Hélène Grimaud: Brahms the Piano Concertos - EPK long

Hélène Grimaud: Brahms the Piano Concertos - EPK long

Luminous music, an intuitive river sweeps over me... La Belle Helene is an oracle of the keyboard. Helene confides, The first time I heard this music I knew I could not live without it."

Hélène Grimaud - Vivre l'interprétation

The amazing spirit and music of Helene Grimaud is a joy to encounter in concert. Grimaud does not so much perform music as enter music and bring her listener along with her on her heroine's journey. She is going to be playing Brahms with the San Francisco Symphony and I intend to be there!

BBC Radio Interview: Hélène Grimaud

Hélène Grimaud - Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Part 1 - Proms 2008

Beethoven：Moonlight Sonata -Adagio sostenuto- hélène grimaud,piano

First choice - Helene Grimaud (Chopin, Rachmaninov) 2012 - Audio

la belle, Hélène Grimaud, said Princess Haiku is a diva of the keyboard...

Conversations with Helene Grimaud or through the mystery flower Part Ten, said Princess Haiku

Every great artist inspires love, devotion and awakening of true self as does the pianist, Helene Grimaud. I visited her guest book on her web site at Deutschgrammophon and spent a long time perusing her messages.

These intimate conversations with Helene Grimaud, left anonymously by her fans touched my heart. They were a fascinating and poetic outpouring of love, spiritual confession, appreciation and devotion. You can read the original article here and below you will find more of the letters.

I hope that you enjoy them.
Princess Haiku



Conversations with Helene Grimaud:


PrincePeterofNewYork
USA
01-11-2008


Ode to Aphrodite by Sappho

Immortal Aphrodite of the splendid throne,
Daughter of Zeus, weaver of snares,
Great Woman, Grant me thins.
Let not my spirit be harnessed by this anguish and affliction
But come here, by me as you did once before.

On that day,
you've heard my distant voice and, nodding,
you left your father's golden chambers to yoke your
two swift companion birds at your glistening chariot.

They fluttered through the spreading sky
and brought you hurriedly down here
by me,
upon the black soil.

Great Woman!
With a smile on your immortal face you had asked me
then,
about my sighs, what was it that made me call to you
yet again?

You asked, "Who is it this time Sappho? Who do you want me
to bring to you? Who, Sappho, is hurting you now?"

And
at that time, you offered, "Tell me
Sappho who she is and if she turns from you now,
soon,
by me,
she'll be turning towards you;
and if she's not close to you now,
soon,
by me,
she will be-
willingly or not?"

Come to me again now.


Mon Cherie Helene, Je t'adore et Je t'aime,
Pierre





RT
Cyprus
10-28-2008

I love you and despair is on my lips
Sometimes I swallow bitter poison
Tonight, I seek you out in my dreams alone
When I find you, you have three eyes
Each is as beautiful as the others
distorted in this way I can only
Attract someone like me

Be mine for a second, it will feel like infinity
Cyprus has a secret we can both discover

Awed by your presence and performances...
What music surges from below?
Persephone sings a sad song
Can you discern the sounds?

Eternal love



image by blackeri



TP
01-07-207

The eyes are sad.
What if Orpheus never looked back?
Will Eurydice enjoy a second life?






VT
USA
09-10-2007


Dear Ms Grimaud,
I just returned to my apartment, turned on the radio and had the great pleasure of hearing your 2007 recording of the Emperor Concerto. As always, the soulful musicality in your playing moved me in ways that I constantly yearn for but rarely experience.
As a NYC based composer... all I can say is thank you for your many and ongoing contributions not only to the music literature but really at a higher level... for allowing us to experience the "otherness" in musical experience that reaffirms our humanity, our pursuit of truth through art and not least, the physical and aural wonders found in great music.



Simone
Belgium
03-06-2007

Dear Helena,

I attended your concert on Monday, February 27th and it was my first classical concert. I was taken to a vibrant world I could never have imaged. Uneducated in the field of classical music a curtain has been torn and a new world opened to me.


Francois
France
04-03-2006

Hello Helena,

I was at the concert at the Halle aux grains de Toulouse where there was trouble over scheduling. I feared that you would refuse to play. I took several deep breaths to regain a bit of inner peace before your entry. You have offered the emotions of such intensity, such a purity. I am up against the weakness, the impotence of words to translate what I felt. I trust that your eyes fall on this message and will receive my deepest gratitude.

