Benny Andersson has been very busy lately promoting and presenting his new album 'Piano' which will be released on 29 September 2017 on vinyl & CD on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
Read all about his appearances and watch some fabulous videos of Benny playing tracks from the album below đ
For those wondering if the 'Piano' song book was coming. It is!
The book is currently still being finalised in terms of production materials. It is due to be a Wise Publications release through Music Sales and the release should be on the same day as the CD.
http://www.musicsales.com/
Benny Andersson plays Thank You For The Music at Radiopreis-Gala 2017 in Hamburg:
On German TV:
Benny Andersson at the German tv program Leute Heute (People today) during his participation at the traditional meeting of Universal Music Deutschland "Universal Inside 2017" on September 6th (Mercedes Benz Arena, Berlin)
Deutscher Radiopreis 2017 (German Radioprice 2017)
Founded in 1972, ABBA began two years later with "Waterloo" and the Grand Prix victory. Benny
Andersson could never read, but hits: "SOS", "Winner Takes It All" and
"Dancing Queen" are just a few of the countless hit singles. 380 million records have sold ABBA, three million are added annually. Today,
Benny Andersson is the musical director of the "Mamma Mia" production,
with 54 million visitors, one of the most successful musicals and the
world's best selling films.
Life story in the form of songs
This autumn, the Swede returns with a new album. "Piano" means, and Benny Andersson presents his greatest hits exclusively on that instrument. "It feels like I'm playing my memoirs," the exceptional musician describes the work on the new work. At the Radiopreis-Gala, Benny Andersson presented a chapter from this "life-work" on the piano: He played "Thank You For The Music" - and everyone sang along.
This autumn, the Swede returns with a new album. "Piano" means, and Benny Andersson presents his greatest hits exclusively on that instrument. "It feels like I'm playing my memoirs," the exceptional musician describes the work on the new work. At the Radiopreis-Gala, Benny Andersson presented a chapter from this "life-work" on the piano: He played "Thank You For The Music" - and everyone sang along.
There were also radio stations outside the Elphi: 62 radios broadcast the show live, with stars like Peter Maffay, Nigel Kennedy, ABBA legend Benny Andersson and Adel Tawil. On the net there was a Livestream, on Twitter the event under the hashtags # drp17 and #Radiopreis diligently commented.
The Radiopreis Gala 2017
Elphi-Chic and Star-Glamor: In Hamburg the German Radiopreis has been awarded. Enjoy the gala with Peter Maffay, Nigel Kennedy and Benny Andersson and many other stars.
Time-delayed broadcasting on the TV
Barbara Schöneberger, a presenter with a spectacular gala show, has even been televised on television. All third-party programs of the ARD show a recording of the Radiopreis gala by the weekend.
The German Radiopreis was awarded for the eighth time and is the most important award in the industry. The best reporters, moderators, news editors or newcomers were sought in eleven categories. This year, 127 programs competed with more than 380 applications for the awards - a new record.
Elphi-Chic and Star-Glamor: In Hamburg the German Radiopreis has been awarded. Enjoy the gala with Peter Maffay, Nigel Kennedy and Benny Andersson and many other stars.
Time-delayed broadcasting on the TV
Barbara Schöneberger, a presenter with a spectacular gala show, has even been televised on television. All third-party programs of the ARD show a recording of the Radiopreis gala by the weekend.
The German Radiopreis was awarded for the eighth time and is the most important award in the industry. The best reporters, moderators, news editors or newcomers were sought in eleven categories. This year, 127 programs competed with more than 380 applications for the awards - a new record.
