the region of Trets in Provence. She has stated that, as a child, she was often "agitated".[6] She discovered the piano at seven. In 1982, she entered the Conservatoire de Paris,[7][8] where she studied with Jacques Rouvier. In 1985, she won 1st Prize at the Conservatory and the Grand Prix du Disque of the Académie Charles Cros for her recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2.

She experiences synesthesia, where one physical sense adds to another, in her case seeing music as colour, which helps her with memorising music scores.[9]

In 1987, she launched her professional career with a solo recital in Paris and in 1988 she made her debut with the Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Barenboim.[10] Grimaud made her debut with the New York Philharmonic, under Kurt Masur, in 1999, and her Carnegie Hall debut, playing the Schumann concerto, in 2002.[9]

She performed repeatedly at the BBC Proms, including at the Last Night of the BBC Proms in London in September 2008, playing the piano part of Beethoven's Choral Fantasia.[11]

In 1991, at age 21, Grimaud moved to Tallahassee, Florida, to be near a boyfriend, Jeff Keesecker who taught bassoon at Florida State University.[3] In 1997, she settled in Westchester County, north of New York City. After some time spent in Berlin,[12] she resided in Weggis, near Luzern, Switzerland.[13]

She has a passion for wolves, which she studies and raises. She now divides her time between her musical career and the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, which she co-founded with her former companion, photographer J. Henry Fair.[14][15][16]

Grimaud lives with her partner, the German photographer Mat Hennek in Upstate New York.[17][9]

• Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2002).
• National Order of Merit (France) (16 May 2008).[18]
• Legion of Honour (3 April 2015).[19]

On Denon^[A]

• Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2, Études-Tableaux, Op. 33 (1986)
• Chopin Ballade No. 1, Liszt Après une Lecture de Dante, Schumann Sonata for Piano (1987)
• Schumann Kreisleriana, Brahms Piano Sonata No. 2 (1989)
• Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3, Klavierstücke (1992)
• Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, Ravel Piano Concerto (1993)

On Erato

• Schumann Piano Concerto, Richard Strauss Burleske (1995)
• Brahms Piano Pieces Op. 116–119 (1996)
• Gershwin Piano Concerto, Ravel Piano Concerto in G (1997)
• Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 (1998)

On Teldec

• Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4, Piano Sonata No. 30, Piano Sonata No. 31 (1999)
• Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, Prelude Op. 32/12, Études-Tableaux Op. 33/1, 2 and 9, Variations on a Theme of Corelli (2001)

On Deutsche Grammophon

• Credo John Corigliano Fantasia on an Ostinato, Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 17 "Tempest", Choral Fantasy, Arvo Pärt Credo (2003)
• Chopin | Rachmaninoff (2005)
• Bartók The Piano Concertos (on the third) (2005)
• Reflection Schumann Piano Concerto, Various by Brahms and Clara Schumann (2006)
• Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor", Piano Sonata No. 28 (2007)
• Bach Various (2008)
• Resonances Mozart: Sonata No. 8, Berg: Sonata op.1, Liszt: Sonata in B minor, Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances (2010)[20]
• Mozart Piano Concerto No. 19, Piano Concerto No. 23, Ch'io mi scordi di te? (with Mojca Erdmann, soprano) (2011)
• Duo (with Sol Gabetta, cello) Works by Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, and Shostakovich (2012)
• Brahms Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with the Bavarian Radio SO and Vienna PO, conducted by Andris Nelsons (2013)
• Water Various (with Nitin Sawhney) (2016)[21]
• Memory Debussy (including "Clair de Lune"), Satie, Chopin, Silvestrov, Sawhney (2018)

On Philips

• Schumann Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105, Gidon Kremer violin and Helene Grimaud piano. Recording date: 7/1989. Release: Lockenhaus Festival 1982–1992 A Decade of Music-Making (1997)

On ACA Digital Recording, Inc

• Bassoon Music Of The Americas, Composers on Bassoon Music Of The Americas: Alvin Etler, Valdir Azevedo, Jose Siqueira, Magda Santos/Pó, Pixinguinha, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Willson Osborne. Jeff Keesecker – bassoon and Hélène Grimaud – piano (2002)

• Variations sauvages (2003, published in English as Wild Harmonies)[22]
• Leçons particulières (2005)
• Retour à Salem (2013)

• Official website
• Literature by and about Hélène Grimaud in the German National Library catalogue
• Wolf Conservation Center