From Rob Cowan’s Gramophone review…
“It’s interesting that for Pierre Boulez, Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto is ‘the Cinderella of the family’, and doubly interesting given the recorded evidence, where Boulez and Hélène Grimaud turn prince and princess for the most memorable outing the work has had in years. Grimaud relishes Bartók’s solo writing (try the luscious de-synchronising chords from 3’28” into the first movement). Then there’s the way she can suddenly reduce the volume and body of her tone – at 4’13” into the second movement, for example, just before the high violins return (playing with the greatest purity). The woodwind birdsong at the centre of the Adagio sings out to a keen staccato; the timps and bass drum in the finale are wonderfully vivid.”