MUSIC

Society for the Performing Arts (SPA), bringing the world’s best to Houston, presents Leif Ove Andsnes: Pictures Reframed. 2 pm, Sunday, November 22, 2009, in Wortham Center's Cullen Theater.

“The most accomplished pianist of the new generation” (The New York Times), Norway’s international piano star Leif Ove Andsnes debuts with Pictures Reframed, a fascinating, multimedia collaboration that is centered around Mussorgsky’s epic piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition with video installation by South African artist Robin Rhode. The program also includes selections from Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15; What becomes/Was wird, a new work composed by Thomas Larcher; and Candle, a solo work by Robin Rhode that is without music. An afternoon extraordinaire!

Andsnes has been referred to as “an eminently sensual musician, an artist capable of grace and introspection” by the Financial Times whilst the BBC Music Magazine commented on “how hard it is to over-praise the vitality and distinction of this princely pianist.” Andsnes has recorded over 30 discs spanning repertoire from Bach to the present day, been nominated for seven Grammies and awarded many international prizes. His latest disc released in Spring 2009, entitled “Shadows of Silence”, features works by the Danish composer Bent Sørensen and the French Marc-André Dalbavie both of which works Leif Ove Andsnes premiered at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Proms respectively.

This year also sees the culmination of several years of planning for a project centered around Mussorgsky’s epic piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition which will be premiered in New York in November and toured throughout Europe. Pictures Reframed sees the collaboration of Andsnes and South African artist Robin Rhode who is creating a video installation for a transcendental program which will culminate in Mussorgsky's masterpiece. EMI Classics will release the program on both CD and DVD, and Norwegian TV is documenting the project on film.

Leif Ove Andsnes has received Norway’s most distinguished honor, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. In 2007, he received the prestigious Peer Gynt Prize, awarded by members of parliament to honor prominent Norwegians for their achievements in politics, sports, and culture. Andsnes has also received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award, the Gilmore Artist Award, four Gramophone Awards and seven Grammy nominations – including a nomination for this year’s Awards for his latest recording of Mozart piano concertos with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Saluting his many achievements, Vanity Fair named Andsnes one of the “Best of the Best” in 2005.

Andsnes was born in Karmøy, Norway, in 1970 and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory under the renowned Czech professor Jiri Hlinka. Andsnes currently lives in Copenhagen and Bergen, and also spends much time at his mountain home in Norway’s western Hardanger area. He is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, a Visiting Professor at the Royal Music Conservatory of Copenhagen and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

StatoilHydro is the Commissioning Sponsor of Pictures Reframed.

Photo credit: Simon Fowler.