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Home   >   Projects   >   Franz Liszt - Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works w/TNSC
Leif Ove Andsnes

Franz Liszt - Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works w/TNSC

Sony Classical
Release Date: April 11, 2025

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Leif Ove Andsnes / Classic fm Interview
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes Performs Bagatelle Op. 1 No. 3 by Silvestrov on WQXR
Dvorák's "Spring Song" from Poetic Tone Pictures Performed by Leif Ove Andsnes on WQXR
1 No. 1 in E Major. Andante con moto  
2 No. 2 in E Major. Un poco piu mosso  
3 No. 3 in D-Flat Major. Lento placido  
4 No. 4 in D-Flat Major. Quasi adagio  
5 No. 5 in E Major. Andantino  
6 No. 6 in E Major. Allegretto sempre cantabile  
7 No. 8. Miserere, dapres Palestrina. Largo  
8 No. 9. Andante lagrimoso  
9 Station I Jesus wird zum Tode verdammt  
10 Station II Jesus tragt sein Kreuz  
11 Station III Jesus fallt zum ersten Mal  
12 Station IV Jesus begegnet seiner heiligen Mutter  
13 Station IX Jesus fallt zum dritten Mal  
14 Station V Simon von Kyrene hilft Jesus das Kreuz tragen  
15 Station VI Sancta Veronica  
16 Station VII Jesus fallt zum zweiten Mal  
17 Station VIII Die Frauen von Jerusalem  
18 Station X Jesus wird entkleidet  
19 Station XI Jesus wird ans Kreuz geschlagen  
20 Station XII Jesus stirbt am Kreuze  
21 Station XIII Jesus wird vom Kreuz genommen  
22 Station XIV Jesus wird ins Grab gelegt  
23 Vexilla regis  
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On his latest album “Liszt: Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works” for Sony Classical, Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes unveils the often forgotten side of the famed virtuoso Franz Liszt - the sacred music that offers a more intimate picture of the man and his deeply held faith.

With acclaimed vocal ensemble the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, Andsnes has recorded Liszt’s remarkable late work Via Crucis (The Way of the Cross’) for choir and piano. The pianist completes his all-Liszt album with the solo piano work Consolations and two movements from the composer’s Harmonies poétiques et religieuses.

Franz Liszt is often described as the ‘first virtuoso’ - a superstar pianist and composer who invented the piano recital and whose fame and following in the nineteenth century were unprecedented. Much of Liszt’s reputation hangs on sweeping virtuosic showpieces so technically challenging that only Liszt could play them.

But that is only half the story. In 1847, at the age of just 35, Liszt retired from public performance to focus on writing and teaching. Thirteen years later he took another step back, taking Holy Orders and embarking upon a new life of religious devotion and creative introspection.

In this later period, a new aesthetic took root in Liszt, one characterized by austere, spare and sometimes inscrutable musical utterances that tended to question more than they assert. ‘I find Liszt’s religious music fascinating,’ says Andsnes, who has lived with Liszt’s music since childhood. ‘This is very different music, with so few notes but with a tension and beauty.’

One of the major statements of Liszt’s late period was Via Crucis, a journey
through the Roman Catholic tradition’s Stations of the Cross for choir and piano, written in Rome in 1866 but considered too unusual by Liszt’s publisher and never performed in the composer’s lifetime. It wasn’t until 1929 that the work was given its first airing, on Good Friday, in the capital of the composer’s native Hungary, Budapest.

  • Leif Ove Andsnes, an insightful champion returns Tveitt to the Wigmore stage / The Guardian
    Posted At: January 13, 2025
    The New York Times calls Leif Ove Andsnes “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power, and insight,” and the Wall Street Journal names him “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.” With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, the celebrated Norwegian pianist has won acclaim worldwide, playing concertos and recitals in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestr...

