This performance of
Grieg's Piano Concerto with
Mariss Jansons leading the
Berliner Philharmoniker is not the first time Norwegian pianist
Leif Ove Andsnes has recorded his fellow-countryman's concerto. Back in 1990 when he was a young steel-fingered super-virtuoso,
Andsnes also recorded the work with
Dmitri Kitayenko and the
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance that could change the course of mighty rivers and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Nor is this the first time
Andsnes' 2002 recording of the concerto has been issued: back in 2003, EMI had released it coupled with his recording of
Schumann's Piano Concerto. Nor is this the first release of
Andsnes' 2001 performances of six of
Grieg's Lyric Pieces included here: recorded in the composer's own home on his own piano, they were also issued along with 18 other Lyric Pieces in 2002.
It is, however, the first release of
Andsnes' first recording from 2007 of
Grieg's nearly 20-minute-long Ballade in G minor. And though dedicated fans of the pianist will likely have already heard the other performances on this disc in their earlier incarnations, they may still be strongly tempted to check out this one just for the Ballade. For them, it goes without saying that
Andsnes, an artist with an almost supernatural aptitude for
Grieg, turned in a second recording of the concerto just as technically jaw-dropping as his first, but with greater depths and insights and a set of Lyric Pieces played with terrific virtuosity and suffused with tremendous loveliness. But for them, and for fans of the composer,
Andsnes' recording of the Ballade will be a treat and a revelation. Though the pianist confesses he had previously found the work awkward and ungainly despite its many beauties, he subsequently became a true believer in its worth and his performance here not only expresses the work's beauties, it articulates its formal structure in a way that makes
Andsnes' interpretation arguably the most persuasive ever recorded. Although recorded in three different times and places, EMI's sound is consistently bright, deep, and real.