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Leif Ove Andsnes Performs Mozart

Leif Ove Andsnes Performs Mozart

  • Artist: Leif Ove Andsnes
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Total time: 59:26
  • Label: EMI Music Distributio
  • SPAR: DDD
  • Availability: In stock
  • Item #: 5188185
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Review

Punk Mozart? Surely, you jest. And yet here it is: spiky, angular, and hard as a shiv, Leif Ove Andsnes' performances of Mozart's Jeunehomme and Piano Concertos in B flat major with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra cuts to the quick of the music and reveals Wolfgang in leather and chains.

And, amazingly enough, it works. Andsnes is the tough-guy Norwegian pianist who has turned in recordings of juiced-up Chopin, punched-up Prokofiev, and even gnarly Grieg, and made it work every time because he has the strength, the technique, and the charisma to pull it off. And he does it again here with Mozart. Andsnes plays the notes, all the notes, and nothing but the notes, and yet the energy and integrity Andsnes pours into his playing goes above and beyond the notes to the purity of line, clarity of structure, and inevitability of tempo that is the essence of all great music. Andsnes' Mozart is spiky but the dynamics are Mozart's. Andsnes is angular but the geometry is Mozart's. Andsnes is hard as a shiv because, above and beyond the elegant loveliness of the surface, Mozart's music is the essence of purity, clarity, and inevitability. EMI's sound is clear but not quite clear enough, and just a little too harsh at the upper end. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide

Read About This Recording

You could almost tell the life story of Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes by simply supplying a chronological list of his awards and musical honors. His recording catalog is nearly as voluminous and the Society is pleased to be able to offer this compelling disc.

This CD contains Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 9 & 18 and here, Andsnes deftly doubles as piano soloist and director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. The Piano Concerto No. 9 is most noted for its creation of a sense of dialogue, a new compositional feature that emerged as Mozart's music transformed from that of a wunderkind to the work of a mature and seasoned composer.

Named Best Fingers of 2004 by Vanity Fair, Andsnes has long since earned the respect and critical praise from reviewers and audiences around the world. At the young age of just 37, it would seem as though the classical world has seen just the tip of his iceberg.

—Elaine Sutcliffe

Contents

Piano Concertos: No. 9 in E-flat Major, K271 Jeunehomme; No. 18 in B-flat Major, K456.

Leif Ove Andsnes, Piano/Director; Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

Tracks + Soundclips

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Leif Ove Andsnes Performs Mozart
1. Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major ("Jeunehomme," "Jenamy"), K. 271 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Chamber Ensemble: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Piano: Leif Ove Andsnes
Length: 10:03
2. Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major ("Jeunehomme," "Jenamy"), K. 271 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Chamber Ensemble: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Piano: Leif Ove Andsnes
Length: 10:45
3. Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major ("Jeunehomme," "Jenamy"), K. 271 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Chamber Ensemble: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Piano: Leif Ove Andsnes
Length: 9:12
4. Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Chamber Ensemble: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Piano: Leif Ove Andsnes
Length: 12:02
5. Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Chamber Ensemble: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Piano: Leif Ove Andsnes
Length: 9:37
6. Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Chamber Ensemble: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Piano: Leif Ove Andsnes
Length: 7:47

Performances

Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major ("Jeunehomme," "Jenamy"), K. 271 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus