Leif Ove Andsnes - Geirr Tveitt (2026) [Hi-Res]

It was a bit of a bold move when Leif Ove Andsnes decided to program Geirr Tveitt's Piano Sonata No. 29 'Sonate etere' in 35 concerts across Europe and North America in 2024 and 2025. However, in Andsnes' words, it is "the most ambitious solo piano piece by any Norwegian composer", and bold move or not, audiences went wild for it and his Carnegie Hall performance of Geirr Tveitt's Sonata No. 29 was hailed as one of the 'Best Classical Performances of 2025' by The New York Times.

On this album, Andsnes pairs the sonata with a selection of solo piano works from Fifty Folk Tunes from Hardanger, Op. 150 and a selection of Tveitt's Songs that he performs together with his sister, singer Solveig Andsnes. In 1970, a devastating fire destroyed Geirr Tveitt's house and an estimated 300 compositions burnt to ashes. Roughly 80% of his oeuvre was lost forever, including all of the piano sonatas he wrote except for Sonata No. 29 'Sonata etere'. This sonata only survived because it had been sent to Norsk Musikkforlag to be published. In Andsnes' words, the Sonata "is a gigantic piece of music built on two simple melodies with many variations. It is a tough piece to play, but very rewarding. With Russian rhythmic influences combined with touches of French music and folk music, Tveitt really is in a world all his own. It is fantastically colourful in its writing for the instrument, full of tension in its architecture, harmony, and rhythm."

The album also includes a selection of solo piano pieces from Femti folkatonar frao Hardanger (Fifty Folk Tunes from Hardanger). The Songs, in which he fuses folk elements with modernist harmonic language, are set to poetry by leading Norwegian poets of Tveitt's era. The Norwegian lyrics are included in the booklet of the album, but unfortunately an official English translation only exists for one of these nine poems.