Pochodzący z Kanday wybitny artysta Marc. André Hamelin, urodzony w 1961 roku w Montrealu. Artysta gra na pianinie, oraz trudni się komponowaniem, znany ze swojej niezrównanej techniki pianistycznej.
Hamelin plays Hamelin: a glimpse into the fabulously bizarre musical mind of one of the greatest piano virtuosos of today. The pianophile population has been clamouring for this disc for some time. Marc-André Hamelin’s 12 Études, written over a period of nearly twenty-five years, have already achieved cult status by reputation as pianistic challenges beyond the reach of most human fingers. They are also highly-wrought character pieces. That they will immediately take their place in the concert repertoire of any pianist who thinks themself equal to them is indicated by their contemporaenous publication by Peters Edition New York.The disc is completed by more of Hamelin’s compositions: the quiet and reflective Con intissimo sentimento, and the lovepoem ‘Cathy’s Variations’. As a whole it is a detailed portrait of this most talented and complex musician.
Marc-André Hamelin (ur. 5 września 1961 w Montrealu) – francuskojęzyczny kanadyjski pianista i kompozytor, słynący z niezrównanej techniki pianistycznej. W 1985 roku zwyciężył Carnegie Hall Międzynarodowym Konkursie Carnegie Hall muzyki amerykańskiej. W 2004 Hamelin otrzymał międzynarodową nagrodę płytową w Cannes. Został uhonorowany Orderem Kanady i jest Kawalerem Orderu Narodowego Québec (Order of Quebec). W 2008 zdobył Nagrodę Juno za Klasyczny Album Roku za Solo or Chamber Ensemble—Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano. Obecnie mieszka w Bostonie.
Trwający ponad 70 minut koncert fortepianowy Busoniego jest z pewnością jedną z najbardziej imponujących prac swojego gatunku, jakie kiedykolwiek powstały. Kompozytor znany był nie tylko z wielkiego kunsztu gry na fortepianie, ale też z niezwykłego intelektu, silnie wpływającego na jego twórczość, oraz z bardzo silnymi poglądami na temat kultury i sztuki, które wpływały na światopogląd. Wykonania tego dzieła podjął się Marc-André Hamelin, którego poziom gry z pewnością dorównuje wysokiej randze kompozycji. Prawdziwa gratka dla kolekcjonerów.
various composers recital: Albéniz, Alkan, Busoni, Dukas, Godowsky, Hamelin, Kapustin, Liszt, Medtner, Rzewski, Schubert
Sława Marc-André Hamelina jako najlepszego interpretatora dzieł Bussoniego jest z pewnością zasłużona. To wybór większości późnych dzieł tego kompozytora, choć trzypłytowy zestaw zawiera też kompozycje mniej znane. Bussoni był nie tylko kompozytorem, ale też wirtuozem komponującym, jakby techniczne ograniczenia nie istniały… stąd jego utwory uznaje się wykonawczo niezwykle wymagające. Marc-André Hamelin – sam wirtuoz - znakomicie radzi sobie z wymagającym materiałem Bussoniego.
Trwający ponad 70 minut koncert fortepianowy Busoniego jest z pewnością jedną z najbardziej imponujących prac swojego gatunku, jakie kiedykolwiek powstały. Kompozytor znany był nie tylko z wielkiego kunsztu gry na fortepianie, ale też z niezwykłego intelektu, silnie wpływającego na jego twórczość, oraz z bardzo silnymi poglądami na temat kultury i sztuki, które wpływały na światopogląd. Wykonania tego dzieła podjął się Marc-André Hamelin, którego poziom gry z pewnością dorównuje wysokiej randze kompozycji. Prawdziwa gratka dla kolekcjonerów.
Godowsky's Studies on Chopin's Etudes have achieved a legendary status among piano enthusiasts. Few areas of the repertoire have such a notorious reputation for technical difficulty and audacious compositional invention. Far from being disrespectful maltreatments of Chopin's masterpieces, Godowsky's elaborations aim to extend the limits of modern piano technique. Some recast Chopin's right-hand passagework for the left hand while introducing new contrapuntal ideas; some treat the originals more freely, inverting, imitating or combining two Etudes; others are character pieces or variations based on Chopin's originals; and twenty-two of the Studies are for the left hand alone. Taken as a whole, these Studies revolutionized piano writing and expanded the polyphonic and polyrhythmic capabilities of the instrument. They remain among the most daunting challenges of the piano literature, their difficulties not always fully apparent to the listener. Pianists brave enough to tackle this music have often been content merely to get through the notes. Marc-André Hamelin, renowned for his superhuman technical control, injects them with the required range of character, colour and musicianship, as well as breathtaking virtuosity. Uniquely available on 2CDs, this will surely be the benchmark recording for all time. This set comes with a handsome booklet, including an essay by the Godowsky expert Jeremy Nicholas and individual commentaries by Marc-André Hamelin.
