Grieg Piano Concerto and Lyric Pieces – Eva Knardahl

Eva Knardahl interprets Grieg’s masterpiece

According to Arthur Rubinstein, Rachmaninov once said that Grieg´s “Piano Concerto” was the best ever written. Grieg himself was not quite as bombastic in the year the concerto was composed (1868), when he said in his modest way that he had “written a concerto for piano and orchestra which I believe contains good things.” Little did he know that he was about to create a concerto that would eventually stand as the major work in the history of Norwegian music. To this very day, the “Piano Concerto” remains a tonal realization of national-romantic Norway.

In this recording one you will find Eva Knardahl´s and The Lithuanian National Symphony Orcehstra´s version of the huge success that is Grieg´s A minor concerto. Eva Knardahl has made herself noted as one of Norway´s premier pianists, with a long and copious career which includes everything from a range of recordings and concert tours to radio and TV performances. On this album one also finds pieces from seven of the ten collections of Grieg´s “Lyrical pieces” – a major contribution to the diminutive art of Romanticism. Rather than compiling all of the most well-known examples such as “Troll Parade”, “Bell Chime” or “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen”, pianist Eva Knardahl has selected a number of pieces that are not so frequently played, although they obviously should be.