Leif Ove Andsnes

& Bertrand Chamayou

At 31 years old and terminally ill, Franz Schubert was still frantically composing work after work until shortly before he died. Among the music he wrote in the last year of his life, there are several pieces for four hand piano, including the dramatic Fantasy in F minor. 

For this concert, pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Bertrand Chamayou have juxtaposed Schubert's duets for four hands from 1828 with short pieces by contemporary composer György Kurtág and his playful series Játékok for solo and duo piano. 

When Andsnes and Chamayou performed at the Edinburgh International Festival this autumn, it was said that they played as one. The concert, also broadcast on BBC, received critical acclaim.  

Leif Ove Andsnes is one of Norway's most prominent instrumentalists and has been called 'one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.' He has won eleven Spellemann (Norwegian Grammy) Awards and been Grammy-nominated as many times, and has been well received at the Bergen International Festival on numerous occasions. Bertrand Chamayou is the only 5-time winner of the prestigious Victoires de la Musique Classique award, most recently in 2022. This is the first time they perform together at the Bergen International Festival. 

'… four hands, one voice, and that voice was Schubert's. I am very grateful to have been present to hear it.' – EDINBURGH MUSIC REVIEW

Image: Leif Ove Andsnes (photo: Helge Hansen) and Bertrand Chamayou (photo: Marco Borggreve)

Information

​Leif Ove Andsnes will also participate in the talk Big 5 with Nils and Harald on Friday 31 May.

Andsnes and Chamayou will give Masterclasses during the Festival, and Andsnes will also participate in the Masterclass concert with Prof. Jiri Hlinka Piano Academy.

Debate

A conversation about the piano

Thursday, 30 May at 18.50–19.20, Grieghallen, Spissen. Free with concert ticket. Language: Norwegian.

Geir Olve Skeie is a neurologist and chief physician at Haukeland University Hospital, and a professor at the Grieg Academy, and a trained pianist. Together with piano technician Sarah Rose Ochsner, he delves into the history of the piano and showcases the details of the instrument's mechanics on a big screen.

Contributors

• ​Leif Ove Andsnes piano

• Bertrand Chamayou piano

Music by

• Schubert

• Kurtág​

Works

• Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
  Rondo in A major, D951
  

• György Kurtág (1926–)
  Solo pieces from Játékok (games)

  • Hommage à Farkas Ferenc 3 (Evocation of Petrushka)

  • Les Adieux in Janáčeks Manier 

  • Sirens of the Deluge - Waiting for Noah

  • An Apocryphal Hymn (In the Style of Alfred Schnittke)

  • Hommage à Farkas Ferenc 2 (Scraps of a Colinda Melody - Faintly Recollected)
    
    Four-hand pieces from Játékok

  • Furious Chorale

  • Bells (Hommage à Stravinsky)

  • Hommage à Halmágyi Mihály  

• Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
  Allegro in A minor, D947 'Lebensstrüme'
  

• Interval

• Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
  Fuge in E minor, D952
  

• György Kurtág (1926–)
  Solo pieces from Játékok

  • Aus der Ferne (for Alfred Schlee's 80th birthday)

  • The Little Squall 

  • Hommage à Schubert 

  • Hommage tardif à Karskaya

  • Choral (for Benjamin Rajeczky's 80th birthday)
    
    Four-hand pieces from Játékok

  • Study to 'Hölderlin' (Position Exercise)

  • Kyrie

  • Hommage à Soproni (in memoriam matris carissimae) 

• Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
  Fantasie in F minor, D940
  Allegro molto moderato – Largo – Allegro vivace – Tempo I