Album

Credo by Hélène Grimaud is one of the most effectively sequenced discs ever released. The movement from the hazy postmodernism of John Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato for solo piano and the passionate Romanticism of Beethoven's Tempest Sonata for solo piano, then on through the Enlightenment ecstasy of Beethoven's Choral Fantasia for piano solo, orchestra, and chorus, and culminating in the nihilist excesses of Arvo Pärt's massive Credo for piano solo, orchestra, and chorus, is musically and dramatically overwhelming. Individually, the effectiveness of her performances is debatable. Is her Corigliano Fantasia melancholy and pensive or slightly narcissistic? Is her Beethoven Tempest individualistically radical or almost eccentric? Is her Beethoven Choral Fantasia with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Swedish Radio Choir brilliantly postmodern or just strange? And is Grimaud and Salonen's Pärt Credo anything but a metaphor for life itself: mostly boring, sometimes unbearable, and occasionally very beautiful? Taken all together as a single aesthetic act, Grimaud's Credo is nevertheless completely compelling while it's happening, and what more can one ask of a work of art? Deutsche Grammophon's sound has never been more translucent and immediate.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1
John Corigliano Composer Fantasia on an Ostinato Work Hélène Grimaud Piano
1	Fantasia on an Ostinato	12:04			$1.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.17 in D-, Op.31, No.2 ('Tempest') Work 21:57 Hélène Grimaud Piano
2	1.Largo. Allegro	8:20			$1.49
3	2.Adagio	7:38			$1.49
4	3.Allegretto	5:59			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Choral Fantasy in C-, for piano, chorus, and orchestra, Op.80 Work 19:02 Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen Conductor, Hélène Grimaud Piano, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Lone Larsen Chorus/Choir Director
5	1.Adagio	3:36			$0.99
6	2a.Finale: Allegro; 2b.Finale: Meno allegro; 2c.Finale: Adagio ma non troppo; 2d.Finale: Marcia assai vivace	15:26			$2.49
Arvo Pärt Composer Credo, for chorus, piano, and orchestra Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen Conductor, Hélène Grimaud Piano, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Lone Larsen Chorus/Choir Director
7	Credo, for chorus, piano, and orchestra	15:16			$2.49