Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 14 — Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Host Ella Lee chats with Pierre-Laurent about his new recording of Schubert Ländler and more

Launched this year, Ella Lee’s classical music podcast, “Classical Circuit” explores the intricacies of the classical music industry, and all that comes with working in it. Hailing from across the profession, the podcast guests discuss their careers and personal opinions.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is widely known as an authority figure in contemporary music and for shedding new light on past music. His international concert career has already spanned several decades, with an enormous discography to boot, all of which he has carried out alongside a dedicated commitment to teaching. In 1973, at the age of 16, he won first prize in the Messiaen Competition. Three years later, he was invited by Pierre Boulez to be the first solo pianist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. In addition to Boulez, he has collaborated very closely with leading composers like Kurtag, Birtwhistle, Ligeti, and Messiaen, having given countless world premieres throughout his career.

In this episode, Pierre-Laurent talks about his new recording of Schubert Ländler, what he learned from Ligeti and Messiaen, what we expect from performers as members of an audience, and why he’s not actually *that* taken with the piano world.