Pianist Helene Grimaud to perform in Seoul Arts Center

In 1991, pianist Helene Grimaud found a wild wolf collapsed on a lonely road in the suburbs of Florida. "I felt as if an electricity was flowing in my body," she said. Exhausted due to repeated performances, Grimaud could get an energy boost from her countering the wolf. In 1996, he established a wolf protection center in New York and has been acting on behalf since then.

Known as a pianist who raises wolf, Grimaud is performing on May 7 at the Seoul Arts Center. This is her third performance in Korea, following her 2009 and 2013 concerts. The Dong-A Ilbo interviewed her on April 27 through telephone.

"Korean audience have an enthusiastic heart and are sophisticated. They are also impulsive and honest," the French classical pianist said. "In the past two performances we shared communion."

Grimaud is called a beautiful pianist, wolf's mother and convergence artist. But she believes honesty is the most important thing in her life and music.

"In order to deliver the best music to the audience, I should devote 100 percent while I perform. I also have to deliver that I love and trust them 200 percent," she said. "To accomplish that, I have to be honest in life and music. This is to deliver things as they are."

"Concert should deliver a sense that time has stopped," Grimaud said while concluding her interview. "I hope to deliver such instant magic here in Seoul."

Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com