Grieg was inspired to write his Piano Concerto in A minor op.16 as a student when he heard

Clara Schumann play her husband Robert's piano concerto in Leipzig in 1858. He became

a great admirer of Schumann. Grieg chose the same key as Schumann, A minor, for his own

piano concerto, which was written 10 years later in Denmark. When E. Grieg met Franz Liszt

in Rome in 1870, the latter played his piano concerto - a great honour and joy for Grieg - and

the piano concerto and the two Peer Gynt suites are among the most beautiful and popular

piano works of Romantic music.

Margarita Höhenrieder have known the Icelandic composer Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson and

his music for several years. She became acquainted with his piano pieces through his sister,

her long-time friend, the pianist Anna Ragnarsdottir-Hoffmann. She was also the wife of her

former teacher and well-known piano virtuoso Ludwig Hoffmann. Höhenrieder herself was

looking for several pieces specifically for the left hand at the time: she was planning joint

performances entitled "2 linke Hände " (2 left hands) together with the painter Bernd Zimmer.

While Bernd Zimmer painted a picture live in front of an audience using only his left hand,

Margarita Höhenrieder played pieces for the left hand. It is a creative and unique project.

Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson wrote the left-hand piece "Stilla" for her, which for the artist on a

trip to Iceland was a fascinating and mysterious reflection of the mostly light green mosscovered volcanic landscape with its glaciers and the endless expanse and silence.