Despite often being labeled as 'easy repertoire' for students, the Lyric Pieces demand significant skill and musicality for a beautiful and genuine interpretation.
Composer Biography
Edvard Grieg composed 66 Lyric Pieces, grouped into ten opus numbers, throughout his life, from his early twenties to age fifty-eight.
Album & Artwork
This album compiles twenty-one Lyric Pieces, arranged by Daniel Gortler into a 'colourful travelogue' of contrasting moods and vistas, rather than in chronological order.
Notable Performances
Edvard Grieg himself recorded a handful of his Lyric Pieces on wax disc in Paris in May 1903, offering a rare glimpse into his own pianism.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Grieg intended his piano music, including the Lyric Pieces, to be played and enjoyed in every fisherman's and peasant's hut in Norway where a piano was present.
Performer Biography
Daniel Gortler, the acclaimed Israeli-American pianist on this recording, has performed as a soloist with orchestras worldwide and collaborated with esteemed conductors like Zubin Mehta and Valery Gergiev.
Compositional Technique
Grieg's harmonic language was inspired by the hidden harmonic possibilities he found in Norwegian folk songs, which he described as an 'enigma'.
