Hélène Grimaud’s new Deutsche Grammophon album, Memory, stirs profound emotions through the elegant simplicity of miniatures by Chopin, Debussy, Satie, Valentin Silvestrov and Nitin Sawhney. Music has been described as a means of rescuing that which is lost – a simple yet persuasive idea and one which informs Hélène Grimaud’s working definition of the art form. The French pianist’s latest Deutsche Grammophon recording addresses music’s unique ability to bring images of the past back to life in the present moment, to conjure up vivid evocations of time and place. Memory, set for release on 28 September 2018, explores the nature of recollection through a series of exquisite pianistic miniatures. Grimaud’s choice of repertoire embraces everything from impressionistic reveries by Chopin and Debussy to the timeless, folk-like melodies of Valentin Silvestrov.

Memory and music make perfect partners. Both are fleeting, never fixed, always subject to interpretation. Our identities are formed from memories, just as so many of our most enduring experiences are rooted in music. Hélène Grimaud wanted to explore the universal nature of memory, its place in the lives of us all. Memory, she explains, uses music to probe the many levels of human consciousness. “Music peels back the layers of time to reveal the essence of experience,” she observes. “Momentary pain, distress, elation, fades – what remains is sensation. Sensation is the resonance of experience in the space of memory. And it is the space where music resonates within each of us – touching us, moving us, bringing us closer to ourselves. In that way, music can also help remind us that for all in our daily lives that is trivial, there’s a place where meaning is stored. And that it is not forgetfulness that is our burden, but the capacity to reflect and remember that is the wonder of being alive.” The pianist’s eloquent discourse on memory touches both the universal and the particular. It reveals, above all, much about her sensibility for music as a natural process, one shaped in the moment of creation and re-creation by instinct and intuition. Memory follows in the wake of Grimaud’s Water album, a thought-provoking consideration of the world’s most precious resource. Her latest release complements its predecessor, not least by exploring another condition of life all too easily taken for granted until it begins to disappear. Hélène Grimaud will be on extended Asian tour in Q3 and return back to Europe in Q1 2019.

TOUR DATES
06. Aug. – 02. Okt. 2018 Germany, Austria, Switzerland
07. Okt. 2018 Shanghai Shanghai Concert Hall China
14. Okt. 2018 Taipei Nat. Performing Arts Center Taiwan
19. Okt. 2018 Seoul Seoul Arts Center South Korea
20. Okt. 2018 Seoul Lotte Concert Hall South Korea
26. Okt. – 14. Nov. 2018 China, Japan
21. Dez. 2018 Montreal Place des Arts Canada
17. Jan. – 19. Jan. 2019 Leipzig Gewandhaus Germany
21. Jan. 2019 Paris Philharmonie de Paris France
24. Jan. 2019 Luxembourg Philharmonie Luxembourg
27. Jan. 2019 Munich Philharmonie Gasteig Germany
28. Jan. 2019 Vienna Musikverein Austria

Album Tour:
02. Feb. 2019 Mannheim Rosengarten Germany
03. Feb. 2019 Bremen Glocke Germany
06. Feb. 2019 Frankfurt Alte Oper Germany
08. Feb. 2019 Düsseldorf Tonhalle Germany
10. Feb. 2019 Amsterdam Concertgebouw Netherlands
12. Feb. 2019 Brussels Flagey Belgium