Sara Aimee Smiseth - Agathe Backer Gr�ndahl: Piano Works

Hailed by George Bernard Shaw as one of the 19th century�s greatest virtuoso pianists, Agathe Backer Gr�ndahl was also a pioneer among women composers, juggling marriage, motherhood and an extensive career. She was taught by Liszt in Weimar, and as one of Norway�s most respected composer-pianists, created a large body of work that displays colourful stylistic variety and poetic breadth. The beautiful S�r�nade from Trois Morceaux, Op. 15 may well be Backer Gr�ndahl�s most popular piano composition, but her concert �tudes are virtuoso masterpieces � the folk-tune arrangements drawn from her Op. 30 and Op. 33 sets illustrate her perceptive absorption of her country�s folk music. The remarkable fairy-tale suite I blaafjellet, Op. 44 is possibly the first impressionist piece by a Norwegian composer.