Leif Ove Andsnes - Mussorgsky: Pictures Reframed Cd

“Leif Ove Andsnes plays Pictures at an Exhibition with a combination of dedication, virtuosity and understanding which few if any other living pianists bring to it, so – loving the piece as he obviously does – it was entirely understandable that he should wish to draw in a new audience with the complement of images. … Rather than focussing on Victor Hartmann's original paintings, some of which no longer exist, Andsnes and Robin Rhode have created a completely fresh adaptation using animation and film, and much thought has clearly gone into the choice of images.

This works well in the linking 'Promenades' with images of Rhode moving as it were from one picture to another; it also works well at climactic moments such as 'The Great Gate of Kiev', a grand piano is engulfed in torrents of water unleashed from a gigantic lock gate and in 'Bydlo' where the images are menacing black-and-white film of the old railway station in Johannesburg with its echoes of Auschwitz.”