Conversations with Helene Grimaud or through the mystery flower Part Seven, said Princess Haiku

Every great artist inspires love, devotion and awakening of true self as does the pianist, Helene Grimaud. I visited her guest book on her web site at Deutschgrammophon and spent a long time perusing her messages.

These intimate conversations with Helene Grimaud, left anonymously by her fans touched my heart. They were a fascinating and poetic outpouring of love, spiritual confession, appreciation and devotion. You can read the original article here and below you will find more of the letters.

I hope that you enjoy them.
Princess Haiku


Conversations with Helene Grimaud:



PrincePeterofNewYork
USA
12-23-2008

Mon cherie Helene,

In summer's heat or snowy winter deep,
Whether you are are near or far,
You'll always be y piano virtusosa shining star,
More beautiful than the Sisters of the Pleiades, by far!

Happy Holidays et Season's Greeting et Bonne Annee!
Je t'aime et Je t'adore,

Pierre

P.S.
What you are, you are by accident of birth;
What I am. I am by myself,
There are and will be a thousand Princes;
There is only one Beethoven!



Char
USA
03-03-2009

Wisdom in Hibernation

In Courtly Love we gather our forces and circle
the rest is Magical and Divine.



AVR
USA
12-11-2008

Breaking out of Cliche

Longing for anything
A gape evolving daily
T asting the essence of the loved one
E vaporating and condensing in new forms
R oaming the Universe together
A ndrogynous
L overs without limits

T he score you played next door
H eavenly sounds mesmerizing me
I nsights inside a circular design
N o is not in my dictionary
K isses are forever French



TX
Germany 11-11-2008

Dear Wolfwoman,

some parts I played last year...
You have to know I never learned it; not even notes...
I had the courage and played in Munich near the Marienplatz on the street and saw people's eyes after playing. I saw their feelings and know I met their hearts.





Credo
Austria
07-11-2008

Bon anniversaire and happy birthday, liebe Helene!
May there be joy for you and all your beloved ones
on this God given day.
May this joy unveil the sorrow,
if there is any afflicting sound in the sense
of your wonderful heart.

a silent bearer of a rose.



JT
USA
07-11-2008

Dear Helene:

I wish you a very happy birthday.
I very much enjoyed the new Bach recording with its wonderful logical program. I still remember the night in Troy, New York where you performed the Bach/Busoni Chaconne as if your life depened on it. I always look forward to your very special musical insights that strike a chord in my heart.



KE
USA

12027-2007

When you are absent I notice
No movement in the waves of perceptions
The fields stand still in dead calm



Pei
Greece
12-16-2007

Magical Helene,

In awe I reflect my perceptions.

The hands of a craftsman shape visions
Free Aphrodite from an amorphous marble
Carving, sanding, shaping the next goddess

Tools of creation possessing life force
Tiresome and agile moving with speed
Giving life, mixing, arranging, creating music.



Valz
USA
12-12-2007

I asked you to dance with me
Moving apart in tachyon speeds we land in a new world
Mine will remain a mystery while yours a fairy tale



HT
France
11-20-2007



Chopin and Helene
Genius meets Genius
Creativity meets Synaesthesia

Pythia's dreams of a magical union
Between the two
A soulful connection.

The union of conscious femininity
Can only be contained in a love container
Made up in Quantum Soup of Super Strings

The mystery composer in love
Not the poet but the choreographer discovers
Graffiti in secret envelopes

JB
UK
06-21-2006

Get well soon!

Trust that the music in your soul shall cast aside your maladies; these shadow impostors of illness. Then rising up again unobstructed, you can pour your soul into the music. Destined to perform you shall lay unhindered and we shall listen.



Anon
USA
06011006

Connecting with all the waves may bring the miraculous into being.



AP
France
04-20-2006

Chere Mademoiselle Grimaud,

While I adore you I sometimes feel this world is not such a friendly place for talent like yours, because I perceive this theme from below the collective, the matrix.



DA
Greece
04-05- 2006

Your thoughts triggered a trip to Christina's world.
Here is my favorite poem written by her.

