Le Piano Symphonique: Leonskaja, Sanderling, Fray

Lucerne’s piano festival Le Piano Symphonique is back with an absolutely thrilling third edition!
Recorded on the 17th and 18th of January, celebrated Elisabeth Leonskaja performs Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13, a beautiful collection of contrasting masterpieces that commence with a sepulchral march and evolve into a bright triumphant melody. She also plays Schubert’s Allegro in A Minor, written in the final year of the composer’s life and recognizable by its thunderous opening chords, perfectly illustrating its title “Storms of Life”— is performed to perfection by the exceptional David Fray.
On the programme is also Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 51, the only concertante work by the composer. An instant critical success, Grieg’s masterpiece was composed in Denmark but is filled with Norwegian melodies and a sense of melancholy for his native land.