Benny Andersson Takes The Piano
What's left if you tear away bands, songs and effects from Abbas songs? It explores Benny Andersson on the new "Piano" record.I was a little surprised when I listened to the pre-recorded songs, he says.The "Piano" contains not only Abba material. The album contains music written between 1973 and 2006 - ranging from movie music and songs from musicals to Benny Andersson's Orchestra songs.I've been thinking about it over the years that it would be fun to make a record with me just played the piano. It's for two reasons, the first is to investigate what happens if I, just me, play these songs and remove everything that has been on them. Is there anything left then? Is that good music anyway? says Benny Andersson.And the other is that it's fun for the grandchildren to have something to listen to when you're up in the hunting hunting fields.Benny Andersson has several hundred melodies on his conscience. Nevertheless, it was not too difficult to choose what would happen to the disc.What I did first was to remove everything that really needs a band to make it happen. I can not sit and play "Waterloo" myself, or "Dancing queen" or "Take a chance on me". It has no listening value. So, quite a few disappeared there."Same old man"The emphasis is on ballads.That's what the title "Piano" says. Cleverly? So it's low-melt, contemplative. But "Thank you for the music" and "MÄlarskolan" ... some are not so ballad but they have the same temperament. It's the same old man playing.The "Piano" will be released on September 29th. That it became a disc answers the question of whether there would be something left of the songs - "I would not have given it".But the end result also gave Benny Andersson a surprising feeling.When it was finished, I felt I'm part of this. A pretty comfortable feeling. It will be so clear this is my version of this music. Just mine."Mamma Mia!" - the sequelRecently, Benny Andersson has devoted to recording the music to the sequel to the success movie "Mamma Mia!".I was not going to do it this time. The first movie was great - pretty bad idea to make a movie. But the film company has asked and asked and finally we said "okay then". Then I thought it was just as good that I did it anyway because otherwise I'll just sit and annoy me if it does not work out as you like.The film will contain two to three songs that were also included in the previous one. The rest are other, more "unknown", Abba songs.It's fun because there are plenty of songs there that have not been heard if not a hardcore Abba fan. Then you have not heard "Angel eyes", "Why did it have to be me?" and "I wonder"."Mamma Mia! Here we go again" are expected to get biopremiary next summer.It's about time before and after the last movie. So this one comes in the middle of somehow. It's quite fun.Linus BrÀnnström / TT
Benny Andersson in his workroom at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. "It's a pleasure to come here," he says.
Benny Andersson's classic as classical music
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/a/nz7Qd/benny-anderssons-klassiker-som-klassisk-musik
"I didn't chose anything that required drums"
Benny Andersson has made a new solo album. 21 of his tunes like classical music. ABBA pearls and "Anthem", but also less known pieces.
He plays some for us on the grand piano. But he will not do any solo tour as a concert pianist.
"There will be some wrong notes and tones here and there," says Benny Andersson. You don't want to do that in front of an paying audience.
No "Waterloo". No "Dancing Queen". No "Du Àr min man". When Benny Andersson chose melodies for his new solo album, he made a list of 40 songs.
"I removed everything that required drums," says Benny Andersson. I sat at the grand piano in the studio and recorded when it was available. It was fun and relaxed.
"Piano" is released on September 29th. Benny Andersson also took it easy when he recorded. Song for song grew forth.
There are melodies from ABBA and Benny Andersson's orchestra, from the musicals "Chess" and "Kristina from DuvemÄla" and instrumental acts as "Tröstevisa" from 1989.
Did you find something new in the songs when you visited them again?
"When I listened to everything afterwards I was pleasantly surprised. It's very homogeneous, whether it's from 1973 or 2016. It's going to be a very special person who can say when they came in original. It's substance in the music, although everything except the piano is gone. I felt quite satisfied.
"Piano" is released by the classic label Deutsche Grammophon, which built prestige for 120 years. Benny Andersson sent three melodies without saying who they came from. The Germans were moved by the beautiful music and wanted to release it.
Benny Andersson plays "Sunny Girl" from 1966, not featured on the record, and "Anthem" and "You and I" as samples.
Musician colleague Göran Arnberg has written notes based on Benny Andersson's 21 recordings and made a notebook that can be bought. From there, the concert pianist Julia Sjöstedt plays "Stockholm by night", from "November 1989".
