The French pianist, Alexandre Tharaud, graduated from the Conservatoire Nat… Read Full Bio ↴The French pianist, Alexandre Tharaud, graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and started his international career in earnest when he won the 2nd Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich.

As a soloist, Alexandre Tharaud has appeared with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Taïwan National Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Yutaka Sado, Jean Fournet, Marc Minkowski, Stéphane Denève, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Georges Prêtre. During the 2005-2006 season, Alexandre performed both Mozart No 21 K467 and Ravel concertos extensively, including with the St Gallen Orchestra in Switzerland, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Alexandre Tharaud's concert schedule has resulted in challenging projects such as performances of Kagel’s music at the Cité de la Musique and for the ‘Octobre en Normandie’ festival; a Satie programme with a singer and a narrator which he has presented for four seasons at the Palais des Beaux-Arts/Philharmonie in Brussels; and commissions from young composers for a ‘Hommage à Rameau’ solo programme, which he regularly performs all over Europe (Prague, Madrid, Utrecht, Paris, Tallinn). He gave solo recitals at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Bern’s Casino (MeisterZyklus series), ‘Piano aux Jacobins’, La Roque d’Anthéron, BBC PROMS, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Prague Music Academy and Museo de la Reina Sofia in Madrid, and toured the United States (Miller Theatre in New York, Washington Performing Arts Series) to great acclaim. Alexandre also performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Théâtre de Vevey, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and will, next season, play Rameau and Couperin at the Philharmonie in Cologne.

Alexandre Tharaud is also a fine exponent of chamber music: he has given concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein, Brighton, Warwick and Norfolk festivals and at venues such as Bamberger Konzerthalle, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Köln Philharmonie, Louisiana Museum, Brussels Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall and the South Bank.

An outstanding soloist as well as a fine chamber musician, Alexandre Tharaud has dedicated much of his time to French music. His recording, dedicated to Jean-Philippe Rameau's Nouvelles Pièces de Clavecin for Harmonia Mundi, received great critical acclaim and resulted in invitations for performances internationally. His following release, Ravel’s complete works for solo piano (including two world premieres), was greeted with the best awards from the press (Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros 2003, Diapason d’Or de l'Année, CHOC du Monde de la Musique, Recommandé de Classica and 10 de Répertoire, Pick of the Month-BBC Music Magazine, Stern des Monats-Fono Forum, Best CD of the year - de Standaard) and the CD dedicated to Bach’s Italian Concerti has received unanimous international ovation including an ‘E’ for excellent in the Spanish magazine Scherzo and a CHOC du Monde de la Musique. His latest release brings new life to Chopin's Waltzes and is especially recommended in the August issue of Gramophone: “Aristocratic and sensuous – a young master of the keyboard delivers Chopin playing in the finest French tradition.”

Hungaria
Alexandre Tharaud Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You′re a good girl
The perfect picture of an angel's smile
From a magazine

But it′s a new world
And I know somewhere the side of you
No one's ever seen

Hey now baby,
No doubt about it, girl
You drive me crazy

I'm pleading guilty to the way you make me
Wanna steal your heart
Steal your heart

Call me criminal
I won′t deny you make me want it all,
Everything you are

So lock it up
Go on and try it
No matter what you do
I′m gonna steal your heart

I confess,
I kinda like it that you're innocent
Keeping up your guard

I′ll break it down
So you can't hide it

No matter what you do
I′m gonna steal your heart

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of this song, written by John Stephens and Toby Gad and beautifully performed by Alexandre Tharaud, deal with the theme of attraction and pursuit. The opening lines, "You’re a good girl, the perfect picture of an angel’s smile from a magazine," portrays the woman in the song as innocent and pure, almost like a picture. However, John then acknowledges that there's another side of her that nobody has ever seen, indicating that she's perhaps more complex than portrayed. He admits that her innocent and perfect exterior drives him crazy, and he cannot deny how much he wants to have her all. He promises that he will "steal her heart," no matter how hard she tries to resist.

As the lyrics progress, we see that John is enjoying the chase as he kind of likes that the woman is innocent but is also determined to unlock her guarded heart. He is ready to be called a criminal because he knows he won't deny that the woman is making him want to have everything that she is. The line, "I’ll break it down, so you can’t hide it," depicts John trying to break through her defenses and steal her heart, and will stop at nothing.

Overall, the lyrics explore the theme of desire, attraction, and the want for something unattainable. The lyrics are very symbolic, and metaphoric, beautifully expressed by Alexandre Tharaud.

Line by Line Meaning

You're a good girl
You are a virtuous person

The perfect picture of an angel's smile
You have a faultless and angelic appearance

From a magazine
Your look is so captivating that it is worthy to be featured in a magazine

But it's a new world
However, things have changed

And I know somewhere the side of you
I am aware that there is a side of you

No one's ever seen
That nobody has ever witnessed

Hey now baby,
Hey there, my dear

No doubt about it, girl
I have no doubt about it, girl

You drive me crazy
You make me go insane

I'm pleading guilty to the way you make me
I accept my guilt that you have made me feel this way

Wanna steal your heart
I want to capture your heart