Sensuous impressionist music played by a beautiful French pianist on a lovely night in June…

•  Peter Oundjian, conductor

•  Hélène Grimaud, piano

June 8 & 9, at 8 pm
Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto, Ontario – Debussy and Ravel virtually define French music; their dazzling orchestrations and sensual harmonies took the heavy Germanic style of the time toward music of light and shimmering colour. Renowned French pianist Hélène Grimaud will perform Ravel’s brilliant, jazz-infused G Major Concerto in a programme that includes Debussy’s La Mer, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2.

Some of the mysteriousness and stereotype of the wandering, passionate soul that it is to be a musician is embodied in French pianist Hélène Grimaud. At 34, she is well-established as a serious musician. She has beautiful, delicate features that suggest the youth of an ingénue. An unusual extracurricular activity includes caring for three British Columbian wolves who live in a three-acre enclosure on her Westchester County property. This unusual combo made her irresistible to ABC television, which featured her on its national news in the US.

French pianist Hélène Grimaud is a regular visitor to the concert stages of Europe, North America and the Far East. Since her 1988 debut with Orchestre de Paris, she has gone on to appear with numerous orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic and Tokyo’s NHK Symphony.

Born in Aix-en-Provence, Grimaud began music studies at the Conservatory there and later in Marseilles. At age 13, she was accepted by a unanimous vote into Paris’ National Conservatory of Music. She was a rebellious student, always wanting to go her own way, and sometimes exasperated her teachers. She completed high school and college degrees by correspondence, and had the great fortune to cross paths with Daniel Barenboim, who conducted one of her first public concerts, and Martha Argerich, for whom she played at the Lockenhaus Festival in Austria. "I felt I learned so much from them – they did as much for me as my regular teachers had before."

Grimaud records exclusively for the Deutsche Grammophon label. Her earlier releases on Erato include the Schumann Piano Concerto and Richard Strauss’ Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra with the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin led by David Zinman, a highly acclaimed disc featuring Brahms’ late piano works, and the Gershwin and Ravel Piano Concertos with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. On the Teldec label is a live recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 from her debut appearances with the New York Philharmonic. Her second and latest release is of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Grimaud has several award-winning releases on Denon, featuring works of Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Ravel and Brahms.

June 8 is sponsored by General Electric Canada. June 9 is sponsored by KPMG.

Tickets: $110, $83, $78, $68, $60, $45, $37, $32.
Call the Roy Thomson Hall box office at 416 593 4828
or order online at www.roythomson.com.

Mon-Fri, 9-8. Sat, 12-5. Sun, 2 hrs prior to concert start. VISA/MC/AMEX.