Schumann & Grieg: Piano Concertos; Leif Ove Andsnes | Leif Ove Andsnes, Edvard Grieg, ... |...

Schumann & Grieg: Piano Concertos; Leif Ove Andsnes | Leif Ove Andsnes, Edvard Grieg, ... | The Gift and the Passage of Time

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Schumann & Grieg: ...

	Schumann & Grieg: Piano Concertos; Leif Ove Andsnes Leif Ove Andsnes, Edvard Grieg, ... EMI Classics, 2003 average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Many great pianists have already recorded this now-traditional coupling. Having proven himself to belong in the company of the greats, Andsnes now gets his chance. He has a decided viewpoint on this music, stressing the lyrical elements with some gorgeous tone and phrasing, yet capturing plenty of drive and excitement when required. Jansons seems to challenge his soloist with very energetic readings of the orchestral parts: lots of tympani and broad dynamic contrasts. The collaboration works quite well, and if you don't already have half a dozen CDs with this coupling already in your collection, this one is definitely worth considering. It does have a couple of minor handicaps, though. EMI passed up the opportunity to fill the blank 20 minutes of the disc with some solo music by these composers, and the recorded sound, while well balanced, seems somewhat dull and lacking in presence. --Leslie Gerber

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Suspicious

I can't help questioning the intention of one of the reviewers named Dag Johansen. He is proactively reviewing most of Andsnes' CDs and giving them very poor rating. In fact, all he is reviewing are Andsnes', no other.
I don't mind that if it is truly his honest opinion but there's something fishy here... why does he keep buying Andsnes' CDs if he hates his playing so much? It's as if he is trying to damage the artist's reputation... Shady....

I have not actully heard this CD or any of Andsnes'. Just felt I needed to report on this.

The Gift and the Passage of Time

Leif Ove Andsnes is wisely pacing his career with recordings not only of varied repertoire and dividing his time with solo collections, chamber ensembles, and collaborations (the magnificent Schubert 'Winterreise' with Ian Bostridge recording, for a fine example!), but he seems to be marking his maturity with repeated recordings of works he has championed. This stunning recoding of the Grieg Piano Concerto benefits enormously from the collaboration with Mariss Jansons and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Recorded live, the sound of this CD is lush and velvety smooth, quite in keeping with Andsnes richly flowing Grieg. This is the quality of commitment to the Grieg that he is currently stunning audiences at the Los Angeles Philharmonic performances. The added pleasure of the Schumann Piano Concerto rounds out a performance that deservedly won the Gramophone Award for Best Concerto category. This is as fine as it gets and should be part of every collection despite the possible duplications of these two works. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05

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Energy, youth and poetry in an unsurpassable recording

I must admit I was sceptical at first when I heard that Andsnes was releasing this new CD of the Grieg and Schumann concertos. As much as I feared that this might be a run-of-the-mill performance, I found I was very well pleased with the result. Although I own the Lupu CD of these kindred souls of piano concertos (and found them perfectly balanced), I soon found that this Andsnes version runs rings around all the other versions I have heard so far. No matter what other people say, Andsnes is a superb pianist who gives well-rounded and balanced accounts of these two concertos, backed by punchy accompaniment from Jansons and the Berliners, and a sumptuous EMI recording that lacks a little in detail and clarity.

The Grieg concerto starts out with a punchy first movement, energetic and poetic, as if Andsnes and Jansons are setting sparks off at each other. Andsnes' opening flourish is firm and weighty, but he counterbalances it with a due sense of poetry in the quieter sections of the movement. The slow movement is meditative but it never drags the concerto, and Andsnes, true to his Norweigan roots, really relishes the dance-like finale. In the secondary theme of the finale he is given excellent support by the winds, especially the flautist, in evoking the Norweigan fjords that might have inspired this music. The Schumann is a beautifully renderred version, and Andsnes taps more into his poetic gifts here. One hears a continuous forward momentum in this work that I tend to find sorely lacking in other recordings. Andsnes conveys a strength and a vulnerability crucial in this piece, and the first movement really stands out. The Intermezzo ably bridges the first movement and the finale, and one can hear a joie de vivre here.

In short, I would recommend this disc to every lover of classical music and especially piano music, no matter how many other versions of these concertos you have. I think that even though I disagree with most music critics, this was well-deserving of the Rosette and the Gramophone Editor's Choice that it garnered.

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Leif ove excellent

Another super classic album from Leif ove, great performance and clarity of notes a great cd to add to your collection

Creative content-editing...

The recording of Grieg' music is painfully beautiful. Not less painfull is to discover the same on a newly issued Andsnes CD (Ballad for Edvard Grieg).
The artist played the said concerto in 1990 earning great success. I thought two different EMI-Classic CD should contain different recordings...
I'll be more careful next time!

reviews: page 1, 2

Tracks
I. Allegro molto moderato | II. Adagio | III. Allegro moderato e marcato | I. Allegro affettuoso | II. Intermezzo (Andantino grazioso) | III. Allegro vivace

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