Leif Ove Andsnes, Barbican, London, review: 'Efficient but undistinguished'

We don’t normally think of Sibelius as a composer for the piano, and neither – according to a Barbican programme-note – did he, dismissing the piano as ‘not interesting’ because ‘it cannot sing’. But he wrote more than 150 pieces for it, about which opinions range from the commonly-held view that they are unidiomatic to Glenn Gould’s assertion that ‘everything works – but on its own terms’. Enter the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, with a mission to rescue this music from oblivion, playing six of those 150 pieces.

The first of the two Impromptus Opus 5 was indeed a sparky affair, with pearlized cascades alternating with a sweetly-singing melody, but the second was a piece of noodling which seemed to go on forever. Next came a Rondino followed by an Elegiaco, one perky and the other moody, then a folk-dance-like Commodo and a Rachmaninov-style Romance. If these are the best of the bunch, God help the rest, because this was simply salon music.

The rest of this recital was a mixed bag, with a deftly controlled rendition of Beethoven’s ‘Hunt’ sonata, followed by Debussy’s Estampes and ending with three pieces by Chopin. The Debussy was rather pallid; Chopin’s second and fourth Ballades and his F major Nocturne were efficient but undistinguished.