Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor / Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor (perf. Leif Ove Andsnes, cond. Mariss Jansons, orch. Berlin Philharmoniker)
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
I’ve written about Andsnes, a Norwegian himself, playing Grieg’s pieces before. I didn’t remember being as disappointed by that CD as I was until I re-read the review just now. It’s hard for me to believe I ever wrote anything so detailed, but here’s the essence of where that disc failed me:
…the lack of sonic brilliance is a bit of a let down. Andsnes’ liberties with the tempo are not ones I would take, but I can live with those. I’m more disappointed by the heaviness of his left-hand….
If I had read that review before adding what is probably Grieg’s most popular piece to my collection, I may not have bought this performance of Andsnes’. In this case, at least, it’s good I didn’t get reference value out of this blog, because I find none of those problems on this excellent album.
From where I sit, Andsnes’ performance is flawless. The flashy, brilliant first movement is dynamic enough to potentially earn a spot on a classical mix CD. Led by Mariss Jansons conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, the second movement is so lush I can feel it. It’s synaesthesia, as I can hear colors I’ve never seen nor heard before and the cadences melt deliciously in my ears. The second is the most challenging of the three movements in this concerto, which is one of the most accessible pieces in all of classical music, but it is oh so rewarding to just a fair amount of attention. If you’ve got six minutes to give, you could do a lot worse than devoting them to this movement.
I’m less thrilled with the Schumann concerto that follows (as an aside, both composers only wrote one piano concerto and they were both in A minor…they’re presented here in reverse chronological order as Grieg was inspired by Schumann’s), but not through any fault of the personnel. The liner notes contrast the two by describing them as a young man’s exuberant piece (Grieg’s) and a more mature man’s at-times schizophrenic piece (Schumann’s). I can’t disagree: there’s more emotional and compositional complexity in Schumann’s concerto, but I still prefer Grieg’s. It’s fantastic, though, and it gets better as it goes, and by the time I hit the third movement bumping this up to 4.5 lunchboxes is an easy decision.
Rating:
Mixers: Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Movements 1 and 2
Keepers: everything else
Filed Between Grieg (Lyric Pieces) and Gruntruck (Inside Yours)