One face looks from all his canvases,
One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans:
We found her hidden just behind those screens,
That mirror gave back all her loveliness.
A queen in opal or in ruby dress,
A nameless girll in freshest summer greens,
A saint, an angel- every canvas means
The same one meaning, neither more or less.
He feeds upon her face by day and night,
And she with true kind eyes looks back on him,
Fair as the moon and joyful as the light:
Not wan with waiting, nor with sorrow dim;
Nor as she is, but was when hope shone bright;
Not as she is ,but as she fills his dream.

Christina Rossetti
12/24/1856

Conversations with Helene Grimaud or through the mystery flower Part Five, said Princess Haiku

Every great artist inspires love, devotion and awakening of true self as does the pianist, Helene Grimaud. I visited her guest book on her web site at Deutschgrammophon and spent a long time perusing her messages.

These intimate conversations with Helene Grimaud, left anonymously by her fans touched my heart. They were a fascinating and poetic outpouring of love, spiritual confession, appreciation and devotion. You can read the original article here and below you will find more of the letters.

I hope that you enjoy them.
Princess Haiku


Conversations with Helene Grimaud:



PrincePeterofNewYork
United States
03-11-2009

Ciao Bella Helene,

You are so very special and your most beautiful gift of your piano music to the world, is a reflection of your inner and outer beauty and grace as well.

"More"

More, than the greatest love the world has know,
This is the love I'll give to you alone,
More, than the simple words I try to say,
I only live to love you more each day.

Ciao for now, Bella Helene,
Pietro
the Beggar Prince

"More"
English words by Norman Newell
Italian Words by M. Ciorciolini
usic by R. Ortolani and N. Oliviero



Aci
Croatia
11-22-2008

Dearest Helene,

The 10th of November in Berlin was like a dream... from which I continue to live...

Yours devotedly,





Tara
Germany
11-21-2008

Got a ticket, 23rd March next year...



Composer
United States
11-15-2008

A few years ago, before I knew of you I dreamed vividly about you. Nothing more existed outside of us. I've never felt anything so pure. And here you are at such a distance. Everything since has felt superficial but the longing has kept vested inspiration. I sound like another one of these lovesick dolts but I can't help believing you had a dream like this. What am I doing?






Ni
Italy
12-11-2008

She's wonderful, so powerful. I can' help being in love with her.



Circle
Austria
03-14-2008

Harmonies experiment

I recently explored a visual Mathematics of Music. Pythagoras, an old friend visited the future and creates visual forms through invention. As I play the piano with my emotions and feelings I think I'm emoting as my own master. A twin of sorts.




Shadow
Scotland
09-03-2006

As music enters my space, rhythm, form and tone blend in alchemical ways. The Mandala design reminds me of reconciliation; a bringing together of two opposite points of view. The ego and the shadow are dancing on the same floor.

Helene, share with me your insights. When I look for Mandala designs I am attracted to you like the bee to the colors of Spring. This attraction is strange. It's source is not ego based. I speculate the need is journey based. This seeker flies in a dream where music is energy that causes movement into the imaginal and archetypal.



E
USA
08-11-2006

There is a Pre-Raphaelite painting I adore
The Painter's Honeymoon; a gorgeous dress
of green and gold dominates the theme.

The painter and his new bride think together,
Parallel thoughts jump out of the canvas
When I observe the picture.

This is my favored painting
Innocence jumps out at me
An affair with dark resonators.

Sceptical of who she is.
Dare to enter the great symphonies,
Allured by her score.
Mesmerized by great talent.






Aci
10-24-2006
Croatia

Krakow is a fascination town; like a place from fairy tales... Highly cultural, intellectual, spiritual.. Do come. You'll fit perfect in here.




Mimi
France
10-24-2006

Hello Helene,

In a recent radio interview you stated your opinion that Beethoven was the first minimalist composer. But ... while listening to the fugue from Bach's Second Sonata (BWV 1003) for solo violin, I was wondering if Bach was the first? He makes a seven minute fugue from two sixteenth notes and eight note.

Je vous embrasse.




PrincePeterofNewYork
06-30-2006

Mon Cherie Amour Helene,

My love is like a red red, rose,
That's newly sprung in June,

My love is like the melody,
that's sweetly played in tune.

As fair tho art, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I,
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas go dry.....

by Robert Burns

Je t'aime pour tous les temps
Pierre

Conversations with Helene Grimaud or through the mystery flower Part Four, said Princess Haiku

Every great artist inspires love, devotion and awakening of true self as does the pianist, Helene Grimaud. I visited her guest book on her web site at Deutschgrammophon and spent a long time perusing her messages.

