Dvorák: Poetic Tone Pictures, Op.85

Description

On his new album, Leif Ove Andsnes presents the most important piano collection of the great romantic composer Antonin Dvorak - the Poetic Tone Pictures, unjustly neglected. According to the Norwegian pianist, these unknown gems show a completely different side of the composer known for his symphonies and string quartets. "I love this music and no one seems to play it," says Andsnes. The 13 postcards for piano that make up Dvorak's Poetic Tone Pictures were composed in the spring of 1889, and signal the stylistic change of a composer moving away from formal constructions towards a more free and inspired aesthetic. Among these charming pieces, there are evocations of magic and mystery (In the Old Castle), rustic dances (Furiant and Peasants' Ballad), nostalgic ambient pieces (Twilight Way), and tragic reminiscences (At the Hero's Grave). The works range from depth to playfulness, from lightness to fury - "I feel a very strong and wonderful narrative in them," says Leif Ove Andsnes, who firmly believes that Dvorak conceived the pieces of this "exceptional" set as a single cycle to be played in one go. One of the most prominent pianists in the world, Andsnes got the idea to play Czech music when a new teacher arrived from Prague at his conservatory in Bergen, Norway. At the age of 12, his enormous fascination for the Poetic Tone Pictures led him to present part of the repertoire at a competition for young pianists. Years later, as the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world, Andsnes took advantage of this downtime to delve deeper into the Poetic Tone Pictures and commune with their stories. He found works of unfailing charm and many examples of Dvorak deploying a breadth of orchestral color from the piano - in addition to his exciting use of cross rhythms and syncopations, in the manner of Czech folk dances.