Leif Ove Andsnes Spotlight, Barbican Centre

For Leif Ove Andsnes, the piano is an instrument of infinite possibilities. Over the past two and a half decades, he has won awards and accolades for every composer he's turned his hands to. Once a bright prodigy, Andsnes is now in the prime of his career.
Fresh from galvanising the BBC Proms 2015 with his Beethoven journey and enlightening television screens with his documentary Concerto, he will return to London for the Barbican’s 2016 LSO Artist Spotlight. Over four evenings, Andsnes will play with the orchestra, in recital and alongside some equally-vaunted friends, covering a repertoire that spans the whole of the romantic era.
The season begins with two sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra, each of which will see Andses tackle one of the great concerti. First, on 8 May, he will play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 (1785), originally played by the composer himself and later treasured by Beethoven and Brahms. It will be followed by Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 (1973), a work of Wagnerian dimensions that the composer repeatedly revised. Daniel Harding, LSO Prinipal Guest Conductor, will wave the baton. A few days later, on 12 May, his colleague Michael Tillson Thomas (Rhapsody in Blue) will take over. After Andsnes plays Schumann’s Piano Concerto (1845) – one of the cornerstones of romanticism – the orchestra will launch into the most irrepressible and exuberant of symphonies, Beethoven’s No. 9 (1824).

Then, on 28 May at Milton Court, there is a very special concert indeed. Brahms’ Piano Quartets (1861; 1875) are chamber pieces with the dimensions of a symphony, at turns impassioned and intimate. To play all three, Andsnes has drawn together a group of the world’s finest soloists: the ever-precise Christian Tetzlaff on violin, the charismatic Tabea Zimmermann on viola and the mesmerising Clemens Hagen on cello. All four musicians are a huge draw individually. Together, they will be essential.
All good things must come to an end, and Andsnes’ time with the LSO does on 10 June with a solo recital. It begins in the realm of nature, with several Sibelius works and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 18 (1802), often nicknamed ‘The Hunt.’ Afterwards, there’s the impressionist beauty of Debussy, before the series closes with three Chopin pieces. It looks to be a fitting close to a must-see series.