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Leif Ove Andsnes

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Leif Ove Andsnes is a Norwegian pianist and chamber musician, born on Karmøy in 1970. He studied with Jiří Hlinka at the conservatoire in Bergen and made his debut in Oslo in 1987. In 1989 he played at the Edinburgh festival with the Oslo Philharmonic, and in 1990 with the Cleveland Orchestra under Neeme Järvi. As a student he won the Hindemith Prize in Frankfurt. Later came the Gilmore Artist Award in 1998 and eight Gramophone Awards, among other honours. In 2013 he was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.

Music and breakthrough

Andsnes is known as an advocate of Edvard Grieg. In 2002 he played Grieg's Piano Concerto at the Last Night of the Proms. His first recordings for Virgin and EMI include Grieg and Liszt, Janáček's piano works and chamber music by Brahms and Schumann. He then signed with Sony Classical, where he recorded the project Beethoven Journey: all five piano concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, in the years 2012 to 2014. His recording of concertos Nos. 2 and 4 won two BBC Music Magazine awards in 2015.

Influence

In 2009 he played Mussorgsky's suite Pictures at an Exhibition at Lincoln Center with visual panels and video projections by Robin Rhode. In 1991 he co-founded the Risør Festival of Chamber Music and led it until 2010. His playing is clear and thoughtful and shows that a pianist can flourish in large concert halls and in chamber music at the same time.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Grieg's Piano Concerto in his recording and notice the dramatic opening gesture of the piano and how the lyrical theme that follows sounds almost songlike.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists