Grieg: Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7

“Primitive recording technology had previously rendered these precious historical documents musically indecipherable, but thanks to the painstaking efforts of producer Tony Harrison they now sound amazingly vivid...Slåttebrekk has fully absorbed Grieg's fresh and engaging interpretative approach, and imaginatively applies it to his own marvellous performances” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 *****

“Slåttebrekk has painstakingly and brilliantly mimicked every last inflection, nuance and tempo employed by Grieg. Flick between the two men playing the same tracks and, if it weren't for the hiss over the 1903 version, you'd struggle to tell them apart. Slåttebrekk's overall aim was more than mimicry though...His reading of the Piano Concerto, recorded without a 1903 version to imitate, demonstrates his success, positively crackling with freshness and vitality.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 *****

“The performances by Sigurd Slåtterbrekk stem from a forensic examination of those recordings, during which every nuance of Grieg's playing was studied.” The Guardian, 31st March 2011 ***

“This is a strange set, but a curiously compelling one as well...Just how exactly the two pianists match one another can be judged from a bit of studio trickery in which the well-known Wedding Day at Troldhaugen splices their performances together...this is certainly a project that gets you thinking.” The Telegraph, 7th April 2011 ****

“[The performances] seek to emulate rather than imitate...Tempi are invariably on the brisk side and Grieg's own performances, heard very much through a glass darkly, are of a zest, freshness and freedom that themselves are at the heart of Slåttebrekk's playing...these performances are of a moving poetic empathy and musical devotion.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2011

“Steen-Nøkleberg is entirely inside this music. He manages to make the familiar pieces sound fresh, and the less familiar... are most imaginatively played.” Gramophone Magazine

“These are the first four volumes of a complete Grieg cycle which stretches to no fewer than 14 discs. Since they are all at super-budget price they make a very competitive alternative to other complete or near-complete surveys. Einar Steen-Nøkleberg came into prominence during the 1970s and won numerous Norwegian and other prizes. He was professor of the piano at the Hanover Musikhochschule for a number of years and is the author of a monograph on Grieg's piano music and its interpretation.
8 550881: The first disc juxtaposes early pieces, the Sonata, Op 7, the Op 6 Humoresques and the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak, all written in the mid-1890s with his very last piano work, Stimmungen (or 'Moods'), Op 73. He plays these bold and original pieces with great flair and understanding. Whatever its limitations there's much greater range in Grieg's piano music than is commonly realised and Steen-Nøkleberg is attuned to the whole spectrum it covers, whether in the Bartókian 'Mountaineer's Song' from the Op 73 to the charm and innocence of the Allegretto con grazia, the third of the Humoresques, Op 6. 8 550882: The 19Norwegian Folksongs (1896) are remarkable pieces as Grieg himself knew. He wrote to the Dutch composer, Julius Röntgen, of having 'put some hair-raising chromatic chords on paper.
The excuse is that they originated not on the piano but in my mind.' Readers will recognise No 14 as the source of the theme for Delius's Onhearing the first cuckoo in spring. Steen-Nøkleberg plays them with great tonal finesse and consummate artistry.
8 550883: The most substantial work on this disc is the Ballade which Grieg wrote on his parents' death. This recording can hold its own with the best in this healthy area of the catalogue – even if there are moments when Steen-Nøkleberg seems too discursive. Yet what an imaginative colour he produces in the Adagio variation when the music suddenly melts pianissimo.8 550884: The Norwegian Peasant Dances are amazing pieces for their period, and though their audacity and dissonance were later overtaken by Bartók, they still retain their capacity to surprise. The playing conveys the extraordinary character and originality of these pieces as do few others. The smaller pieces contained on this disc – as well as on its companions – are full of rewards.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The playing is full of imagination, character and sensitivity and the recordings... are very natural too. I would recommend them strongly even had they been at full price.” Gramophone Magazine

“Birkeland and Gimse play it with enough imaginative vitality and warmth to melt the proverbial heart of stone.” Gramophone Magazine