These intimate conversations with Helene Grimaud, left anonymously by her fans touched my heart. They were a fascinating and poetic outpouring of love, spiritual confession, appreciation and devotion. You can read the original article here and below you will find more of the letters.

I hope that you enjoy them.
Princess Haiku


Conversations with Helene Grimaud:


Fragment
France
04-10-2008

Today, I meditated on the painting below. If you find it interesting it would be a plasure knowing you enjoyed it!

The Awakening Conscience, 1854- Oil on Canvas





KD
Belgium
09-15-2008

You have given to us, complete strangers. You became my twin sister that I would have for inspiration in moments of loneliness and doubt. I listen to your music and the message that I hear is that I'm me. You are more than a musician; you are a channel.




Chrya
Chile
09-14-2008

Helene,

Here is something from my heart.

"Imagination is more important than knowlege. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create."

Albert Einstein, "On Science"





Isle
Ireland
03-05-2008


So, I looked back at Dante
As he is arranging your hair
And we argued back and forth about symbols
And decided before doing the painting
To ask which one of our projections can you tolerate?






Gale
Australia
04-12-2008

Red and White

Your music fills me with emotions that I have never felt before
Tender is dominant, warm is common and determined is full of fire
I would volunteer my time for such a cause.

I love such a Goddess



interlude
Italy

To Helene,

Thank you for your words,
for your life,
for your dreams...

You've touched my soul...

"Voici venir les temps ou vibrant sur sa tige
chaque leur s'evapore ainsi qu'un encesoir;
les sons et les parfumes tournent dans l'air du soir;
valse melancolique et langoreux vertige!"

Harmonie du soir- C. Baudelaire





Pia
Nashville
02-15-2006


Dear Helene,

I have never heard the piano played so expressively. I was overwhelmed by the performance of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy on "Credo." Given your interest in German Romanticism and holistic world views, I'm wondering if you are familiar with the thought of Hegel.

I've often thought that Hegel is the Beethoven of philosophy and Beethoven the Hegel of music. Born in the same year, l1770, they both sought pattern, harmony and redemption in and through a world of conflict, disharmony and suffering. I'm deeply impressed by your range of interests and talents, and the fascinating integrations you work out. I would love to hear you perform. Please come to Nashville...




Lxy
San Francisco
11-29-2006

Dear Madam,

I was at the first Brahms Concerto recital that you gave in San Francisco. This is my favorite concerto and I was touched by your interpretation. My deepest appreciation for your work and art that I think requires the soul.




Angel
France
02-25-2006

I just shut lessons that touched me deeply. Your book is a beacon for the traveler. I feel so close to the quest for absolute meaning. It leads me to conclude the need to give and receive, surrendering, to be guided and to marry the art.




PrincePeterofNewYork
United States
04-08-2008

Mon Cherie Amour Helene,

Tonight in Verbier you played
brilliantly,
lyrically,
superbly,
passionately!

Thank you for this wonderful concert!
I will never forget it!

Je t'aime pour tous temps
Pierre

Alana
USA
07-22-2007

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us and a sleep

by John Keats

Conversations with Helene Grimaud or through the mystery flower Part Three, said Princess Haiku

Every great artist inspires love, devotion and awakening of true self as does the pianist, Helene Grimaud. I visited her guest book on her web site at Deutschgrammophon and spent a long time perusing her messages.

These intimate conversations with Helene Grimaud, left anonymously by her fans touched my heart. They were a fascinating and poetic outpouring of love, spiritual confession, appreciation and devotion. You can read the original article here and below you will find more of the letters.

I hope that you enjoy them.
Princess Haiku


Conversations with Helene Grimaud:





PrincePeterofNewYork
Italy
03-11-2009

Ciao bella Helene,

You are so very special and your most beautiful gift of your piano music to the world, is a reflection of your inner and outer beauty and grace as well.

"More"

More, than the greatest love the world has known,
This is the love I'll give to you alone,
More, than the simple words I try to say,
I only live to love you more each day.

More, than you'll ever know,
My arms long to hold you so,
My life will be in your keeping,
Walking, sleeping, laughing, weeping...

