It was a unique coming together in Vienna in 1984 when enigmatic pianist Krystian Zimerman and charismatic maestro Leonard Bernstein stepped onto the stage and in front of the cameras to perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2. The result was indeed a magic moment of music and a landmark in the career of Krystian Zimerman. In this episode Zimerman gives a rare interview, and for the first time in a TV documentary, speaks in detail about the background to the concert recording and why the collaboration with Leonard Bernstein radically changed the course of his artistic life. Eminent colleagues including Hélène Grimaud and Igor Levit as well as close confidants of Leonard Bernstein such as the conductor Marin Alsop and his former assistant Charlie Harmon also tell us what makes this concert a great moment for them.
Magic Moments of Music – Hélène Grimaud 9/11 in London
On 11 September 2001, the world paused. This concert at the Royal Albert Hall shows how grief and horror can be transformed into a musical moment of glory, and how music can be a means of consolation in these tragic moments. Hélène Grimaud makes her Proms debut with the Orchestre de Paris under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. The musicians enter the stage visibly affected and discharge their anger and sadness in their playing. Hélène Grimaud succeeds in a deeply emotional interpretation of Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto. Her playing alternates between intensity and clarity. The wordless communication with the maestro is moving, not least after the first movement: the moved audience partially breaks into applause – Grimaud and Eschenbach cast emotional and assuring glances at each other. They know at that moment: This evening gets under your skin and will not soon be forgotten.
Opus 19 – Jan Vogler & Hélène Grimaud
A year since the Covid-19 pandemic halted live musical performances, world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler drives across the United States – from New York City to California – to visit his friend and frequent collaborator, the prodigious pianist Hélène Grimaud. Desiring to make music again, the duo plans to perform a piece, which they have never played together. With his Stradivarius cello along for the ride, Vogler finds inspiration in the diverse natural beauty of America. He stops to play pieces by Bach in an Indiana forest, snow covered mountains in Colorado and the desert of Utah. The experience causes Vogler to reflect on his career, and approach to music. Grimaud, meanwhile, caring for her horses, also articulates her feelings on performing and her craft. When Vogler arrives in California, the duo plays Rachmanioff’s Cello and Piano Sonata, Op. 19, in one marvelous, emotional take.