  • theStrad reviews Dover Quartet, Leif Ove Andsnes - Turina, Dohnanyi, Brahms at NYC's Zankel - Carnegie Hall
    Posted At: July 17, 2024
    Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet is one of the world’s most in-demand chamber ensembles. The Dover Quartet is the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and holds additional residencies at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and the Walton Arts Center’s Arto...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes makes a 'Beethoven Journey' on 91.1 & 107.5WSHU
    Posted At: October 25, 2023
    With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, Leif Ove Andsnes has won worldwide acclaim, performing in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestras. An avid chamber musician, he is also the founding director of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival.Following the success of the “Beethoven Journey” collaboration, Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra partner for the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes Introduces Antonin Dvorak's 'Poetic Tone Pictures' on Toledo's FM91: Classical Conversations
    Posted At: March 31, 2023
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes chats with North Eastern Florida's WFSU Public Media about Dvorak's 'Poetic Tone Pictures'
    Posted At: January 17, 2023
    With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, Leif Ove Andsnes has won worldwide acclaim, performing in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestras. An avid chamber musician, he is also the founding director of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival.Following the success of the “Beethoven Journey” collaboration, Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra partner for the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes shows his love for Dvorak's 'Poetic Tone Pictures' / yourClassical - New Classical Tracks
    Posted At: January 11, 2023
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures. According to the Norwegian pianis...

  • All Classical Portland reviews 'Poetic Tone Pictures' & chats with Leif Ove Andsnes
    Posted At: January 3, 2023
    With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, Leif Ove Andsnes has won worldwide acclaim, performing in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestras. An avid chamber musician, he is also the founding director of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival.Following the success of the “Beethoven Journey” collaboration, Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra partner for the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Dvorak Poetic Tone Pictures, Op. 85 will bring this imaginative cycle proper attention / Audiophile Audition
    Posted At: December 13, 2022
    Audiophile Audition's Gary Lemco writes…While Dvorak’s reputation rests mainly on his symphonic, chamber music, and concerto output, as well as song cycles and operas, he did pen some imposing – and charming – keyboard works, including his set of 13 pieces from 1889 he calls Poetic Tone Pictures, Op. 85. Almost two generations ago, Anton Kubalek (1935-2011) recorded these intriguing miniatures, a suite in s...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes discusses his album of Dvorak's Poetic Tone Pictures with Winnipeg's Classic 107
    Posted At: December 7, 2022
    On October 28th, 2022 Sony Classical released the latest recording from the exceptional Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. This latest CD features Antonin Dvorak’s rather unfamiliar thirteen piano pieces that are called his Poetic Tone Pictures.This music is quintessentially Czech, but has the same intimacy and friendliness as Robert Schuman’s great piano cycles. Each of the pieces in the Poetic Tone Pictu...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes discusses Dvorak's unjustly neglected 'Poetic Tone Pictures' with Classical Radio
    Posted At: December 6, 2022
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes plays Dvorak's 'Poetic Tone Pictures' with a storytelling spirit right from the start / BBC Music Magazine
    Posted At: December 1, 2022
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Dvorak: Poetic Tone Pictures is the WFMT: Featured New Release'
    Posted At: November 30, 2022
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes@Wigmore Hall. Brooding richness and fiery fervour / theartsdesk
    Posted At: November 22, 2022
    Diverse programme of bold, physical music plays to the Norwegian’s strengthstheartsdesk - Gavin Dixon writes….Leif Ove Andsnes has a distinctive voice at the piano; clear, controlled and powerful. He sits upright; his body barely moves, and his head sways gently to the melodies. But he never loses himself in the music, he is always in control.Andsnes is a player of considerable power, especially as it all c...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Dvorak: Poetic Tone Pictures. Brilliant, skittish, fairytale gems brought to light / The Guardian
    Posted At: November 17, 2022
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes, winding and weaving an intricate pattern for each of the 13 'Dvorak - Poetic Tone Pictures' / VAN
    Posted At: November 17, 2022
    ‘I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes does 'Dvorak's 'Poetic Tone Pictures' justice with a highly imaginative performance / THE CLASSIC REVIEW
    Posted At: October 31, 2022
    THE CLASSIC REVIEW writes…Coming off a two-part series of Mozart works, Leif Ove Andsnes explores a different avenue in presenting Dvorák’s Op. 85 Poetic Tone Pictures. These works are hardly the composer’s most prominent. However, that might be just the point for the pianist, who has had an inclination for the path less taken: his 2017 Sibelius album also presented the composer’s less-featured piano works....

  • Leif Ove Andsnes tackles Dvorak's charming miniatures with gleaming luminosity / FINANCIAL TIMES
    Posted At: October 28, 2022
    'I have to say I think this is the great forgotten cycle of the 19th century piano music. Maybe those are big words, but I do feel that,’ states Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his latest release on Sony Classical. On this album, he presents the most substantial piano collection by the great Romantic composer Antonín Dvorák - the unjustly neglected Poetic Tone Pictures.According to the Norwegian pianist, the...

