Marc-Andre Hamelin Takes Pianism to a Higher Level

Philadelphia (CDNOW) - The descriptive phrase that shows up most often in articles about pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin ("a super virtuoso") was originally written by the noted author, critic, and historian, Harold C. Schonberg and appeared in The New York Times. While this is an honorable utterance, it needs a qualifier, some phrase that elevates this deserving artist above the realm of technically correct note-spinners and into the rarified atmosphere reserved for musicians whose abilities and artistic sensibilities allow them to invest the works played with meaning.

In Hamelin's case, this holds particularly true for scores created by Charles-Valentin Alkan, the idiosyncratic French peer of Franz Liszt, Ferruccio Busoni, and Cesar Franck. Most of his Alkan recordings have been for Hyperion, with which he currently has an exclusive contract, but Hamelin's initial album of Alkan music (the Concerto, Op. 39) was done for the small, non-profit company Music & Arts and dates back to 1992.

Despite a stated preference for Romantic-era music written near the cusp of the 20th century ("My heart really leans, truly, around the turn of the [20th] century and on either side of it") and a program of cabaret tunes that Hamelin has worked up for recitals with his wife, soprano Jody Applebaum, he has also covered works by contemporary composers whose efforts often have a more experimental feel to them (Frederic Rzewski, Kaikhosru Sorabji, William Bolcom, Stephan Wolpe). He has also written a respectable handful of compositions on his own.