Review: Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes makes a case for Dvorak's rarely heard 'Poetic Tone Pictures'

Antonín Dvořák was a master of orchestral and chamber music. But think of his piano music, and what comes to mind?

In 1889, when the most talented composers of piano music — Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Brahms, Satie, Grieg, Albeniz — focused on small works or suites, Dvořák wrote a cycle of 13 pieces lasting nearly an hour. His “Poetic Tone Pictures,” Opus 85, were intended to be played as a single work, although they rarely appear that way on recordings or recitals.

But despite his poetry and finesse, I found sitting through these 13 character pieces ultimately trying. There’s no real sense of progression or arrival through the cycle, and not enough textural contrasts.

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