The Messenger

Description

Mélancolie et espoir. Hélène Grimaud explores a fascinating dialogue between the musical worlds of Mozart and Silvestrov. For her new studio album, Hélène traveled to Salzburg where she created a fascinating juxtaposition between the eternal W. A. Mozart and the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. Hélène has a long-standing passion for Silvestrov's music, described by some as post-modernist or one of the precursors of neo-classical. To select the works for this album, Hélène carefully chose works by Mozart that fit into an overall dramaturgy: from the famous and unfinished Fantasy in D minor by Mozart, Hélène glides with purity to the Concerto in D minor K. 466 - one of the most popular among Mozart's 27 concertos (and one of the only two in minor). The Fantasy in C minor then signals 'the end of Mozart' and a new beginning: The Messenger begins a theme that evokes the work of Mozart, and like a messenger, creates a connection between the present and the world that existed before. Melancholy and hope, sadness and exuberance can be felt in the works of Mozart and Silvestrov. And particularly in The Messenger, one of Silvestrov's most performed works, which is dedicated to his wife Larissa Bondarenko, who recently passed away. The two dialogues with Postscript that serve here as an epilogue give this echo an open conclusion, paving the way for Schubert, Wagner, and beyond.