Hélène Grimaud

She sees music as colours, has founded a wolf conservation centre and written four books. Hélène Grimaud is not your average classical soloist. Since 2002, the French pianist has been bagging one prize after another with her albums for Deutsche Grammophon. Besides Rachmaninov, Brahms and Satie, Beethoven is a firm favourite. His highly demanding Piano Sonata no. 32 from 1822 is one of his last piano compositions, with a reflective series of variations that follow a stormy opening section. Schubert is the glaring absence from Grimaud's discography, although he wrote a considerable oeuvre for solo piano as well as his Lieder. Grimaud plays his Piano Sonata D 960, the last piano piece that Schubert wrote, just six years after Beethoven. Grimaud juxtaposes the two highly individual composers in their black-and-white keyed swansongs.