The Messenger

In this fascinating programme, pianist Hélène Grimaud contrasts and complements three of Mozart’s most anguished, tempestuous works with the serene, crystalline textures of Silvestrov. Pain and healing, conflict and resolution. Silvestrov’s shimmering “The Messenger”, a work that eyes the past through a modern lens, is a calm release after the angst and fury of Mozart’s tormented Fantasia No. 4 in C Minor, played with an almost primeval spirit, while the Wagnerian Two Dialogues with Postscript act as a restorative, a journey’s end. At the heart of Grimaud’s album sits Mozart’s Beethovenian Piano Concerto No. 20, itself a dazzling work of emotional extremes with its exquisite central “Romance” providing a foil to its tormented, tragic outer movements.