Leif Ove Andsnes: 2009-10 Season
The celebrated Norwegian pianist Leif Ove
Andsnes devotes much of the 2009-10 season to “Pictures Reframed,” a
collaborative multimedia project with South African artist Robin Rhode,
inspired by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an
Exhibition. The project will
receive its world premiere in New York in November, to coincide with its
release on CD and DVD by EMI Classics.
Another Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninov, will also feature
prominently in Andsnes’s new
season, which he opened in Copenhagen with the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 2,
performing with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Thomas
Dausgaard. In October, he performs
Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
and Stéphane Denève, and later this season performs it with the Gothenburg
Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel, and again with the Rome Santa Cecilia Academy
Orchestra and Antonio Pappano; in May 2010, Andsnes will perform and record the
work with the London Symphony Orchestra and Pappano for release on EMI
Classics, completing his recorded cycle of the Russian composer’s four piano concertos.
Other highlights of
the season include the world premiere of a new work written by Danish composer
Bent Sorensen, which Andsnes will perform with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
in Oslo in October, and performances over the New Year of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto No. 23 (K.488), with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, who
this season begins his tenure as the orchestra’s new Music Director. In January, Andsnes performs the same
work at the famous Salzburg Mozartwoche with the Vienna Philharmonic and Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, and he remains in Salzburg for a chamber music concert of Mozart
and Kurtág before embarking on a recital tour of Spain, Italy, and the
Netherlands. He also gives
recitals in London and Warsaw, and in March he will tour Asia with the
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, leading Mozart concertos from the piano.
“Pictures
Reframed”
Leif Ove Andsnes and Robin Rhode have been
developing “Pictures Reframed” for several years with the generous underwriting
of Norway’s StatoilHydro, the project’s commissioning sponsor. At the heart of the project is
Mussorgsky’s epic piano suite, Pictures
at an Exhibition, which Andsnes plays while Rhode’s illustrations and
films, inspired by the piece, are projected onto a specially designed stage
set; Schumann’s Kinderszenen, and a
new work by Thomas Larcher in collaboration with Rhode, are also integral to
the performance. “We want our
collaboration to be transcendental, to be a real experience,” says Andsnes. “By mixing this great piece of music
with Robin’s art we are hoping to achieve that goal. One never knows if it’s going to work, but that’s our dream.”
The international “Pictures Reframed” tour opens
at New York’s Lincoln Center, the project’s commissioning arts institution,
with performances at Alice Tully Hall on November 13 and 14. Soon after, the project will be
presented in Calgary, Alberta (Nov 16), the University of North Carolina in
Chapel Hill, NC (Nov 18), Washington, DC (Nov 20), and Houston, TX (Nov 22),
before heading to Europe for more than a dozen performances across the
continent, including Moscow (Nov 27), London (Dec 4), Berlin (Dec 9), Paris (Dec
11), and Oslo (Dec 18). A complete
list of tour dates can be found below.
EMI Classics will
release “Pictures Reframed” on both CD and DVD, and Norwegian TV is documenting
the project on film. The DVD
release will feature a “making of” documentary as well as a live performance of
“Pictures Reframed.” This live
performance was filmed in June 2009 at Norway’s Risor Chamber Music Festival,
of which Andsnes is co-artistic director.
Project updates, images and
other special preview materials will be posted regularly at www.picturesreframed.com
An electronic press kit for the project is available
on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vh_3jLX8rQ.
Leif Ove Andsnes
and Robin Rhode discuss the project with Robert Siegel, the host of NPR’s All Things Considered, at the following
link: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4109651.
Previous season highlights
Leif Ove Andsnes opened last season with
performances of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto in Milan and Tokyo,
followed by a recital tour of Asia and South America. After a break of nearly a decade he
returned to Rachmaninov’s third concerto, playing it in Washington for his
National Symphony Orchestra debut, with conductor Ilan Volkov. He gave further performances of the
Rachmaninov third with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, as well
as with the London Symphony Orchestra and Antonio Pappano, with whom he recorded
the work for EMI Classics.
