Leif Ove Andsnes’ tour this month with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Herbert Blomstedt has received an outpouring of touching reviews paying tribute to the 91 year old conductor and his partnership with both orchestra and pianist. Listen to the live radio broadcast from Dresden on the mdr iplayer.
“The 91-year-old Blomstedt is the reigning Grandseigneur among conductors, who gets by with few, but the right gestures. Andsnes is also known for the restrained clarity of his piano playing, with which he now avoided the usual clusters of sounds in Brahms and discovered everywhere small, finely pointed melodic lines.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Pulse and breadth, surprising delicacy and boundless trust carry his (Blomstedt’s) interpretation, which finds a congenial partner in Leif Ove Andsnes.”
Der Tagesspiegel
“Here everyone hears and feels with the other, resulting in a remarkably homogenous interpretation.”
Klassikbeigstert.com
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes presents a straightforward, sleek interpretation of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1, dispensing with dark pathos and purposely creating lyrical moments as such … There is nothing to be heard in the interpretation of Blomstedt about artistic conflicts, inner struggle and the struggle for becoming. He presents the works with the Staatskapelle in tonal abundance, multi-layered and multi-dimensional, but always in a feel-good atmosphere … This is Brahms to savor, to revel, to sit back and enjoy.”
Abendzeitung, Munich
“Andsnes brought out the subtleties of this concerto, the subliminal “beauty” in dazzling colors to the fore and allowed them to fully unfold … Nothing was “blurred”, everything was just right. Imperceptibly, Andsnes took the lead with the solo part, which ingeniously evolved from the beginning “whirlwind”, leaving it to the composer and putting his own ego entirely at the service the music and the intentions of Brahms … ”
Onlinemerker.com