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Grammy nomination for Leif Ove Andsnes
01/08/2003
In the category of Best Instrumental Soloist Performance Norway’s best known pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes is nominated for a Grammy for his interpretation of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces.
Says Andsnes of his Grammy nomination: I am terribly excited to have been nominated for a Grammy Award, and since I have been nominated twice before, I hope it will be a case of third time lucky.
Internationally, Leif Ove Andsnes is Norway’s best known classical pianist. His career spans several acclaimed albums for EMI Classics, hailed performances around the globe and collaborations with some of the field’s biggest names.
Edvard Grieg should not need any further introduction - Grieg is undoubtedly Norway’s best known composer of all time. His Lyric Pieces have been interpreted by many, and until recently Andsnes was not one of these. Over the last eight years, Andsnes has been on a self-imposed hiatus from Grieg’s works but the last year has seen him returning to the Norwegian composer. In addition to his EMI Classics recording of the Lyric Pieces, Andsnes also performed and recorded Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Dec. 2002. Said Andsnes in December on the prospect of playing the Grieg Concerto after an eight-year hiatus from the work: "What happens with time - and after you've put something away for a while - is that all of the conscious things you've done become part of your unconscious performance. It becomes much more organic, and that's what I mean about a piece 'breathing.' It's as if the performance has its own life and I'm becoming more of a medium: I'm the one pushing it along."
This January will see Andsnes bringing Grieg’s Piano Concerto over the Atlantic for performances with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel.
February will see Andsnes returning to Berlin for another recording session, again with the Berlin Philharmonic. Conducted by Pierre Boulez, Andsnes will record Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
February also includes US recitals at the Principia College in Illinois, Spivey Hall in Atlanta and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Another partial Norwegian Grammy nomination is to be found in the Best Classical Crossover Album category. Here we find the Oslo Philharmonic’s conductor, André Previn and his Deutsche Grammophon release with the London Symphony Orchestra; Previn Conducts Korngold.
This year’s Grammy show kicks off on February 23 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
