This is a disc of consolidation. The Concerto was recorded back
in 2002. Six of the Lyric Pieces were taped the previous year
– but the Ballade is newly recorded. In any case Andsnes is no
stranger to this repertoire as he’s recorded three books of the
Lyric Pieces and back in 1990 tackled the Concerto for Virgin,
coupled with the Liszt A major Concerto.
So we have here
two reissues and a newly minted recording. I’ll save the Ballade
for last as I think it undoubtedly the finest achievement here,
indeed one of the best recordings of the piece ever committed
to disc. About the Concerto however I have reservations. There’s
strength and bravura in abundance – rather too much so at times
– but there are also rather maudlin, even sentimentalised episodes
that stretch the range of the concerto past breaking point.
Jansons seems to have imbibed too strongly from Karajan’s Berlin
cup as well – his conducting of the slow movement is presented
in so swoony, exaggerated and arch a style that I found it difficult
to listen through it to the many undoubted orchestral felicities
served up by the Berlin Philharmonic. The finale certainly starts
with a vengeance but the lyric heartland of the movement is
just a touch overdone – and once more the concerto shakes on
its axis. How surprising then that after all this the close
is so blustery and lacking in nobility and grandeur. Splendidly
recorded it may be but this is really not much of a contender
and is inferior as a cohesive performance to the pianist’s previous
outing of it on disc.
The Lyric Pieces
are played on the composer’s own Steinway B in the Drawing Room
of the Edvard Grieg Museum in Troldhaugen. The piano doesn’t
have a great deal of colouration but Andsnes manages to draw
from it a rich variety of inflections and subtleties. His playing
is poetic and imaginative fusing the melancholic with the folkloric
with just appreciation of the aptness of things. His playing
remains unexaggerated – would that that had been the case with
the Concerto – and whilst he doesn’t efface, say, Gilels in
this selection he proves a worthy guide.
The Ballade however
is what elevates this disc. It’s a superb performance of a very
tricky piece to gauge. He plays the rather angular Norwegian
folk tune with incipient introspection and a feeling of growing
gravity. It’s a performance of commanding sweep and tremendous
brio in the sprightlier dance variations and he manages to balance
refinement with bravura, sure pacing with control of incident.
If you’re familiar with the old recordings by Grainger or Godowsky,
to take just two, you’ll still want to hear Andsnes who brings
a focused, rather brooding insecure take to the Ballade, which
is both plausible and successful. A terrific performance, in
fact.
The Ballade recording
is a must-hear for Grieg lovers, no question. The Lyric Pieces
bear the imprint of the Master’s piano and are good. I cared
little for the Concerto – but that Ballade will keep me coming
back to Andsnes.
Jonathan Woolf
see also Review
by Christopher Howell
Leif Ove Andsnes
(piano) 
