I have already reviewed eight CDs of Grieg's piano music this year, and as yet do not feel that I have had a surfeit. The Lyric Pieces, for instance, when played with a fresh, poetic approach, emerge as masterpieces, so entirely Grieg's own creation are they in their disarming simplicity. Andrei Gavrilov contributes a note to the accompanying booklet of this CD that tells of his long-term identification with Norway and Scandinavian culture. I respect this. In a clever bit of programming not alluded to in the notes, he starts off with the ''Arietta'' from the Op. 12 set, and concludes with ''Remembrances'' from Op. 71, a piece that draws heavily on the former for its melodic line and form.
Overall, though, I find there is an element of contrivance about the project that hints at a faintly patronizing attitude to the music. This is by no means always the case: the overtly dance-like Lyric Pieces all splendidly done (with the exception of the ''March of the Trolls'', which is much too fast for the Allegro moderato marking). It is when the music is slow that Gavrilov has a tendency to sound unconvincing. The opening ''Arietta'' is saccharine, the ''Shepherd boy'' so measured that it is static, and ''Gone'' gloomy and brooding in the extreme, making Grieg appear unbearably self-indulgent.
But, on the other hand, I have never heard the ''Nocturne'' from Op. 54 played more beautifully. Here the Russian relaxes, and his lucid, perfectly poised pianism allows his inspiration to soar. Sadly, to my mind, he is never as effective as this elsewhere on the disc, however aurally attractive his playing may be. Sound quality is basically of a high standard, though I didn't care for the way some loud notes had been amplified in the ''Shepherd boy''.'