Brussels

Grieg also performed in the capital of Belgium, where he was friendly with the outstanding pianist Artur de Greef, who enthusiastically popularised his Norwegian colleague’s piano concerto. Grieg considered de Greef to be the best interpreter of his works. Artur de Greef taught piano at the Brussels Conservatory for more than forty years. He also commissioned another concerto from Grieg. The composer tried to meet that commission, and several passages in B minor were written over the period 1883–1887, but nothing more came of it. Only in 1997 did the Belgian composer Laurent Beeckmans complete the work, which was first performed in London in 2003.