Benny Andersson is moved.
"It's like hearing someone else's music," he says. It could be an idea. We can go on a concert tour where pianists like Julia play my songs. Then I can sit in a chair like Claes Eriksson in the "Galenskaparna" and do the storytelling. We'll see.
21 tracks on ”Piano”
”I let the music speak”�”You and I”�”Aldrig”�”Thank you for the music”�”Stockholm by night”�”Chess”�”The day before you came”'”Someone else´s story”�”Midnattsdans”�”MĂ„larskolan”�”I wonder (departure)”�”Embassy lament”�”Anthem”�”My love, my life”�”Mountain duet”�”Flickornas rum”�”Efter regnet”�”Tröstevisa”�”En skrift i snön”�”Happy New year”�”I gott bevar”
Deutsche Grammophon and Benny proudly present the 'Piano' album in Stockholm.
Benny in Hamburg
Official photo session with Lang Lang, Universal Frank Briegmann and Clemens Trautmann
ABBA legend with a striking performance at the Radiopreis
https://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/elbphilharmonie/article211852867/Das-Beste-aus-dem-Radio-in-der-Elbphilharmonie.html
Hamburg. The German Radiopreis stands for continuity. Since 2010, the award has been awarded every year in Shed 52. Since 2011, Barbara Schöneberger has been hosting the festive gala. Almost 1,000 invited guests are constantly pouring out prizes, with top-notch pop stars each time, and each year at least one special prize.But apart from the fact that the Schöneberger moderated the Radiopreis in 2017, this year was different. This was the first time that the radio broadcast was awarded in the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie. And because the (after a stage reconstruction) 1300 visitors on Thursday night, the gala followed more invited guests than ever. There was no red carpet, but anthracite-colored outfit, on which stars and starlets posed for the photographers. The award of a special prize was waived. Obviously, the members of the advisory board had not found a cheap candidate.More classic to popThe Genius loci was responsible for the fact that this year, in the musical program of the radio spectrum, there was not only pop. Already at the entrance to the Great Hall, a string quartet received guests and laudators, among them Mayor Olaf Scholz (SPD), presenter GĂŒnther Jauch, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann and Princess Gloria von Thurn and Taxis.At the beginning, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover played together with the musicians Johannes Oerding, Adel Tawil and Wincent Weiss, which was more habituation-demanding for the classic fans than for pop fans. The classic highlight was the electronically unreinforced performance of the violinist Nigel Kennedy, who came in the FC St. Pauli T-shirt.The viewers were quick to respond with the slightly modified concept. And also the host, NDR radio director Joachim Knuth, was satisfied: "I liked the combination of classical music and modern pop, which has pulled reliably through the evening," he told the Abendblatt. "That fits both: the concert hall and the radio."But NDR-Radiochef, too, had Knuth Grund's delight: one of the eleven prizes went to his station. The NDR youth wave N-Joy won in the category "Best Program" with its multimedia campaign "Head up, the mobile phone can wait", in which the radio people warned against using the smartphone at the wheel of a car.Radio Hamburg awardedAnd another prize went to Radiomacher from the Hansestadt: The category "Best morning broadcast" won "Mission Aufstehen! The Radio Hamburg Morningshow" with the moderators John Ment, Birgit Hahn and AndrĂ© Kuhnert. Shortly before, by the way, GĂŒnther Jauch had given the best of not allowing Morningshows, especially those "in whom four, five people are roaring in the background."ABBA legend Benny Andersson (70) played "Thank You For The Music"ABBA legend Benny Andersson (70) played "Thank You For The Music"Photo: Daniel Reinhardt / dpaThe ABBA legend Benny Andersson (70) "Thank You For The Music" played on the concert wing - and the whole hall sang.The private-radio duel against private radio was decided by the private by seven to four. Radiometropolis Hamburg, Berlin and Munich won two prizes each. And in 2018, the radio industry meets again in shed 52 - then without classical music.