Longer than always is a long, long time,
I know I never lived before,
and my heart is very sure
No one else could love you more!

Ciao for now, Bella Helene,
Pietro
The Beggar Prince!

"More"
English words by Norman Newell
Italian Words by M. Ciorciolini
Music by R. Ortolani and N. Olivero



enigma
Berlin
09-12-2008

I hate it when we disconnet!
Is it my fault?

Today it was so cold I had to wear my gloves
Insulated from the cold wind but not from the electricity
I pushed one of my favored CDs to listen to you.



Dani
Belgium
08-12-2008



Fantastic Helene,

I first listened to your Chaconne from Bach and I adored it fully!



Serg
Russia
03-05-2008

I place a finely tuned Steinway by your window to look outside and express
What you see with your senses, eyes, intuitions and the fires that burn inside
The profiles parade one after the other; an army of poets, sculptors
I see Lord Byron stop... for a while... he vanishes into thick fog
There is an interesting interplay between the eyes rocking
over the keyboard as you create this new melody I love




Amber
Boston
12-24-2006

Dear Helene,
I have this feeling that while you were playing the music it was you. I know I may not be an expert in music but the way it touched my soul is impossible to describe. Let's just say in this one moment music came back into my life.




ZZ
UK
12-20-2006

To Helen

Follow the light,
A heron on the river and then
Return to flying
Happy and spread on the grass
A listen
A sorry end
And in the night
Cross through the eyes the hill
To discover
Where the sun goes to sleep.




Jmz
Amhurst, MA
12-12-2006

Dear Helene,

What a wonderful coincidence that I had to be in the Netherlands to take care of some family matters and that you were playing at the Concertgebou. Your concert this past Sunday with the Gulbenkian Orchestra was truly a magnificent tour de force. Your performance of both the Choral Fantasy and the Beethoven 5th concerto were brilliant and moving. You also did very well reciting the Gide poetry in Persephone; a rarely performed but interesting work. Thank you for a most wonderful evening.

Au revoir et Bonne Chance



Cybele
Italy
12-12-2006

By what mysterious alchemy is your music infused with spirit?

Conversations with Helene Grimaud or through the mystery flower, said Princess Haiku

Every great artist inspires love, devotion and awakening of true self as does the pianist, Helene Grimaud. I visited her guest book on her web site at Deutschgrammophon and spent a long time perusing her messages.

These intimate conversations with Helene Grimaud, left anonymously by her fans touched my heart. They were a fascinating and poetic outpouring of love, spiritual confession, appreciation and devotion.

It seemed wrong to me that these lyrical letters written in the tradition of courtly love would be left in a dark, virtual dead letter office to eventually disappear. Many of the letters are glimmers into intimate recesses of the human heart, for like an archetypal Moon Goddess, Helene's music rides across the night night sky and into the human spirit.

I felt that they deserved to see the light of day and be appreciated for their beauty, charm and authenticity. Whether one is reading the witty and erudite prose of PrincePeterofNew York or the dark despair of Brontian youth in search of their diva anima, or poets inspired by her such as A of Croatia, they deserve to be preserved for their artistic value.

Once a month I will be devoting a special post to these "conversations with Helene Grimaud." Perhaps it is a particular and luminous quality of otherness in la belle, Helene's music that makes it possible for her audience to connect with their deeper selves. I remember writing that Helene was a poet's musician and these letters prove this to be true. Threaded like silver through out them are the words of all who understand the universal language of music.

The postings presented are extracts in many cases of longer conversations. Dates, names and other details have been changed to further protect the anonymity of the original posters.

I hope that you enjoy them as I did.
Princess Haiku




Conversations with Helene:


PrincePeterofNewYork
United Sates
07-11-2008

Mon Cherie Helene,

Bonne Anniversaire!
Pour toi!
Aphrodite by Victor Daley

On a golden dawn in the dawn sublime
Of years ere the stars had ceased to sing,
Beautiful out of the sea-deeps cold,
Aphrodite arose- the flower of Time,
That dear to the day of her blossoming,
The old, old Sea had borne in his heart.
Around her worshipping waves did part
Tremulous-glowing in rose and gold.
And the birds broke forth into singing sweet,
And flowers born scentless breathed perfume:
Softly she smiled upon Man forlorn,
And the music of love in his wild heart beat,
And down to the pit went his gods of gloom,
And earth grew bright and fair as a bride,
And folk in the star- worlds wondering cried-
"Lo, n the skies a new star is born!"

