Leif Ove Andsnes explores the introspective side of Franz Liszt in program that pairs his Via Crucis for choir and piano with a selection of solo works that do not call for the composer’s trademark showmanship or virtuosity.

Via Crucis is unlike any other work in the repertoire: a concentrated ritual drama, ranging from liturgical chant to Lisztian chromaticism at its most searching and expressive. It sets a pianist and choir in dialogue with one another, each performing alone as well as together. “This is something very different,” says Andsnes. “It is incredible, the journey Liszt made as a composer, from this very flamboyant virtuosic style to [Via Crucis], which is very bare, with so few notes, but still an incredible tension and beauty. It points forward to the twentieth century while also building on the tradition of scared music.” Andsnes is joined by the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir conducted by Grete Pedersen.

The all-Liszt program is rounded out with the reflective and intimate Consolations, written on the eve of Liszt’s retirement from public performance, and two movements from Liszt’s Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, a 10-movement cycle inspired by poetry by Alphonse de Lamartine.