Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard joins forces with the San Francisco Symphony and Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen for a recording of Bartok’s complete piano concertos. A pianist himself, Bartok imbued his three concertos with multiple aspects of his compositional persona, ranging from complex and innovative (the First) to exuberant (the Second) and serene (the Third). The result is a fascinating slice of his musical life. This all-Bartok release marks the first Pentatone collaboration between Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony, an ensemble he has reshaped through creative performance concepts and expansive new media projects.

A renowned champion of twentieth-century music, Pierre-Laurent Aimard has released multiple acclaimed albums in his exclusive contract with Pentatone, including Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux (2018) and Visions de l’Amen (2022), along with Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata & Eroica Variations (2021). He also joined Tamara Stefanovich in Etudes and Frames (2023), with music by Vassos Nicolaou. Salonen returns to the label for the first time since his recording of Stravinsky’s Persephone (2018); the San Francisco Symphony previously appeared on the 2005 Pentatone release Young America.

Reviews

BBC Music Magazine December 2023

“There is much playing here of a clarity, velocity and exactitude that can make the jaw drop, and he, Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony seem to be on the same conceptual page throughout. Nevertheless, at times the result comes across as somewhat clinical. – 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 3 out of 5 stars (Recording)

Gramophone Magazine November 2023

“Clean textures and effortless fluency might have been expected from the present line-up but not a subtler magic, the stylistic contrast they make between scores to reflect their place in the composer’s timeline.

Sunday Times 24th September 2023

“As Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony sweep thrillingly into the First Piano Concerto’s Allegro, Pierre-Laurent Aimard luxuriates in the space they leave him on a superbly recorded disc. Everything is clear, weighted, precise, fluent, revelatory…“Definitive” is a daft word to use about an interpretation. How can we truly know? But superlative this absolutely is. – 5 out of 5 stars