This photo was taken of Hélène Grimaud just before she embarked on recording sessions this week of Brahms’ Piano Concerto no.2 with the Vienna Philharmonic and Andris Nelsons in the legendary Musikverein.

The epic concerto is a work which Hélène added to her repertoire this autumn and the new release, which will be coupled with Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 which she recorded with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, will be released in the Autumn of 2013 on Deutsche Grammophon.

Meanwhile Hélène is about to embark on a tour with the Vienna Philharmonic and Nelsons performing the Brahms second in Munich (22 Nov), Paris (23 Nov) and Vienna (25 Nov).

Brahms will also feature strongly in Hélène’s upcoming tour of the Far East which kicks off on 5th January in Shanghai with a performance of both Brahms’ 1st and 2nd concertos in the same programme. She goes on to perform the 2nd piano concerto in Singapore on 12 January and then joins David Zinman and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan in Tokyo (16 and 17 Jan), Ashikaga City (19 Jan) and Iwaki (20 Jan) followed by her debut in Kuala Lumpur performing the 2nd piano concerto with the Malaysian symphony Orchestra.

Throughout the tour Hélène will also perform in recital in Beijing (9 Jan), Hong Kong (22 Jan) Macau (26 Jan), Seoul (29 Jan).