Search - Charles-Valentin Alkan, Marc-Andre Hamelin :: Alkan: Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges', Sonatine, Le festin d'Esope

One of the best solo piano recordings ever made.

Pete | North America | 05/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc is totally astonishing. One you start listening to it you will not be able to stop. The Grande Sonate is one of the most beautiful, moving, complex pieces of music for solo piano ever written. Hamelin brings it to life like no one else can. If you have never listened to Alkan, this is a fine introduction to some of the greatest (and most forgotten) piano music ever composed. And if you have never listened to Hamelin - this is probably his greatest work ever. The more you listen to the Grande Sonate the more you discover in it. You wait for those dramatic, breathtaking moments. You marvel at how two human hands can produce these sounds through the piano, and you continually find more subtlies and nuances in this materpiece. Words fail in describing how great this recording is. If you love piano music - get it. It you love Alkan it is truly a must."

An Inimitable Masterpiece

Pete | 06/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are special moments in life when you remember exactly what you were doing when it happened. I remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard Bruckner's Eight (Guilini), Mahler's Second (Bernstein), Liszt Sonata (Horowitz), Gaspard de la Nuit (Michelangeli), and I can still hear to this day Richter's Schuman Symphonic Etudes, just to name a few. They were all life-changing events. My friend and I were having dinner when Hamelin's Grande Sonata appeared from the radio. Wow! I remember asking, "What crazy person had the nerve to compose this?", and more importantly, "Who on earth had the gall to record it?" Up to this faithful day in 1995, I had never heard of Hamelin or Alkan.
On this disc, Hamelin plays with so much elan, control, and technical ease that it leaves you breathless. Although the legendary Raymond Lewenthal and the late Ronald Smith have to be commended for their efforts in popularizing Alkan's much-neglected music, I believe Hamelin and this disc has been even more influential. I don't know if Alkan playing on this disc will ever be matched. This is certainly one of the greatest albums in history and should be part of the collection of all true classical music fans."

I was breathless!

Gareth Ross | 05/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first Marc-Andre Hamelin CD I bought and was I amazed!!!! I am also a pianist and to hear him go through such immensely difficult works with ease and full of energy makes me so jealous! Even though he plays through with ease, he always enlightens certain phrases or dynamics etc. which make the music sound very unique! The highlight on this disc, for me, is the Sonatine. He plays with fire, passion, rhythmic drive and a sensual cantabile where necessary. The highlight of the Sonatine is definately the end - where it just ends from such a huge climax into a huge fortissimo chord - it is spine-chilling! I must admit, I did laugh at Le Festin de Esope - it is a really humurous work full of interesting variations on an 8 bar theme. His interpretaion of the work is clearly felt and you begin to feel what he feels.And finally I have to discuss Quasi-Faust, from the Grande Sonata. The technical demands are so extreme, that I'm not surprised it does not get played often. You can hear the difficulties, but Mr Hamelin always has them well within his reach. He can really make you cry as you hear the different, magical melodies being uncovered and the central climax with thos MASSIVE chords is breathtaking!What amzed me most about this CD is that he reorded it on only 2 days!! How does he do it?? The engineers need to be congratulated and performing the maginificent task of keeping each register of the piano sounding similar. The bass is never too heavy, and I was expecting the sound to become distorted in the climax in Quasi-Faust, but it was just immaculate! Well done!!!!!What are you doing still reading this review? - go and click on the 'buy' button!Bon apetit!
Gareth Ross"