O Beloved, thus on my small world you
Rose, flushing it all with rosy flame!
Changing sad thoughts to a singing throng,
And creating the earth and sky anew!
As Love you appeared- and, lo, you are Fame,
And, all my follies and sins despite,
You yet, Beloved, may see my light-Small, but a star- mid the stars of song.

Bonne Anniversaire!

Je t'aime et je t'adore,
Pierre



Song
Chicago
16-03-2009

The seats were filled with all kinds of people
Mine was filled with me... but a different me
I did not shed a tear... my eyes did not fill with tears
I missed your playing and your smiling face

The piano did not sound like a bell...
I love a Helen who dazzles me with creativity...
I love a Helen who dazzles me with hide and seek
I love a Helen for she hides in the dark ocean
I love Helen like I love Houdini!



Samurai
Japan
10-03-2009

The Samurai is like the water. His mind is in abysmal stillness. When she calls him he doesn't come... When she wants to give he doesn't accept because he's not a beggar... The Samurai understands the meaning of everything she says, even her silence.



Silver
Greece
05-12-2008

Megaron the palace of music in Athens, Greece
I used to go by this building almost daily
I did not known that one day in the future it would be a place to display your talents.

I did not know I would not be present in physical sense
I did not know I could be present in a mental sense wither
I loved your presence and talk before the concert started.
The walk below the Acropolis and the Plaka restaurant we had lunch
A climb to the Erotokritos site not far but only a heavy climb to the foothill.

Love,



Opus
Greece
11-22-2008

My dear Helene,

The theme is "safe and sound"
The frequency is 54.6
Colors are Violet

M twin sister and You
A huntress with bow and arrows
My sculpture on display in Louvre, Paris.

Perhaps you can honor me by playing something
Study my bow and ... play the "spacious dance" songs
I promise when you direct attention this way

Artemis, Kalliste you will discover
More melodic than the sweetest concerto you ever heard
Mnemosyne will help you remember it.

My arrow traveled along the shoreline by the calm blue sea
Missed my brother's Adam's Apple landed on the
white French door below the golden ornate handle.

Come when you can!



AR
Pakistan
10-29-2008

I love watching you in the Helene Grimaud Master Class
The sounds and your explanations have become my secret teacher
Showing me the beauty I can be in every step of my development.



Mav
France
10-16-2008

I cannot tell you how much you touch me with your music... and your wolves.



Lostangel
San Diego
08-10-2008

The letter I received about postponement of your recital in La Jolla, sadly disappointed me. Three times has Southern California been forsaken of your talents. The last concert scheduled in Los Angeles you appeared only then to disappear. After effects of pneumonia. I understand. Not to sound unkind but it's been a series of bath luck. Best of luck to you in your travels.



Stairway
Greece
10-09-2008

Selene, brings the shadows and then the mind fills in the harmonies you think about but do not play.



Mystery
Malta
25-06-2008

You can continue loving her and not tell her. You can send her a love letter each day. You can train your anima to be just like her, and then you will not need her or burden her in any way. You can pray to the goddess of love. First, you must discover whom she likes and then you can bring her along. The archetypes can influence your intended lover. You can do Mantras each day. Stop being arrogant about what you love and ask her to tell you what she loves.



Noangel
Italy
06-06-2008

You can consider yourself free when you are what you've chosen to be.



Flav
Greece

I was very fortunate to get a word with you on a certain score that rings so clear in my mind. I felt like I was handling to you the beginnings of a new idea. I have been working on this score for months with passion and energy.

I read this poem by William Blake that I would like to share with you.

Unless the eye, ear, tongue, heart and mind catch fire
God will not be seen, heard, named, loved and not be known!



Cello
Czech Republic
09-25-2007

I think it should be hard to play in our country's concert halls, became many of the pianos are of a poor quality. The only Fazioli piano is situated at the Academy of Music in Prague and it is so broken and out of tune, that it rests in the corner of the concert hall abandoned.

I hope you'll not think all of the people in CZ are the same and we still want real pianists performing here. I hope that we can look forward to future performances you by in Prague!

Yours sincerely,
17 y.o.





