Some will tax this CD with opportunism. But it had to exist and it was right that Hélène Grimaud gave it to us. The French pianist became interested in Silvestrov long before the military aggression against the country of the Ukrainian national composer. However, as we wrote a year ago, the work that forged Silvestrov’s style and timeless universe, his quest for the rarefaction of sound, is Silent Songsa collection of melodies composed between 1974 and 1977. With the baritone Konstantin Krimmel, Hélène Grimaud has chosen twelve, as a sort of Schwanengesang (collection which is not a cycle) from the East. Faced with the incredible and hypnotic whispered version of Alexei Martinov and Alexei Lubimov, Krimmel and Grimaud choose to normalize the silent songs : beautiful timbre and healthy baritone voice and very present piano. Who is right ? Only the composer knows this, but he gives us clues, reproduced in Tatiana Frumkis’ notice, which strongly suggests that Martinov and Lubimov are right.
Click here for an excerpt.
To see in video