Writing in 1996, the Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page stated, "There are two things to be said straightaway about Sibelius. First, he is terribly uneven (much of his chamber music, a lot of his songs and most of his piano music might have been churned out by a second-rate salon composer from the 19th century on an off afternoon). Second, at his very best, he is often weird." Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes offers a counterweight to Page's assessment of Sibelius's piano music. Acknowledging that this body of work is uneven in quality, Andsnes believes that the common critical dismissal is unwarranted. In performing selected piano works, Andsnes finds that audiences were "astonished that there could be a major composer out there with such beautiful, accessible music that people don't know."