Eva Knardahl was a legend in her native Norway and played a major part in its musical life. She made her début with orchestra at the age of 12, playing no less than three works with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in one evening: Johann Sebastian Bach’s F minor Concerto, Joseph Haydn’s D major Concerto and Carl Maria von Weber’s Concert Piece. Eva Knardahl’s piano-playing technique covered a broad spectrum. Her playing was brilliant but, as one major critic expressed it, ‘it is particularly the vitality radiating from her playing that is fascinating, an optimistic life force, an irresistible will to shape and express, and a constant involvement’. She studied under Mary Barratt-Due, continuing her studies under Ivar Johnsen. At the age of 20 she moved to the USA where she was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra for fifteen years. Upon her return to Norway the public received her with open arms. Her first national tour was arranged immediately, to be followed by numerous others, and she soon became a regular guest in Norway’s concert halls as well as on radio and television. Until she began to ration her public appearances in the 1990s, Eva Knardahl also toured internationally, giving numerous concerts in Europe, the USA, the Soviet Union and China.
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