Leif Ove Andsnes: European recital tour, Salzburg Festival with Berlin Philharmonic, & televised Amsterdam concert this summer, on heels of Tveitt album success
(June 2026) — This summer, celebrated Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays Beethoven, Chopin, and György Kurtág on a solo recital tour of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark (June 5–29); performs Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with the Orchestre national de Lyon (June 11 & 13) and, at Austria’s Salzburg Festival, the Berlin Philharmonic (Aug 24); and headlines Amsterdam’s annual televised Prinsengracht Concert (Aug 22). These high-profile European engagements follow the success of his most recent album release, Geirr Tveitt: Sonata No. 29, Folk Tunes and Songs.
Chopin, Kurtág, & Beethoven on European solo recital tour (June 5–29)
On his upcoming European tour, Andsnes performs a solo recital program featuring the poetic miniatures of Chopin’s 24 Preludes, selections from György Kurtág’s Játékok, and Beethoven’s final piano sonata, Op. 111, at Arnhem (June 5) and Groningen (June 6) in the Netherlands, at Germany’s Schloss Elmau (June 26), and in Copenhagen (June 29). Earlier this year, when he played selections from the same Kurtág collection on his most recent U.S. tour, Bachtrack observed: “Andsnes presented Játékok not as pedagogical material, rooted in the teaching studio, but as music of genuine consequence, its austerity functioning as a frame, not a limitation.” Similarly, of the pianist’s interpretation of Chopin’s 24 Preludes, the Minnesota Star Tribune writes: “Andsnes made them a fascinating odyssey, an expertly articulated compendium of myriad emotions and moods delivered with technical precision and heartfelt expressiveness.”
Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in Lyon (June 11 & 13) & Berlin (Aug 24)
The Beethoven Journey, Andsnes’s recording of the composer’s complete music for piano and orchestra, was recognized with BBC Music Magazine’s “Recording of the Year Award,” and this past March, when he performed Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he impressed the Chicago Classical Review with his “Beethoven mastery.” The review went on to explain:
“Andsnes is one of those musicians whose art truly conceals art — a blend of intelligence, natural eloquence and complete technical command that is put entirely at the service of the music. … Andsnes firmly registered the minor-key drama of the opening movement while keeping the music in scale, never inflating it to Late Romantic dimensions. He phrased with a supple, singing line in contrasting episodes and his cadenza had both strength and an uncommon airy poetry. The pianist spun a refined, intimate solo line in the slow movement, plaintive and expressive without undue lingering. In the finale, Andsnes gracefully bridged the insistent energy of the main theme with the unforced cheer of the second – the laughter of the rippling notes unmistakable – en route to a spirited and emphatic coda.”
This summer, Andsnes reprises Beethoven’s concerto with two major European orchestras: France’s Orchestre national de Lyon under Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (June 11 & 13) and the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko at Austria’s Salzburg Festival (Aug 24).
Televised concert on Amsterdam canal (Aug 22)
Held each year since 1981, Amsterdam’s annual Prinsengracht Concert is a free, televised event on the city’s Prinsengracht canal, where musicians perform on an anchored, floating platform while audience members listen and watch from boats, under the setting sun. At this year’s edition, Andsnes performs solo works by Grieg, Schumann, Chopin, and others alongside duets by Beethoven, Chopin, and Shchedrin, for which he will be joined by Gramophone Award-winning Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta (Aug 22). Ten years ago, Gabetta was among those artists who took part in the inaugural season of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival, of which Andsnes was the founding director.
Geirr Tveitt album success
When Andsnes featured the sole surviving piano sonata by his compatriot Geirr Tveitt at New York’s Carnegie Hall, The New York Times chose his recital as one of the “Best Classical Performances of 2025.” Now, the pianist has won similar acclaim for Geirr Tveitt: Sonata No. 29, Folk Tunes and Songs, his recording of the sonata together with a selection of the composer’s piano pieces and songs, released this past April on the Simax label.
The recording drew expansive interview features in Gramophone magazine, the Netherlands’ De Volkskrant, and The New York Times, which proclaimed Tveitt “one of the most prominent and original voices in Norwegian music since Edvard Grieg.”
Norway’s Aftenposten concluded: “Andsnes excels with Tveitt. … With sparkling playing and deep interpretations, Leif Ove Andsnes showcases the enormous range of Geirr Tveitt’s distinctive music.”
Selecting the disc as one of “5 Must-Hear Classical Albums This Week,” Gramophone noted
“Andsnes is strong at reconciling Tveitt’s improvisatory impulse with the relative strictness of what he writes down while his voicing of the Sonata’s thickets of chords – sometimes chime-like, sometimes organ-like – is supremely sensitive.”
Pronouncing the pianist “an accomplished advocate for the music of his fellow Norwegian,” Germany’s Concerti agreed: “Andsnes proves himself an ideal and accomplished interpreter of this half-hour work with his controlled, forward-driving, and commanding performance.”
As French daily Libération declared, the release is “undoubtedly one of the most beautiful CDs by the Norwegian pianist.”
France’s Qobuz named the recording its “Album of the Week,” singling out the nine songs performed with the pianist’s sister, Solveig Andsnes, “who lends her warm voice – both powerful and fragile – to miniatures of breathtaking beauty.” In a dedicated documentary, the magazine joins Andsnes in Norway for a deeper dive into the recording project.
Leif Ove Andsnes: upcoming engagements
June 5–29: European solo recital tour
June 5: Arnhem, Netherlands (Musis Sacrum / Schouwburg Arnhem)
June 6: Groningen, Netherlands (SPOT Groningen / De Oosterpoort)
June 26: Schloss Elmau / Oberbayern, Germany (Schloss Elmau)
June 29: Copenhagen, Denmark (Tivoli Gardens)
CHOPIN: selection TBA
György KURTÁG: Játékok (selections)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28
June 11 & 13
Lyon, France
Orchestre National de Lyon / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3
July 9–11
Lofoten Islands, Norway
Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival
July 9
SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet in E-flat (with Engegård Quartet)
CHOPIN, arr. GLAZUNOV: Etude No. 7 in C-sharp minor (with Peter Jarůšek, cello)
July 10
CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28
CHOPIN: Mazurkas, Op. 17, No. 4; Op. 33, No. 2; & Op. 30, No. 4
July 11
Gala finale
Aug 8
Vinstra, Norway
Peer Gynt Festival
Recital with Marius Neset, saxophone; Opus13 string quartet
Aug 22
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Prinsengracht Concert (televised)
Recital
GRIEG: Norwegian Dances, No. 2
GRIEG: Lyric Pieces, Book 5, No. 2, “Gangar”
SÆVERUD: Tunes and Dances from Siljustol, No. 5, “Ballad of Revolt”
SILVESTROV: Bagatelle, Op. 1, No. 3
DEBUSSY: Préludes, Book 1, “La cathédrale engloutie”
SCHUMANN: Carnaval, Nos. 19, 20, & 21
STRAVINSKY: Tango
CHOPIN: Tarantella in A-flat, Op.43
MOZART: Rondo in D, K485
CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28, Nos. 8, 15, & 17
RACHMANINOV: Etudes-Tableaux, No. 2
BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No. 3 (with Sol Gabetta, cello)
CHOPIN, arr. GLAZUNOV: Etude No. 7 in C-sharp minor (with Sol Gabetta, cello)
SHCHEDRIN: Imitating Albeniz (with Sol Gabetta, cello)
Aug 24
Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg Festival
Berlin Philharmonic / Kirill Petrenko
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3