Recent discs from Marc-Andre Hamelin have concentrated on music which is obscure, under-recorded or virtually unplayable. However in this latest recording he turns his attention to two mainstays of the Romantic repertoire: Chopin’s Piano Sonatas Nos 2 and 3. The results are simply staggering: playing of matchless brilliance and consummate artistry, stunningly recorded. As a recent critic of Hamelin’s live performance of the B minor sonata remarked, ‘Hamelin starts where most other pianists leave off … such was his control that frequently it seemed as though an extra dimension were being added, the music’s teeming internal life clarified by his ability to voice the inner parts’. The disc is completed by some of Chopin’s greatest single-movement works; the contrasting two Nocturnes of Op 27, the extraordinarily colouristic Berceuse Op 57 and the monumental Barcarolle in F sharp major. We think this is one of the most authoritative and important Chopin discs to have appeared in recent years—an unmissable release.Gramophone Editor's Choice ; Sunday Times Classical Cd Of The Week‘Though Hamelin has made many fabulous discs, particularly in repertoire of superhuman virtuosity, this is one of his very finest achievements to date’ (Gramophone).‘Chopin’s second and third piano sonatas lie at the heart of the Romantic piano literature, and Hamelin, a poet among virtuosos, brings sensibility and a brilliant technique in equal measure to this oft-recorded music … This is the Chopin of a true Romantic, spellbinding at its (considerable) best and superbly recorded' (Sunday Times).[Third Sonata] 'Hamelin's impeccable pianism allows him to make light work of the most demanding passages. The first movement is as imposing as you would expect of a player renowned for his staggering virtuosity, but a solid framework also underpins moments of wonderful delicacy. Hamelin builds the Second Sonata just as unerringly, producing a poetic and passionate performance that is finally carried off on a spectral wind … Hyperion's new release adds up to a hugely satisfying Chopin recital" (BBC Music Magazine).‘This is Chopin playing of a superior kind in which a musician of penetrating intellect is able to observe every detail of these miraculous scores … This is a fine example of supreme technical skill at the service of musical poetry’ (Classic FM Magazine).
Both as composer and virtuoso pianist, Scriabin was heir to the Classical and Romantic sonata tradition, but the transformation of this musical language in his own works was to be crucial for the survival of the sonata principle into the twentieth century. This set includes all ten of the 'mature' Sonatas, the Fantaisie, Op 28, and the youthful Sonate-fantaisie. This last, published only after the composer's death, shows an astonishingly sure hand developing in the fourteen-year-old.PREIS DER DEUTSCHEN SCHALLPLATTENKRITIK ; JUNO AWARD (CANADA) ; CLASSIC CD DISC OF THE MONTH ; CLASSIC CD 100 GREATEST DISCS OF THE DECADE; CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE RECORD OF THE MONTH 'Hamelin's playing has superb authority and presence, and when required the greatest delicacy too. His amazing technical skill is completely at the service of the music. This is a major release' (Classic CD)'Hamelin's playing enthralls the ear with its rounded, never-ugly tone, flickering fingerwork, and thunderous power. A sensational issue in every sense' (Classic FM Magazine)'Hamelin rises to the challenges of this music with complete mastery. But his is more than a purely technical triumph (though the effortless of his playing has to be heard to be believed)' (BBC Music Magazine)'Il a les doigts et la sensibilité, la clairvoyance aussi, qui lui permettent de trouver un lyrisme généreux' (Le Monde de la Musique, France)'He commands the four qualities that a Scriabin interpreter must have: a feverish intensity, a manic vision, a sovereign and fastidious command of the pedal, and a huge dynamic range' (Gramophone)'This is one of the most significant Scriabin recordings of recent years, as well as another triumph for Hamelin, who reveals as much affinity for this Russian mystic as he has for Alkan, Godowsky, Ives, and Bolcom on earlier discs ... Two more favorable elements must be noted: Hyperion's spacious and vivid recorded sound, and a really superb set of booklet notes by Simon Nicholls' (American Record Guide)'Hamelin's revelatory cycle of the Scriabin sonatas takes top honors rather easily ... a vein that's rarely been mined - and never with such virtuoso perfection. The more you think you know about these scores, the more striking you're liable to find this set' (Fanfare, USA)'Marc-André Hamelin is the most important interpreter of Scriabin's music to have come along in decades' (Clavier, USA)