Leif Ove Andsnes |

Leif Ove Andsnes

The New York Times called Leif Ove Andsnes “a pianist of impeccable elegance, power and depth.” With his amazing technique, fresh interpretations, the Norwegian pianist has earned recognition all over the world. The Wall Street Journal described him as “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.”

Leif Ove Andsnes was born in Karmøy (Western Norway) in 1970. He studied at the Bergen Conservatory with the famous Czech professor Jiri Glinka. He also received invaluable advice from the eminent Belgian piano teacher Jacques de Tigues, who, like Glinka, had a huge impact on the style and philosophy of the Norwegian musician’s performance.

Andsnes gives solo concerts and is accompanied by leading orchestras in the best halls of the world, actively recording on CD. He is in demand as a chamber musician, for about 20 years he has been one of the art directors of the Chamber Music Festival in the fishing village of Rizor (Norway), and in 2012 he was the musical director of the festival in Ojai (California, USA).

During the last four seasons, Andsnes has carried out a grand project: Journey with Beethoven. Together with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra of Berlin, the pianist performed in 108 cities in 27 countries, giving more than 230 concerts in which all Beethoven’s piano concertos were performed. In the autumn of 2015, a documentary film by British director Phil Grabsky Concerto – A Beethoven dedicated to this project is released.

Last season, Andsnes, accompanied by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, played a complete cycle of Beethoven’s concertos in Bonn, Hamburg, Lucerne, Vienna, Paris, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, Bodø (Norway) and London. At the moment, the project “Journey with Beethoven” is completed. However, the pianist is going to resume it in collaboration with such ensembles as the Philharmonic Orchestras of London, Munich, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2013/2014 season, Andsnes, in addition to Journey with Beethoven, also held a solo tour of 19 cities in the United States, Europe and Japan, presenting a Beethoven program at Carnegie Hall in New York and Chicago, at the Concert Hall of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and also in Princeton, Atlanta, London, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo and other cities.

Leif Ove Andsnes is an exclusive artist for the Sony Classical label. He previously collaborated with EMI Classics, where he has recorded over 30 CDs: solo, chamber and with orchestra, including repertoire from Bach to the present day. Many of these discs have become bestsellers.

Andsnes has been nominated eight times for the Grammy Award and has been awarded many prestigious international prizes and awards, including six Gramophone Awards (including his recording of Grieg’s Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons and the CD with Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, as well as a recording of Rachmaninov’s Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antonio Pappano). In 2012, he was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.

The awards were given to discs with works by Grieg, Concertos No. 9 and 18 by Mozart. The recordings of Schubert’s late Sonatas and his own songs with Ian Bostridge, as well as the first recordings of the Piano Concerto by the French composer Marc-André Dalbavy and the Danish Bent Sorensen’s The Shadows of Silence, both of which were written for Andsnes, received lavish praise. .

A series of three CDs “Journey with Beethoven”, recorded on Sony Classical, was a huge success and also received many prizes and enthusiastic reviews. In particular, the British newspaper Telegraph noted the “breathtaking maturity and stylistic perfection” of the performance of Concerto No. 5, which delivers “deepest pleasure”.

Leif Ove Andsnes was awarded the highest award of Norway – Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf. In 2007, he received the prestigious Peer Gynt Prize, which is given to outstanding representatives of the Norwegian people for their achievements in politics, sports and culture. Andsnes is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Instrumental Performers and the Gilmour Prize for Concert Pianists (1998). For the highest artistic achievements, Vanity Fair magazine (“Vanity Fair”) included the artist among the “Best of the Best” musicians of 2005.

In the upcoming 2015/2016 season, Andsnes will perform on several tours in Europe and North America with programs from the works of Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, Sibelius, will play Mozart and Schumann Concertos with the Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras in the USA. Among the orchestras with which the pianist will perform in Europe are the Bergen Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Leipzg Gewandhaus, the Munich Philharmonic and the London Symphony. Performances are also expected with a program of three Brahms Piano Quartets with regular partners: violinist Christian Tetzlaff, violist Tabea Zimmermann and cellist Clemens Hagen.

Andsnes lives permanently in Bergen with his family. His wife is the horn player Lote Ragnild. In 2010, their daughter Sigrid was born, and in May 2013, the twins Ingvild and Erlend were born.