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A pianist whose playing tells stories, that’s Pierre-Laurent Aimard. But few of these stories come from a book of fairy tales. What Aimard describes are the musical surprises that confront Mozart’s listeners and pianists, or how the algorithmic, mathematical structures of Pierre Boulez’s piano works can assume ecstatic properties, or how the birthday formulas in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Klavierstück XIV become the key to an almost magical ritual. In his introductions, which have become extremely popular, the French pianist – who, incidentally, speaks excellent German – stimulates and activates the listening process by providing fascinating but objective information. This creates an ideal framework for his performances, in which Aimard’s virtuosity and poetic sensitivity consistently enthral audiences.
Pierre-Laurent Aimard was born in Lyon in 1957. At the age of twelve he met Olivier Messiaen and became a pupil of the composer’s wife, pianist Yvonne Loriod. In 1973 he won the International Messiaen Prize and quickly attained the status of the composer’s most important interpreter. He was on hand in 1976 when Pierre Boulez founded the Ensemble Intercontemporain. For 18 years – playing not only the piano but also the harpsichord, celesta, synthesizer, glockenspiel and organ – he was a regular member of this extraordinary ensemble which specializes in music of the 20th century. Along with brand-new works (some dedicated to him), Aimard has never given up performing the music of Mozart, Beethoven and other classical composers. When he embarked on a solo career at the end of the 1990s, he created a small sensation in the classical world. Numerous conductors, orchestras and musical ensembles queued up to work with him. (Perhaps the most beautiful examples of these collaborations to date are his concerto recordings with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.) They value the clarity of his playing, in which sensuousness emerges from an analytical foundation.
Aimard devotes his attention to the new, the as-yet unheard, placing himself in the service of this phenomenon. He is undaunted by any demands of technical or musical virtuosity. After absorbing a score, he will seek a final burst of inspirational impetus from conversations with the composer (or from studying the literature). Then, as he sits at the piano on a concert platform, either as soloist (alone or with an orchestra) or, no less happily, as chamber musician, all the strenuous preparation gives rise to a performance full of relish and elation. With his head buried in the music, Aimard gives the impression of experiencing everything contained within it during the very act of performing (at times even conveying this in his facial expressions): joy, pain, astonishment or humour.
The virtuosity and emotionality of Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Berliner Phiharmoniker under Kent Nagano riveted their audience in March 2000 when they performed Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony. Not surprisingly, after realizing Messiaen’s gigantic conception together to such exhilarating effect and with such sensitivity, the partners will be continuing their collaboration. And so Pierre-Laurent Aimard will be featured in the Berliner Philharmoniker’s 2006.2007 season as the orchestra’s fourth pianist in residence, giving a solo recital, three chamber-music concerts, a concert with participants of the Orchestra Academy, and finally, making three appearances as soloist in a programme with the orchestra.
