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The celebrated Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes in conversation and performance for ASF Members hosted by WQXR morning host Jeff Spurgeon.
Described by Gramophone as a pianist of “jaw-dropping dexterity” and “immense musicality,” Andsnes will discuss his Norwegian roots and the influence of Scandinavian music in his development as an artist. He will also perform selections from his repertoire for a special members-only evening.
The Wall Street Journal has called Leif Ove Andsnes “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation,” while the New York Times has described him as “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power and insight.” With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, the celebrated Norwegian pianist has won worldwide acclaim. As well as giving recitals and playing concertos each season in the world’s leading concert halls and with the foremost orchestras, he is also an active recording artist and avid chamber musician who has joined select colleagues each summer at Norway’s Risør Festival of Chamber Music.
Among the many highlights of Leif Ove Andsnes’ 2010-11 season are two important residencies: as Pianist-in-Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he performs five diverse programs including chamber music, Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Bernard Haitink, and a solo recital. He will also appear as Artist-in-Residence with his hometown orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic, where he will perform three programs. A European tour with the London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski features performances of the Brahms Second in London, Spain and Germany. He brought his tenure as co-artistic director of the Risør Festival to a festive conclusion with a fall tour that included concerts in Brussels, London and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
As an exclusive EMI Classics artist, Andsnes has recorded more than 30 discs spanning repertoire from Bach to the present day. He has been nominated for seven Grammys and awarded many international prizes, including four Gramophone Awards. Last season, in addition to Pictures Reframed, he released Shadows of Silence, featuring a work of the same name by the Danish composer Bent Sørensen and French composer Marc-André Dalbavie’s Piano Concerto (Andsnes gave the world premieres of both works, at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Proms respectively.) Other repertoire on the disc includes solo works by Kurtág, and Lutosławski’s Piano Concerto recorded live with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst.
Andsnes has received Norway’s most distinguished honor, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. In 2007, he received the prestigious Peer Gynt Prize, awarded by members of parliament to honor prominent Norwegians for their achievements in politics, sports and culture. Andsnes has also received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award and the Gilmore Artist Award. Saluting his many achievements, Vanity Fair named Andsnes one of the “Best of the Best” in 2005.
Andsnes was born in Karmøy, Norway in 1970, and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory under the renowned Czech professor Jiři Hlinka. Over the past decade, he has also received invaluable advice from the Belgian piano teacher Jacques de Tiège, who like Hlinka, has greatly influenced his style and philosophy of playing. Andsnes cites Dinu Lipatti, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Sviatoslav Richter, and Géza Anda among the pianists who have most inspired him. Andsnes currently lives in Copenhagen and Bergen, and also spends much time at his mountain home in Norway’s western Hardanger area. He is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, a visiting professor at the Royal Music Conservatory of Copenhagen, and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
1302116400
1302116400
Photo Courtesy of ensemble mise-en
WED – 4-6-2011 – 7:00 PM
By invitation, please call for details