The first ever to record the complete Lyrical Pieces – for RCA in 1963 – Liv Glaser returns to the wonderful world of Edvard Grieg. Celebrating the 100th commemoration of Grieg’s death in 2007 Glaser presents a virtual ‘Greatest Grieg’ collection – this time recorded on an instrument from the composer’s own time.
A piano with vocal qualities
The music of Grieg stems from a time when pianos (as pretty much everything else) weren’t so rigidly uniform as they are today. This new recording is done using an instrument from 1853, where each register has its own individual vocal sound and colour. When played on this type of instrument the melodic genius of Grieg becomes even more obvious. The music unfolds they way it was composed and worked out. Grieg was himself a pianist and as such he knew the instrument very well and also possessed a natural instinct for the expressive potential of the piano.
“…my life’s history.”
Grieg’s creative capacity was strongly influenced by the brighter and darker periods of his life. When his health began to decline and he started to experience depressions, deprived of strength and energy, Grieg in such times could compose no more than these short compositions. He writes in a letter to his publisher “The ten volumes of Lyrical Pieces represent a part of my life’s history.” This is a confidence that, if taken seriously, opens up for an adventurous wandering in a landscape of lyrical treasures.
Liv Glaser (b. 1935)
Since making her debut in 1960 Liv Glaser has been recognized as being amongst the elite of Norwegian pianists, with countless TV and radio concerts and performances. She has toured extensively and given master classes all over the world. Glaser studied with Robert Riefling in Oslo, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Paris with the legendary Vlado Perlemuter, later with Wilhelm Kempff.
In 1990 she once again became a pupil, taking lessons with Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna, studying original manuscripts of Mozart at the NMA, Mozarteum in Salzburg, besides in depth studies of the fortepiano (Hammerklavier) with Malcolm Bilson at Cornell University in the United States. This resulted in a recording of Mozart’s complete piano sonatas. Liv Glaser has been teaching at the Norwegian Academy of Music since it was founded in 1973 and became professor there in 1994. In 2005 Liv Glaser received the prestigious Lindeman Prize.
