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Presto News - 12th January 2009Hamelin proves his real class with Chopin |
 It has been a great start to the new year in terms of quality new releases and one which I’ve been enjoying this week is a new recording by the French-Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin of Chopin’s Second and Third Piano Sonatas. He is still only in his 40s but has an extensive discography already (mainly on Hyperion). However, I often find it hard to appreciate just how good he is because he seems to specialise in lesser-known composers - mainly late 19th/early 20th century - and works by pianist-composers such as Godowsky, Alkan and Kapustin. While it is easy to appreciate someone’s technical ability from such discs, I find that if you have never heard the works before, it is quite hard to gauge how good the performances actually are. I get the impression that reviewers have the same problem, as reviews of these discs tend to concentrate on a potted history of the composer and the work and say very little about the actual performances.  Marc-André Hamelin Chopin’s Piano Sonatas however are very much mainstream Romantic repertoire (we’ve got nearly one hundred different recordings of each currently listed) and so for once all ears then are on Hamelin’s performances rather than the works. Well, despite a slightly iffy review in the Guardian last week I think these are tremendous. Because he seems to start from a position of being able to play all the notes without any apparent difficulty, he is able to concentrate on aspects of the music that you rarely get to hear elsewhere. Chopin often hides melodies in the inner parts and while for most pianists it is hard enough to make them heard at all, Hamelin is also able to give them shape and a real sensitivity. I suppose you need a remarkable technique to play in that way, but you also need a deep musical understanding and an affinity with the composer’s intentions and in this disc, probably more than any of his previous ones, Hamelin demonstrates that he really is a great musician as well as a phenomenal pianist. Of course there are also opportunities to witness his virtuosic mastery with lightning semiquavers providing both edge-of-your-seat moments and real atmospheric scene painting (listen to the rising bass passage for example towards the end of the first extract below). It is just out, and whether you’re already familiar with the sonatas or are coming to them for the first time this comes highly recommended.
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 Chopin - Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 (and other works)Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen: Chopin - Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op 58 - Allegro maestoso (opening)New Releases12th January 2009 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 JerusalemCity of the two peaces: Heavenly peace and Earthly peaceLa Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI (Andrew Lawrence-King, Pedro Estevan, Arianna Savall, Pierre Hamon, Montserrat Figueras...) Jordi Savall |
 Tchaikovsky - RomancesChristianne Stotijn (mezzo-soprano) & Julius Drake (piano)A beautiful collection of 20 Tchaikovsky songs representing the whole range of his creative life from his first performed composition “My Genius, My Angel, My Friend,” written when we was 16, through to the last published song from the year of his death “Again, as before, alone”. It also includes favourites such as “None but the Lonely Heart” and “Why?” but also rarely heard songs such as “Mild Stars Looked down”, “The Cuckoo” and “The Gypsy Song”. |
 Dufay & the Court of SavoyThe Binchois Consort, Andrew KirkmanThe Binchois Consort’s first recordings of Dufay for Hyperion achieved iconic status, winning a Gramophone award along the way. Despite the proliferation of early music groups recording Dufay in their wake, the Binchois remain the ultimate musical authority on this great composer. |
 Szymanowski & Rózycki - String QuartetsRoyal String QuartetThe all-Polish Royal String Quartet are one of the most interesting and dynamically developing string quartets of the young generation. They are particularly acclaimed for their performances of music from their homeland, and have received the Special Prize of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage ‘in recognition of their contribution to Polish culture’. Continuing this theme, their debut recording for Hyperion features music by Szymanowski and Rózycki. |
 Beethoven - String QuintetsThe Nash EnsembleBritain’s most versatile chamber ensemble turns its attention to two works from seminal moments in Beethoven’s career. Beethoven’s String Quintet in E flat major Op 4 is a radical rethinking and expansion of an Octet for pairs of wind instruments which was written in Vienna in 1793 where there was an insatiable demand for jolly alfresco wind band music. In 1795 Beethoven transformed the work by setting it for strings, making it suaver and more sophisticated. |
 The Songs of Robert Schumann - Volume 11Hanno Müller-Brachmann (baritone) & Graham Johnson (piano)Graham Johnson’s monumental and triumphant complete Schumann Songs edition comes to an end with an eleventh disc of rarities and delights. Hanno-Müller Brachmann appears in his debut recording for Hyperion. As well as a devoted lieder singer who has performed with some of the greatest living pianists, he is also a considerable presence on the world’s opera stages and an acclaimed interpreter of Bach’s Passions. He brings all these qualities to this fascinating disc. |
 Strauss - The Last ConcertsPhilharmonia Orchestra, Richard StraussA programme of works written by and conducted by Richard Strauss. The festival of Richard Strauss’s music held in London during October 1947 was the result of a joint initiative by Sir Thomas Beecham and Ernst Roth, Richard Strauss’s publisher at Boosey & Hawkes. |
 Handel: Acis and Galatea (arranged by Mendelssohn)Julia Kleiter & Christoph Prégardien, Festival Orchestra Göttingen & North German Radio Choir, Nicholas McGeganAcis and Galatea was one of the most successful of George Frideric Handel’s works during his lifetime. Nicholas McGegan and his Festspiel Orchester Göttingen, along with the North German Radio Choir, and an excellent ensemble of soloists (including Julia Kleiter and Christoph Prégardien) are heard in this recently discovered version by Mendelssohn. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 10th January 2009 |
Building a Library - Berg: Lyric Suite - for string quartet (1926) |
 First ChoiceAs part of 'The Alban Berg Quartet - The Teldec Recordings (1971-79)' - 8 CD setThe Alban Berg Quartet |
Disc of the Week |
 Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61Gil Shaham (violin), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman (conductor) |
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