Leif Ove Andsnes made his recording debut in 1990 with the Piano Concerto in A minor by his compatriot Grieg. The Norwegian pianist returned to its magnificent music a dozen years later to set down a live recording in company with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Mariss Jansons, catching the spontaneity of a concert performance while revealing deep imaginative insights into a work of extraordinary beauty and strength. Andsnes and his companions shape an equally rich interpretation of Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, illuminating expressive details and dramatic contrasts that are all too often obscured beneath the hands of less sympathetic performers. The quality of the music-making is matched by ideally balanced recorded sound, which plays its part in raising this album into the ranks of all-time classical greats.
- Nikolaus Harnoncourt & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
- European Brandenburg Ensemble & Trevor Pinnock
- Van Cliburn, The RCA Symphony Orchestra & Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Daniel Barenboim
- David Zinman, Dawn Upshaw & London Sinfonietta