Pianist Hélène Grimaud’s Astonishing Artistry

Of budding young piano virtuosos there is surely no shortage. The number of promising performers who understand how to program creatively, however, remains distressingly small. Hélène Grimaud’s stunning Thursday (Dec. 1) recital for the La Jolla Music Society could easily serve as a master class in insightful programming . . .

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A Spiritual Journey With Messiaen As Guide

Among the few pivotal works of chamber music from the first half of the last century, nothing touches Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” for its combination of radical technique and sumptuous beauty. Written under grim conditions—in 1941 the composer was a prisoner-of-war in a German stalag near Dresden—it is nevertheless an audacious…

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