Leif Ove Andsnes is the Ian McKellen of the piano. Just as the actor
disappears in his roles, the pianist is transparent behind the music he
plays (quite unlike the otherwise brilliant Lang Lang, whose fingerprints
are all too audible most of the time).

Tonight, in a Davies Hall recital, Andsnes' Bach (Toccata in E minor),
Beethoven (the too-rarely-performed Sonata No. 13), four Sibelius pieces
(including a hypnotic excerpt from "Kyllikki"), fabulous Grieg ("Ballad
in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song"), and six preludes
by Debussy sounded separately and distinctly as Bach, Beethoven, Sibelius,
Grieg, and Debussy - not as one artist performing various works.

Andsnes is a marvelous musician in every way: beyond his self-effacing
ways, his clean (but never bland) performances, there is a plethora of
excellence in his flawless technique and phrasing, the way the makes the
piano sing, how he brings out the inner voice of each work.

Still mysteriously in a kind of second echelon of pianist stardom,
Andsnes is taking top spot every time he performs, the old-fashioned
way: "he earns it" with solid, honest work, quite without the razzle-dazzle
that seems to be necessary in the business.  He is the real deal.  Locally,
the next chance to hear him is at the SF Symphony Brahms Festival, playing
the Second Concerto, at concerts with MTT, May 8-11.
(http://www.sfsymphony.org/season/Event.aspx?eventid=23444).

Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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