In spring 2009, EMI Classics released “Shadows
of Silence.” The album features works by the Danish composer Bent Sorensen
(including the title composition, which was premiered at Carnegie Hall) and
Marc-André Dalbavie’s Piano Concerto, which was written for Andsnes by the
French composer and premiered at London’s BBC Proms. The disc also includes solo works by Kurtág and
Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto, recorded live with the Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst. Anthony
Tommasini reviewed the album for the New
York Times, calling the Lutoslowski and Dalbavie performances “stunning”
and “riveting” respectively. Joshua
Kosman reported in the San Francisco
Chronicle, “This
superb new disc from the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is a godsend for
listeners convinced they don’t like or understand contemporary music – and for
anyone else besides.”
Leif Ove Andsnes: upcoming 2009-10 season engagements
Oct 11, 2009
Oslo, Norway
Sorensen: Concerto for Piano
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
World premiere
Oct 22-24, 2009
Perth, Edinburgh, and Glasgow,
Scotland
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
/ Denève
Oct 31; Nov 2 and 3, 2009
Rome, Italy
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40
Orchestra e
Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia / Pappano
Nov 13 and 14, 2009
New York, NY
Alice Tully Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
World
premiere
Nov 16, 2009
Calgary, Canada
Jack Singer Concert Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
Nov 18, 2009
Chapel Hill, NC
University of North Carolina
“Pictures Reframed”
Nov 20, 2009
Washington, DC
Terrace Theater
“Pictures Reframed”
Nov 22, 2009
Houston, TX
Cullen Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
Nov 24, 2009
Brussels, Belgium
Palais des Beaux-Arts
“Pictures Reframed”
Nov 27, 2009
Moscow, Russia
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
Nov 29, 2009
Stockholm, Sweden
Koncerthuset
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 1, 2009
Hamburg, Germany
Kampnagel
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 2, 2009
Munich, Germany
Prinzregententheater
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 4, 2009
London, UK
Royal Festival Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 7, 2009
Naples, Italy
San Carlo Theater
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 9, 2009
Berlin, Germany
Radialsystem
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 11, 2009
Paris, France
Théatre des Champs-Elysées
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 13, 2009
Copenhagen, Denmark
Koncerthuset
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 17, 2009
Stavanger, Norway
Stavanger Concert Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 18, 2009
Oslo, Norway
Oslo Concert Hall
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 20, 2009
Cologne, Germany
Kölner Philharmonie
“Pictures Reframed”
Dec 29 and 30, 2009
New York
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in
A major (K.488)
New York Philharmonic / Gilbert
Jan 19 and 21, 2010
Las Palmas, Grand Canary Islands
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4
in G minor, Op. 40
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra / Dudamel
Jan 27, 2010
Salzburg, Austria
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in
A major (K.488)
Jan 30, 2010
Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg Orchestra Mozarteum
Recital
Feb 15, 2010
Zaragoza, Spain
Recital
Feb 17, 2010
Madrid, Spain
Recital
Feb 19, 2010
Turin, Italy
Recital
Feb 21, 2010
Milan, Italy
Recital
Feb 23, 2010
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Recital
Feb 25, 2010
Arnhem, Netherlands
Recital
Feb 27, 2010
London, UK
Wigmore Hall
Recital
Mar 1, 2010
Warsaw, Poland
Recital
Apr 17 and 18, 2010
Barcelona, Spain
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4
in G minor, Op. 40
Barcelona Symphony / Denève
Apr 29, 2010
London, UK
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4
in G minor, Op. 40
London Symphony Orchestra / Pappano
May 10, 2010
Norwich, UK
Recital
May 11, 2010
London, UK
Wigmore Hall
Chamber music program
May 13, 2010
Reykjavík, Iceland
Chamber music program
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© 21C Media Group, September 2009