Leif Ove Andsnes

Leif Ove Andsnes – The Beethoven Journey – Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 03:08:25 minutes | 3,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

2014/15 is the crowning season of the Beethoven Journey. Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra have now recorded all of the Beethoven piano concertos, they will be performing the works in 16 cities across North America, Europe, and Asia. Full-cycle residencies in 2014/15 will include (in chronological order): Bonn, Lucerne, Vienna, Paris, New York, London, Shanghai. The Beethoven Journey is a four-year collaborative project between celebrated pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Together they have recorded all of the Beethoven Piano Concertos, as well as the Choral Fantasy, with Andsnes not only playing but also directing the orchestra. The series began with the live recording of the Piano Concertos 1 & 3 at the Prague Spring Festival in the historic Rudolfinum building. The second CD, Piano Concertos 2 & 4, was recorded in London in 2013, and the final album was recorded again live at the Prague Spring Festival. Leif Ove Andsnes has devoted the majority of his performing and recording activities in the last 3 years to the music of Beethoven. The first recording for the project was named iTunes’ Best Instrumental Album of 2012. The second recording enjoyed an outstanding reception from critics, with many heralding the release as one of the finest recordings of the 2 & 4 Concertos. Although Andsnes has an extensive discography “The Beethoven Journey” is his first Beethoven recording ever.

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Leif Ove Andsnes – Sibelius: Piano Pieces (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:06:31 minutes | 2,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Sibelius’s piano music remains a secret – chronically neglected or approached from an entirely unsympathetic aesthetic standpoint. Sometimes, criticism is justified. “I will be the first to admit that Sibelius’s piano music is uneven in quality”, says Leif Ove Andsnes, pointing to the composer’s own cynicism towards his piano works as a possible reason for the neglect of the genuine gems. But Andsnes also professes in no uncertain terms that he is “on a mission” to bring Sibelius’s piano works out of the shadows. “I really believe in this music and I want people to hear it”, he says. After scouring every published note of the composer’s piano music, Andsnes has selected works for this recording that speak to him not just as a pianist but as a musician who for a long time has felt particularly close to Sibelius. Here are piano works in which Sibelius’s orchestral thinking advances the language of the instrument even if it can test the technical orthodoxies of the player. As may be imagined, Andsnes masters them with elegance and ease.

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Leif Ove Andsnes – Mozart Momentum – 1785 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:15:24 minutes | 2,22 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Following their widely acclaimed Beethoven Journey, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Leif Ove Andsnes join forces once again to explore two especially remarkable years in the history of classical music with Mozart Momentum 1785/1786, a new performing and recording project spanning four years (2019-2022). Through multi-year concert tours, festival formats, CD recordings for Sony Classical and Unboxing Mozart, these trusting partners explore the themes of artistic dialogue, individual responsibility and partnership in music and beyond.

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Leif Ove Andsnes – Chopin : Ballades – Nocturnes (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:26 minutes | 695 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Leif Ove Andsnes’ last release of rare Sibelius piano works was universally acclaimed by critics worldwide. Now comes a release of very popular solo piano works by Chopin. The album includes all four famous Ballades interspersed with shorter Nocturnes.

Andsnes intentionally inserted the Nocturnes between the Ballades to serve as a ‘breather’ to the epic nature of the Ballades. In doing so he breaks with the tradition of performing and recording the ballades as a cycle.

This recording is a long-held dream come true for Andsnes, who has wanted to record the Ballades ever since discovering them as a teenager and instantly falling in love with them. These epic works have accompanied him and his career ever since. This is his first recording of Chopin works in 25 years.

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Leif Ove Andsnes – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:42 minutes | 1009 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

The series continues with Beethoven concertos No. 2 & 4. The celebrated Norwegian pianist continues his multi-annual journey in collaboration with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, dedicated to Beethoven´s five piano concertos. The recording series began with the live recording of the Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3 at Prague Spring Festival in the historic Rudolfinum building and is now followed by the Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4. Andsnes is not only playing the piano but also directing the orchestra.

The journey will continue with the live recording of the Piano Concerto No. 5 and Choral Fantasy again at the Rudolfinum in Prague. “The Beethoven Journey” is a composite work of Leif Ove Andsnes with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The Berlin based orchestra is one of the world´s most acclaimed touring orchestras, on the move approximately 200 days each year. The 45 core members of the MCO come from 20 different countries and live all over Europe.

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Leif Ove Andsnes – Mozart Momentum – 1786 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:59:51 minutes | 1,98 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Leif Ove Andsnes releases a second Mozart Momentum album with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, presenting a portrait of the master composer during the years in which his writing for the piano was at its most revolutionary, creative and game-changing. Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra follow their “triumphant” (Gramophone), “sparkling” (New York Times) and award-winning Mozart Momentum 1785 release with its partner album, focusing on the composer’s extraordinary creativity in the year 1786. “When you realize how quickly Mozart developed during the early years of the 1780s, it makes you ask: why did this happen? What was going on? It’s about the momentum of his creativity at this time,” says Leif Ove Andsnes. The double-album “Mozart Momentum – 1786” includes Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 23 & 24, Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Piano Trio in B-flat major and Recitative and Aria Ch’io mi scordi di te? featuring guest soprano Christiane Karg.
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Leif Ove Andsnes – Dvorák: Poetic Tone Pictures, Op.85 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 56:08 minutes | 1,50 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes presents this album ‘Dvorák: Poetic Tone Pictures, op. 85’. A rare jewel among the piano repertoire, Dvorák’s ‘Poetic Tone Pictures’, a cycle of piano solo works, is mostly unknown to the public. Dvorák’s piano compositions were largely overshadowed by his popular symphonies and chamber music works. With ‘Poetic Tone Pictures’, the composer offers a rich palette of various different moods, from romantic and dream-like, to wild and furious. Its poetic temperament and technically rewarding piano stylization make it a gem that not only Dvorák fans will find great pleasure in.

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Leif Ove Andsnes – Chopin: Ballades & Nocturnes (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:23 minutes | 695 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Chopin wasn’t one for endowing his compositions with poetic titles. Unlike his contemporary Robert Schumann, the composer kept the titles of his work fairly simple, with no literary references such as those found in the poetic evocations of Carnaval or Kinderszenen to assist the imagination. But when, in the mid-1830s, Chopin presented a new piece naming it “Ballade,” Schumann noted that Chopin was the first to apply this literary term to a musical work. What was the nature of this new genre for solo piano? What kind of story was it telling?

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