Valentin
Amsterdam
08-09-2007

Musical Key

An explorer at heart is searching for some treasure
perhaps a lost archeological treasure
Or a desire hiding in the dark unconscious
But something right at the tips of her fingers



Eros
San Franciso
06-09-2007

Immortal Beloved
This is such a bold concept

Just like redo
She brings the aromatic breeze that cools the skin
Tantalized the mind and spirit

When the sun sets she arrives
And she is gone when the sun rises
She loves dark Eros the most



Mindful
Greece
05-24-2007

I went back to the book to discover a section where you may have hidden your secret. The secret is what the artist does with their mind. Thanks for the tour!



Imago
UK
10-12-2006

To Helen
Edgar Allan Poe

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The wary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.
Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
the agate lamp within thy hand,
Ah! Psyche, from the region which
Are Holy Land!

on poets and musicians

photo

Poets and musicians are natural inhabitants of the rivers and the winds for their spirit is free..



A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

John Keats

La Belle Helene playing through a long evening, said Princess Haiku

You can listen but can you hear?

Helene Grimaud in "Note by Note; the making of Steinway L 1037 part 10, said Princess Haiku

Fans of Helene Grimaud are in for a treat! The documentary "Note by Note' the making of Steinway 1037" has a wonderful segment in which she performs and discusses the intimate relationship a pianist has with their instrument.

This independent film also includes the razzle and dazzle that is Lang Lang along with other musical notables. You can rent it via netflix.


photo credit

La Belle Helene talking about the Power of Music.


Excerpts From Love Letters to La Belle Helene
special thanks to the anonymous Prince Peter of New York

PrincePeterofNewYork23
United States
07.11.2008
Mon Cherie Helene,

Bonne Anniversaire!
Pour toi !
Aphrodite by Victor Daley

On a golden dawn in the dawn sublime
Of years ere the stars had ceased to sing,
Beautiful out of the sea-deeps cold,
Aphrodite arose - the Flower of Time,
That, dear to the day of her blossoming,
The old, old Sea had borne in his heart.
Around her worshipping waves did part
Tremulous - glowing in rose and gold.
...

O Beloved, thus on my small world you
Rose, flushing it all with rosy flame!
Changing sad thoughts to a singing throng,
And creating the earth and sky anew!
As Love you appeared - and, lo ,you are Fame,
And, all my follies and sins despite,
You yet , Beloved, may see my light -
Small, but a star - mid the stars of song.

Bonne Anniversaire!

Je t'aime et je t'adore,
Pierre


claire
UK
07.11.2008

You remind me of the one who is inside me
Animated in such a way that I can’t resist you
My attention is towards you and your well being


Make me alive, a dancer who effortlessly
spins in a dancing fantasy.





PrincePeterofNewYork25
United States
01.11.2008
Mon Cherie Helene, Pour toi !

Ode to Aphrodite by Sappho

Immortal Aphrodite of the splendid throne,
Daughter of Zeus, weaver of snares,
Great Woman, Grant me this,
Let not my spirit be harnessed by this anguish and affliction,
But come here, by me as you did once before.

On that day,
you've heard my distant voice and, nodding,
you left your father's golden chambers to yoke your
two swift companion birds at your glistening chariot.

They fluttered through the spreading sky
and brought you hurriedly down here
by me,
upon the black soil.

Great Woman!
With a smile on your immortal face you had asked me
then,
about my sighs, what was it that made me call you
yet again?

What was it that my despairing heart wanted you to do
this time?

You asked, "Who is it this time Sappho? Who do you want me
to bring to you ? Who, Sappho, is hurting you now?"

And
at that time, you offered, "Tell me
Sappho who she is and if she turns from you now,
soon,
by me,
she'll be turning towards you;
and if she's not close to you now,
soon,
by me,
she will be -
willingly or not!"

Come to me again now,
Great Woman
and
release me from this great woe;
grant me this, my heart's greatest desire:
Helene Grimaud!
And against all these pains, be my ally !

