Leif Ove Andsnes opens his Artist in Residence with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra this week. Göteborgs Posten meets with him to talk about Grieg.

The first time the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes played in Gothenburg was 1989 under conductor Neeme Järvi. Now he is back as this season’s Artist in Residence to perform the Grieg Piano Concerto once again …
“I’ve played Grieg since I was a kid. As a Norwegian musician, it is difficult to evade him. The music has a feeling of coming home. And I think not only for Norwegians. He also said himself: “I can’t build palaces and big villas like Bach and Handel, but I can build small houses where people can feel at home.” He knew that,“ says Leif Ove Andsnes.
Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor became a bit of a Leif Ove Andsnes business card. But after a while, he told his manager that he wanted to leave it to one side and perform other repertoire.
“I have a reputation to have played a lot of Grieg, but it is a truth with modification. I often played his Piano Concerto at the beginning of my career. About 60 times in the first few years. But after I turned 24 I completely stopped.”
Read the full interview in Swedish online at Göteborgs Posten (subscription only)

 

Source: Göteborgs Posten