Reviews



"Listening to these recordings gave us a musical shock not heard from any other strong pianistic personalities. With delicate nuances Einar Steen-Nøkleberg brings out the inner charm of Grieg's music. His brilliant and sensitive interpretations are magic and put him above the earlier recordings of these works."

Diapason CD Review, Paris February 1996
(Nine Stars of Nine Possible)


"Einar Steen-Nøkleberg has tremendous sensitivity to Grieg's multiple nuances of mood, colour and character throughout the discs. His playing brims in turn charm, pathos, nostalgia, simplicity, drama and whatever else is needed -invariably appropriate, straightforward, unaffected and vivid. The Holberg Suite has a performance of unparalleled vigour and charm. It's almost impossible to imagine this music better interpreted."

BBC Music Magazine, London, March 1996
review of Grieg Piano Music, Vols 1 - 4
(Five Stars out of Five Possible)

"The albums of Grieg's piano music can be enthusiastically recommended. Einar Steen-Nøkleberg plays with vigour, rhythmic acuity and tender understanding."

Turok's Choice, Classical CD Review, New York, February 1996

"Einar Steen-Nøkleberg has risen to the demands made on him. His playing is crisp and clear, brilliant when brilliance is needed, and he also has a feeling for the tender wistfulness and warmth, which Grieg surely put at the heart of his music."

Classic CD, London, April 1996
review of Grieg's Piano Music, Vols 1 - 4

"He masters the piano with a virtuosity equal to the best players in history."

Dolomiten, January 16, 1997
Bolzano, Italy



"Under his sensitive hands everything gets its right meaning."

Berliner Morgenpost, June 5, 1997
Berlin, Germany



"Nothing is wanting in Einar Steen-Nøkleberg's performance. There is no greed or a desire for fame. Perhaps this is why the listener feels that the pianist is playing specially for him, seated nearby."

Record Geijutsu, March 1999
Tokyo, Japan



"A pianist of limitless imagination and sensitivity."

Piano Journal, March 1999
London, England



"The performance had the poise and gleaming sonority of a Claudio Arrau."

Fanfare, March 1993
New York, U.S.A.



"Einar Steen-Nøkleberg delivered the real great-style piano playing."

Berlingske Tidende, April 3, 1989
Copenhagen, Denmark



"Einar Steen-Nøkleberg made it sound as if genius musical ideas were created on the spot."

Bergens Tidende, October 30, 1997
Bergen, Norway



"No one plays Grieg with such pride, if necessary. Or the opposite - lures forth the most vulnerable undertones and tightens the expression to a mesmerizing tension."

Dagbladet, January 24, 1997
Oslo, Norway