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Quality wins as Leif Ove Andsnes links Chopin's four ballades with three of the nocturnes / Classical Source

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 tender touch to broadside if unforced fortissimo, clarity and assorted dynamics and colours maintained, rhythms chiselled. The first of Andnes's chosen Nocturnes is the F-major (Opus 15/1), lovingly shaped, and with the thrilling middle section that is as contrasted as can be: a stormy night indeed.

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