Alexandre Tharaud, who appears in Amour (Love), the film by Michael Haneke that won the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, plays works from the soundtrack.

Amour won the supreme prize at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d’Or. It tells the story of an elderly Parisian couple, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. They are both distinguished music teachers and their star pupil, a pianist, is played by none other than Alexandre Tharaud, making his movie debut. He performs music by Schubert, Beethoven and Bach (arranged by Busoni) and this CD complements the soundtrack items with further pieces by Schubert and Beethoven.

Michael Haneke’s previous films include The Piano Teacher (which, like Amour features leading French actress Isabelle Huppert). The Guardian described Amour as “a moving, terrifying and uncompromising drama of extraordinary intimacy and intelligence ... This is film-making at the highest pitch of intelligence and insight. Haneke's mastery and supremacy have resounded here in Cannes like an orchestral chord.”