  • 89.3WQED-Pittsburgh chats with Leif Ove Andsnes about 'Mozart Momentum'
    Posted At: August 22, 2022
    “As masterly and finished and perfect as the music itself” – The Telegraph  (on Mozart Momentum 1785)Leif Ove Andsnes releases a second Mozart Momentum album with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, presenting a portrait of the master composer during the years in which his writing for the piano was at its most revolutionary, creative and game-changing. Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra f...

  • Exquisite grace brings Mozart's storytelling to life@Proms 28&29 w/Leif Ove Andsnes, Mahler Chamber Orch / TheGuardian
    Posted At: August 8, 2022
    In two concerts of Mozart works from 1785 and 1786, Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra collaborated as creative equals, with pristine focus and quicksilver touchTheGuardian's Flora Willson writes…First Beethoven, now Mozart: Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is one of classical music’s completists. But where his so-called Beethoven Journey with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra could straightforw...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes continues his momentum with Mozart / yourClassical: New Classical Tracks
    Posted At: May 11, 2022
    Leif Ove Andsnes releases a second Mozart Momentum album with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, presenting a portrait of the master composer during the years in which his writing for the piano was at its most revolutionary, creative and game-changing. “As masterly and finished and perfect as the music itself” – The Telegraph  (on Mozart Momentum 1785) Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orche...

  • Mozart 1786: Andsnes returns! / Classical Explorer
    Posted At: April 19, 2022
    A fine companion to Mozart 1785!Classical Explorer's Colin Clarke writes….A little while ago Classical Explorer looked at Mozart 1785, part of a project called "Mozart Momentum" and featuring the Norwegian pianist Leif-Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Here's the natural follow-up, MM1786, a mix of Piano Concertos (Nos. 23 and 24), the Recitative and Aria "Ch'io mo scordi di te ... Non temer, am...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - NPR: Tiny Desk (home) Concert
    Posted At: April 8, 2022
    NPR's Tom Huizenga writes…..The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.The Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is binging Mozart. He's just released his second double album in a row of th...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes chats with classical radio about second Mozart Momentum album with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
    Posted At: April 5, 2022
    “As masterly and finished and perfect as the music itself” – The Telegraph  (on Mozart Momentum 1785)Leif Ove Andsnes releases a second Mozart Momentum album with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, presenting a portrait of the master composer during the years in which his writing for the piano was at its most revolutionary, creative and game-changing. Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra f...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Mozart Momentum 1785 makes Pianist Magazine's 'Top 10 piano album releases of 2021'
    Posted At: December 15, 2021

    Pianist Magazine' writes....2021 has treated us to a huge number of new releases from our favourite pianists. Here we've gathered our favourite 10 of the year... Included on our list is Mozart Momentum 1785 – Leif Ove Andsnes.   This album is the first of two releases by Andsnes which looks at the remarkable years of 1785-86 in Mozart's life. A lot was happening in 1785; th...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Mozart Momentum 1785 makes CRB's 'Instant Replay'
    Posted At: September 16, 2021

    "Mellow" is the name of the game in WCRB: Boston 30th (!) edition of Instant Replay! Chill out with us when you listen to this playlist of our favorite music of the month, featuring Ben Folds, the Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith, and more. This series highlights CRB's favorite music of the moment – discoveries we've made when we're at home cooking or cleaning, at the office, or out and about. ...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Mozart Momentum 1785 is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: July 1, 2021

    Mozart Momentum 1785 is the first of two releases on which pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra explore the remarkable years of 1785/86 in Mozart's life. In 1781, aged 25, Mozart made the bold move of going freelance. With both public and private concerts taking place on a daily basis, Vienna was the place to be for an ambitious young composer and performer, and Mozart was quick to r...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes chats with 90.9WGUC - Cincinnati about recording Mozart during the pandemic
    Posted At: June 14, 2021

    WGUC's Elaine Diehl writes....Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes was born in Karmøy, Norway in 1970, and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory under the renowned Czech professor Jirí Hlinka. This Summer he releases the new project, Mozart Momentum 1785/1786 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The first of two planned Sony Classical releases features Mozart's piano concertos Nos. 20, 21 and 22 a...

