Grieg: Lyric Pieces

1	Arietta, lyric piece for
2	Waltz, lyric piece for pi
3	Norsk (Norwegian Melody),
4	Folkevise (Folk Song), ly
5	Canon, lyric piece for pi
6	Elegy, lyric piece for pi
7	Waltz, lyric piece for pi
8	Melody, lyric piece for p
9	Troldtog (March of the Dw
10	Nocturne, lyric piece for
11	Gade, lyric piece for pia
12	Illusion, lyric piece for
13	Heimweh (Homesickness), l
14	Hjemad (Homeward), lyric
15	Baekken (Brooklet), lyric
16	Drømmesyn (Phantom), lyri
17	Sylfide (Sylph), lyric pi
18	Bådnlåt (At the Cradle),
19	Bryllupsdag på Troldhauge
20	Aften på højfjeldet (Even
21	For dine fødder (At your
22	Someraften (Summer's Eve)
23	Forbi (Gone), lyric piece
24	Efterklang (Remembrances)
Grieg: Lyric Pieces
1.	Arietta, lyric piece for piano, Op. 12/1 1:20
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
2.	Waltz, lyric piece for piano, Op. 12/2 2:03
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
3.	Norsk (Norwegian Melody), lyric piece for piano, Op. 12/6 0:52
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
4.	Folkevise (Folk Song), lyric piece for piano, Op. 12/5 1:30
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
5.	Canon, lyric piece for piano, Op. 38/8 4:57
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
6.	Elegy, lyric piece for piano, Op. 38/6 2:18
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
7.	Waltz, lyric piece for piano, Op. 38/7 1:05
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
8.	Melody, lyric piece for piano, Op. 47/3 3:06
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
9.	Troldtog (March of the Dwarfs), lyric piece for piano, Op. 54/3 2:57
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
10.	Nocturne, lyric piece for piano, Op. 54/4 4:16
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
11.	Gade, lyric piece for piano, Op. 57/2 2:59
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
12.	Illusion, lyric piece for piano, Op. 57/3 3:37
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
13.	Heimweh (Homesickness), lyric piece for piano, Op. 57/6 4:58
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
14.	Hjemad (Homeward), lyric piece for piano, Op. 62/6 2:48
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
15.	Baekken (Brooklet), lyric piece for piano, Op. 62/4 1:26
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
16.	Drømmesyn (Phantom), lyric piece for piano, Op. 62/5 2:30
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
17.	Sylfide (Sylph), lyric piece for piano, Op. 62/1 1:21
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
18.	Bådnlåt (At the Cradle), lyric piece for piano, Op. 68/5 3:02
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
19.	Bryllupsdag på Troldhaugen (Wedding Day at Troldhaugen), lyric piece for piano, Op. 65/6 6:25
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
20.	Aften på højfjeldet (Evening in the Mountains), lyric piece for piano, Op. 68/4 3:52
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
21.	For dine fødder (At your Feet), lyric piece for piano, Op. 68/3 3:23
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
22.	Someraften (Summer's Eve), lyric piece for piano, Op. 71/2 2:33
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
23.	Forbi (Gone), lyric piece for piano, Op. 71/6 2:48
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes
24.	Efterklang (Remembrances), lyric piece for piano, Op. 71/7 2:00
	Composed by Edvard Grieg
	Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes

Barnes & Noble

Grieg's fittingly titled Lyric Pieces are miniature musical portraits, epigrammatic works of charming simplicity, melodic invention, whimsy, and delight that in the space of just a few bars create individual worlds of enchantment. Some are overtly biographical, capturing moments in time, whereas others simply set a mood. Several of them borrow from the folk idioms of the composer's native Norway, while others make clear why he was labeled "the Chopin of the North." Still others point toward Debussy's or Ravel's avant-garde impressionistic style. Leif Ove Andsnes, a Norwegian himself and one of today's preeminent pianists, plays his 24 selections (there are 10 volumes of the Lyric Pieces in all, ranging in date from 1867 to 1901) on Grieg's own Steinway piano, still housed in the composer's home in Troldhaugen, Norway. It is clear Andsnes has a special fondness for this music, made plain by his pilgrimage to Grieg's home to record it. And his lovingly detailed performance captures these pieces in all their delightful variety. Introspective reverie is the mode in the Schumann-esque "Arietta" from Book One or in Book Nine's "At Your Feet." Rollicking elation fills Book Eight's Ravel-like "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen," which at six and a half minutes is the longest piece here by half. Andsnes has built up an impressive body of recordings, especially his prizewinning disc of Haydn Concertos and his widely praised Liszt recital, but Grieg's musical epigrams seem to fit his temperament particularly well. "I've always loved Grieg," he reveals in the liner notes, "not just because I'm Norwegian, but because very few composers speak so directly to your heart -- and especially in the smaller pieces." Andsnes' elegant performances are proof enough. EJ Johnson

All Music Guide

Was so lovely a recording of such sweet-souled music expected from modernist virtuoso Leif Ove Andsnes? Was it expected that the sharp-cornered and hard-edged Andsnes -- the player whose Schumann is tart, whose Brahms is bitter, whose Chopin is cruel -- could have played Grieg's delightful and delectable "Lyric Pieces" with such beauty of tone, gentleness of touch, suppleness of phrasing, and such deep and abiding affection? Sure. Andsnes has recorded works of Grieg before, notably on a splendid disc of "Lyric Pieces" for Virgin, and this EMI recording of more "Lyric Pieces" is cut from the same soft, silken cloth. But as splendid as that disc was, this one is even better. Not only has Andsnes matured as a player -- listen to his restraint even in such showstoppers as "March of the Trolls" -- but he is playing Grieg's piano in Grieg's living room in his home at Troldhaugen. In other words, he is playing the instrument upon which these pieces were written played in the room in which they were written. Grieg's Steinway is a mellow-toned instrument with a singing middle range and a ringing upper register, and it perfectly suits his music. As do Andsnes' performances. From the early delicate "Arietta" (1867) through the sensuous "Notturno" (1883) and the aching "Homesickness" (1893) to the shimmering "Evening in the Mountains" (1898), Andsnes seems in complete sympathy with Grieg's exquisite miniatures. And when Grieg does ask for virtuoso technique as in the rapturously joyous "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen," Andsnes, the model of a modernist virtuoso, tears through it with ecstatic abandon. James Leonard

Gramophone

Few young pianists have found a more direct path to poetic truth than Leif Ove Andsnes, and never more so than in his beloved Grieg. Playing on the composer’s piano in Troldhaugen he responds to his painful and unsettling intimacy, his poetic ambiguity, with an insight as masterly as it is natural.... It would be impossible to over-praise Andsnes’s tantalising dip into Grieg’s confessional diary. This is a very special disc and I, for one, will never be fully satisfied until he gives us a complete cycle of the Lyric Pieces. Bryce Morrison

International Record Review

Andsnes's new disc makes the perfect complement to his 1992 selection of Lyric Pieces (from which happily only three items are duplicated) and to Emil Gilels's still classic survey. David Fanning