[youtube.com/watch?v=mD1lFO6dLPo]

Edvard Grieg – Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano.
Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Mariss Jansons.

The concerto is in three movements:
  *Allegro molto moderato (A minor)
  *Adagio (D flat major)
  *Allegro moderato molto e marcato – Quasi presto – Andante   maestoso (A minor → F major → A minor → A major)

Cover of Edvard Grieg

The first movement is noted for the timpani roll in the first bar that leads to a dramatic piano flourish. The movement is in the Sonata form. The movement finishes with a virtuosic cadenza and a similar flourish as in the beginning.
The second movement is a lyrical movement in D flat major, which leads directly into the third movement.
The third movement opens in A minor 4/4 time with an energetic theme (Theme 1), which is followed by a lyrical 3/4 theme in F Major (Theme 2). The movement returns to Theme 1. Following this recapitulation is the 3/4 A Major Quasi presto section, which consists of a variation of Theme 1. The movement concludes with the Andate maestoso in A Major (or in A mixolydian), which consists of a dramatic rendition of Theme 2 (as opposed to the lyrical fashion with which Theme 2 is introduced).
Performance time of the whole concerto is around 28 minutes.

Edvard Grieg: Born in Bergen 1843.

Cover of Berliner Philharmoniker

After being taught piano by his mother, he went to the Leipzig Conservatory at the age of 15 to study music where his teachers included Ignaz Moscheles and Carl Reinecke. He then lived in Copenhagen and came under the influence of Niels W.
Gade who encouraged him to compose a symphony and there also met fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak who inspired Grieg to champion the cause of Norwegian music. He went on to become his country’s greatest and most famous composer who excelled in many genres including orchestral, chamber, solo piano, vocal and choral. His output of purely orchestral music was small but included
his Piano Concerto, Symphonic Dances and the 2 Suites derived from his incidental music to Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt.”

Painters:
Ludvig Skramstad
Nils Hansteen
Philip Barlag
Ole Juul
Thorolf Holmboe
Sophus Jacobsen
Lyder Wenzel Nicolaysen
Niels Björnson Möller