  • Countdown to 'Mozart Momentum' with Leif Ove Andsnes leading the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
    Posted At: May 4, 2019

    The Kickoff is on   11 & 12 May 2019 - Frankfurt | Alte Oper Frankfurt,  followed by 5 more dates 14 May 2019 - Berlin | Berliner Philharmoniker 16 May 2019 - Grenoble | MC2: Maison de la culture de Grenoble 17 May 2019 - Evian | La Grange au Lac 18 May 2019 - Paris | Théâtre des Champs-Elysées 19 May 2019 - Lisbon | Gulbenkian Música Communic...

  • Quality wins as Leif Ove Andsnes links Chopin's four ballades with three of the nocturnes / Classical Source
    Posted At: January 8, 2019

    Short-measure playing time, high-calibre musicianship from Leif Ove Andsnes as he links Chopin's Four Ballades with three of the Nocturnes. Quality wins. Andsnes commands immediately with the opening of the G-minor Ballade, a man with a firm opinion as to how this music goes. From dramatic introduction to elfin dexterity via lyrical song, there is a story to be told, and Andsnes tells it like it is, with...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes connects the building blocks on new Chopin recording / Classical Music Sentinel
    Posted At: November 13, 2018

    One of the many aspects I admire about Leif Ove Andsnes' playing, is that he can always extract gold from the soil without the need for a pickax and shovel. By this I mean that unlike some pianists, he doesn't fuss over details or feel the need to micromanage, or manipulate each and every note as if it holds a key to the expressive narrative of a piece. He sees the arc, the long line of a composi...

  • Classical radio says; Leif Ove Andsnes - Chopin Ballades & Nocturnes is a must-hear recording / ClassicalMPR: Major Themes
    Posted At: October 24, 2018

    Welcome to Major Themes, a monthly feature in which classical music experts recommend a must-hear recording based on what's happening at classical stations and programs around the country. This month, we checked in with friends in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and California, as well as American Public Media. Here are their top picks. There are many recordings of Chopin on the market. That said, I...

  • Leif Ove Andsnes - Chopin: Ballades and Nocturnes is WFMT 'Featured New Release'
    Posted At: October 15, 2018

    Leif Ove Andsnes, "a pianist of magisterial elegance, power and insight" (New York Times), intersperses Chopin's four Ballades – works immense in the range and power of their expression – with three of his nocturnes. The new album represents the Norwegian pianist's first recording of Chopin's music in more than a decade. "There were quite a few years where I didn't play much Chopin. He felt c...

  • Watch Leif Ove Andsnes discuss new recording 'Chopin Ballades & Nocturnes'
    Posted At: September 8, 2018

    "I recorded Chopin's 3 Piano Sonatas 25 years ago and (and) very little in the mean time. But I've always loved Chopin. It's such elusive music and with such diversity of emotion and but it has just grown on me and I now feel such a need for playing more of that. It just tells me something that no other music can tell." - Leif Ove Andsnes Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes speaks about his album "Cho...

  • Final preparations underway for the Prague Spring music festival / Radio Praha
    Posted At: May 10, 2018

    Final preparations are underway for the Prague Spring music festival, which begins on Saturday evening May 12 with the traditional rendition of Smetana's My Country at the Municipal House. The festival runs through June 3rd, and as always, it will showcase a plethora of major names in classical music. But this year there will also be a special focus on the centenary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia.&n...

  • For the Chopin Ballades, Leif Ove Andsnes knew he had to choose the right space / Borneo Bulletin
    Posted At: May 10, 2018

    When he sat down to his longtime goal of recording Chopin's famously demanding Ballades, the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes knew he had to choose the right space. The Norwegian virtuoso, who has spent the past season as the artiste-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic, has developed an intuition on the relationship between settings and the great composers whose works he brings to life. "With Beethoven, fo...

  • Trifonov and Andsnes - different generations, same curiosity / The New York Times
    Posted At: May 4, 2018

    The pianists Daniil Trifonov, 27, and Leif Ove Andsnes, 48, are at very different places in their careers. But as both have had major presences in New York this season, I've been struck by how similarly these exceptional pianists approached the coveted platforms they were handed. Mr. Trifonov, who had a Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall, has always been able to toss off Liszt and Chopin étu...
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