Remember Lang Lang’s DG release entitled ‘Memory’ (7/06), mostly centred around repertoire evocative of childhood recollections? Hélène Grimaud’s latest DG release is also called ‘Memory’. In her case the subtext is mindfulness. But you don’t need booklet notes to understand the care and intelligence with which these short and introspective works are programmed and performed.

A bagatelle by Valentin Silvestrov provides a gentle, almost hesitant opening that dovetails easily into Debussy’s Arabesque No 1. The Debussy’s sunny E major tonality contrasts with another brooding Silvestrov bagatelle in E minor. Its dark, rolling left-hand accompaniment, in turn, relates to that in Satie’s Gnossienne No 4, where Grimaud’s phrasing of the evocative right-hand melody takes on a shimmering, disembodied aura. She retains this fragile and austere sound world at the start of Chopin’s E minor Op 72 Nocturne, releasing its turbulent undertones in gradual increments. She adapts a similar interpretative plan for Chopin’s Mazurka, Op 17 No 4, and Debussy’s La plus que lente, ranging from veiled understatement to aching intensity. In the case of the Mazurka, however, Grimuad’s dynamic build-up in the coda seems forced and unnatural, not emerging from what came before.

In contrast to the push/pull rubato of Satie’s Gnossienne No 1, Grimaud makes the famous Gymnopédie No 1’s interpretative points through colour and touch alone. Although Chopin’s A minor Waltz veers on the slow and episodic, Grimaud’s textural richness and sustained phrasing compensate. She plays the hackneyed ‘Clair de lune’ with simplicity, proportion and ravishing nuance, while Rêverie’s fullness of tone fills the room more so than in the work’s typical cameo-oriented readings. As for the final selection, I find this solo-piano version of Nitin Sawhney’s Breathing Light far more appealing and artistically fulfilling than in the rather cheesy quasi-New Age arrangement I stumbled upon via YouTube.

I may offend Grimaud’s artistic vision by saying this disc is perfect for calm background music or a massage session. Yet when you pull up a comfy chair in a quiet room and listen to this disc with concentration and undivided attention, you’ll be well rewarded.