Leif Ove Andsnes - Grieg: Lyric Pieces (2023)

Tracklist

01. Lyric Pieces, Book 1, Op. 12: No. 1, Arietta
02. Lyric Pieces, Book 1, Op. 12: No. 2, Waltz
03. Lyric Pieces, Book 1, Op. 12: No. 6, Norwegian Melody
04. Lyric Pieces, Book 1, Op. 12: No. 5, Popular Melody
05. Lyric Pieces, Book 2, Op. 38: No. 8, Canon
06. Lyric Pieces, Book 2, Op. 38: No. 6, Elegy
07. Lyric Pieces, Book 2, Op. 38: No. 7, Waltz
08. Lyric Pieces, Book 4, Op. 47: No. 3, Melody
09. Lyric Pieces, Book 5, Op. 54: No. 3, March of the Dwarfs
10. Lyric Pieces, Book 5, Op. 54: No. 4, Notturno
11. Lyric Pieces, Book 6, Op. 57: No. 2, Gade
12. Lyric Pieces, Book 6, Op. 57: No. 3, Illusion
13. Lyric Pieces, Book 6, Op. 57: No. 6, Homesickness
14. Lyric Pieces, Book 7, Op. 62: No. 6, Homeward
15. Lyric Pieces, Book 7, Op. 62: No. 4, Brooklet
16. Lyric Pieces, Book 7, Op. 62: No. 5, Phantom
17. Lyric Pieces, Book 7, Op. 62: No. 1, Sylph
18. Lyric Pieces, Book 9, Op. 68: No. 5, At the Cradle
19. Lyric Pieces, Book 8, Op. 65: No. 6, Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
20. Lyric Pieces, Book 9, Op. 68: No. 4, Evening in the Mountains
21. Lyric Pieces, Book 9, Op. 68: No. 3, At Your Feet
22. Lyric Pieces, Book 10, Op. 71: No. 2, Summer Evening
23. Lyric Pieces, Book 10, Op. 71: No. 6, Gone
24. Lyric Pieces, Book 10, Op. 71: No. 7, Remembrances

Was so lovely a recording of such sweet-souled music expected from modernist virtuoso Leif Ove Andsnes? Was it expected that the sharp-cornered and hard-edged Andsnes -- the player whose Schumann is tart, whose Brahms is bitter, whose Chopin is cruel -- could have played Grieg's delightful and delectable Lyric Pieces with such beauty of tone, gentleness of touch, suppleness of phrasing, and such deep and abiding affection? Sure. Andsnes has recorded works of Grieg before, notably on a splendid disc of Lyric Pieces for Virgin, and this EMI recording of more Lyric Pieces is cut from the same soft, silken cloth. But as splendid as that disc was, this one is even better. Not only has Andsnes matured as a player -- listen to his restraint even in such showstoppers as March of the Trolls -- but he is playing Grieg's piano in Grieg's living room in his home at Troldhaugen. In other words, he is playing the instrument upon which these pieces were written played in the room in which they were written. Grieg's Steinway is a mellow-toned instrument with a singing middle range and a ringing upper register, and it perfectly suits his music. As do Andsnes' performances. From the early delicate Arietta (1867) through the sensuous Notturno (1883) and the aching Homesickness (1893) to the shimmering Evening in the Mountains (1898), Andsnes seems in complete sympathy with Grieg's exquisite miniatures. And when Grieg does ask for virtuoso technique as in the rapturously joyous Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Andsnes, the model of a modernist virtuoso, tears through it with ecstatic abandon.

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