Grieg: The Complete Piano Music, Vol. 6 (1987)

You go, girl! Seriously, everyone ought to hear pianist Eva Knardahl kick the stuffing out of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 as transcribed for solo piano by the composer himself. There hasn't been anything like it since Horowitz took on "The Star Spangled Banner." Listen to her left hand thump the repeated descending octaves in the bass, listen to her right hand slam the driving melody in the treble, listen to her thumbs and forefingers smash the chords in the middle. And that's not ... Read More

You go, girl! Seriously, everyone ought to hear pianist Eva Knardahl kick the stuffing out of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 as transcribed for solo piano by the composer himself. There hasn't been anything like it since Horowitz took on "The Star Spangled Banner." Listen to her left hand thump the repeated descending octaves in the bass, listen to her right hand slam the driving melody in the treble, listen to her thumbs and forefingers smash the chords in the middle. And that's not all Knardahl can do. Everyone ought to hear the soaring soulfulness of her "Morning Melody" or the aching dolefulness of "The Death of Aase" from the same suite or the haunting sorrow of her "Ingrid's Lament" or the yearning simplicity of her "Solveig's Song" from the second suite. And that's not all Knardahl can do. Her performance of the transcription of the suite from "Sigurd Jorsalfar" is nearly as fine with a particularly dramatic "Borghild's Dream" and an especially rousing... Read Less