Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Last weekend, Sandy and I went to a very pleasant concert given by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra to welcome their new artistic partner, soprano Dawn Upshaw. The program, directed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, included songs by Stravinsky, Mozart and Ravel, as well as a Mozart Piano Concerto (No.23) and a Haydn Symphony (No.60). I find his playing to be quite exceptional: the perfect marriage of masterly technique and artistic expression. Highlights for me were the Mozart concerto and the Ravel songs (Three Poems by Stéphane Mallarmé). After the concert, we attended a reception in the Saint Paul Hotel where we had the pleasure of talking to Pierre at some length about piano music, opera and sundry other topics.