Mon Cherie Helene, Je t'adore et Je t'aime,
Pierre

Princess Haiku's "to do" List before the Solar Eclipse 2009

Solar Eclipse of 2009
via gumtree


Shining light into the heart of Aquarius
surge of primal and electric energy


To do list before the solar elcipse 2009


1) pull the washtub into the snowy yard to collect returning light
2) leave a dancing snow angel behind, first impressions you know
3) pull hair into elegant chigon with metallic silver comb
4) open a bottle of cranberry fizzy and fill the fountain
5) quick pull off the wrapper of the new yellow folder
6) fetch Helene's mont blanc pen
7) dip into spirit ink
8) write the first ten pages of the new prose novel in silence
7) just wait, just wait, just wait, until the first spill of new light
8) when the selkie pelt rearranges secrets
9) then jump into the white tub
10) and bathe in Aquarian light



History of the Chignon



The chignon can be traced back to Ancient Greece, where Athenian women commonly wore the style with gold or ivory handcrafted hairpins[2]. Athenian men wore the style as well, but they fastened their chignons with a clasp of "golden grasshoppers," according to "The History of the Peloponnesian War," by Thucydides[3]. The chignon was specific to Athens, as other city states, such as Sparta and Cyprus, had their own style of hairdressing. The chignon was also popular in Ancient China, where married women wore the low, knotted hairstyle. Presently, the chignon is still popular because of its association with French elegance.

Princess Haiku is linked to Helene Grimaud's Website

More here.


How nice to discover that I am linked to la Belle Helene's official French website, said Princess Haiku. It's worth a visit as there are great photos and links. Credit for photo above here.

Another link to la Belle Helene is here. Check my archives for reviews that I have written about some of her CD releases.

Below is a reprint of "The Sea Change of Helene Grimaud"

Helene Grimaud, has always been recognized as a gifted pianist and recently gone through a sea change, transforming into a virtuoso of legendary ability. The phrase "sea change" derives from a quotation in Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest," suggesting a profound transformation caused by a remarkable agency or energy.

I had the pleasure of hearing Helene Grimaud's new CD "Reflection" a musical dialog between Robert & Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Grimaud plays with a lightness and subtlety belonging to sea-foam with the force and passion of the ocean beneath. Her interpretation incarnates the spirit of these composers. As I listened to Robert Schumann's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, waves parted with color as they did for Marc Chagall. I listened with a poetic mind, as consciousness spilled forth from a keyboard; auditory moonlight reflecting upon minnows darting in and out of the sky's eye.

So intimately, does Grimaud understand Brahms in his Sonata for Piano and Violoncello no. 1 in E minor, that she evokes him as one would a beloved; effortlessly and without self-consciousness. In the music of- Brahms Two Rhapsodies for Piano, Helene Grimaud removes herself so completely as pianist, as an intermediary, that she becomes the music.

"Reflections" is for everyone; the consummate music professional seeking extreme virtuosity, a poet such as myself seeking music to awaken the spirit or anyone who enjoys beautiful music. I suggest that you add this CD to your collection for Helene Grimaud will soon be recognized as a legendary artist.

La Belle Helene Grimaud, Conjures Beethoven

Conjuring Beethoven!

The virtuosity of La Belle Helene Grimaud conjures the spirit of Ludwig Van Beethoven in her stellar new Deutsche Grammophon recording of Beethoven: concerto no.5 “Emperor”/piano sonata no. 28 with Vladimir Jurowski.

Heaven and earth are joined in this CD; a fiery tempest of power, magnetism and human endeavor. It is to the discretion of the listener to follow the music into a ghostly, melancholic, introspection that bursts as a dark flower suddenly into realization or to succumb to an auditory opiate of other worldly beauty.

The “battlefield” or Opus in Grimaud’s narrative of Beethoven’s no. 5, is personal. Grimaud informs us, “I think that the real idea of Beethoven’s music is to be found where the extremes collide. It’s not about hollow pathos or empty, unquestioning, marching heroism...”

Grimaud’s new Beethoven recording was named one of the top CDs of 2007. I waited forever for this CD to be released in local stores and now wish I had ordered it months ago, direct from Deutsche Grammophon.

Grimaud creates a vortex in her interpretation, with the fusion of pathos and sound. It is the shades and colors of feeling engaged in the text of her understanding of Beethoven that becomes the revelation of spirit. Grimaud has been called “a philosopher at the concert grand” but to me she is a poet’s musician and plays to the heart. Perhaps herein lies the intimate and empathic genius of her virtuosity.

Princess Haiku you have waited too long for this music, she thought. But upon hearing the new Beethoven Recording she knew the time was well spent. After all how often are we able to keep solace with the great master?

Thank you La Belle Helene.