Grieg: Lyric Pieces

Grieg's 66 Lyric Pieces range from simple pretty tunes like the early "Arietta" that opens this disc to more extended pieces like the dashing "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen" to impressionistic miniature tone poems like the late "Summer Evening." Here, Andsnes plays 24 of them, well-chosen to cover a representative selection from the complete sets. He plays them beautifully, with a lovely tone, virtuoso polish when such is called for, as in the express ride of "March of the Trolls," and poetic depth of feeling, as in "The Brook," where in his interpretation you can almost smell the grass and see the light ripples of the water. Gilels's selection on DG, with minimum overlap, is still unmatched, but Andsnes's well-recorded recital is a source of endless pleasures. Of added interest, the recording was made at Grieg's home, now a museum, on his 1892 Steinway. --Dan Davis