If there is a Marc-Andre Hamelin CD to recommend.

[Holden]

I really like this one



It makes me wish he'd recorded Op10 & 25.

Released 2010

[JBS]

I have only one Hamelin CD I have not liked. But I haven't heard all of them, most notably his recording of Morton Feldman's For Bunita Marcos. I'm not a Feldman fan.

Three I do like




The Busoni is a three CD set.
The Liszt Thalberg is his most recent.

The one I don't particulary care for is

And I think the problem is with the composer, not the pianist.  I've played it a couple of times but nothing grabs me so far.

[Mandryka]

Haven't been any posts in this thread in nearly 13 years. Which of his post-2008 recordings do you recommend? I do have the Reger disc mentioned above, but would be interested in listening to more of his recordings, especially some of the more modern composers. The Medtner set has been sitting on my Amazon wish list forever!

How do you rank Hamelin in the pantheon of 20th/21st century pianists?

Slightly before 2008, but the Decaux he recorded is wonderful. Maybe listen to the Mozart and Schubert sonatas.

I thought this performance of the Copland variations was exceptional, I don't know if it comes from a commercial recording

https://www.youtube.com/v/i1-vIw_M-Qg

[Spotted Horses]

How charming to see names of members from decades ago that I remember vividly.

I recall liking Hamelin's recording of the Scriabin Sonatas.

[amw]

Which of his post-2008 recordings do you recommend?

Busoni Late Piano Music
Chopin Sonatas 2 & 3
Haydn & Mozart Piano Sonatas
Ornstein Piano Quintet
Schumann/Janáček

Possibly others, don't keep track of release dates for everything.

How do you rank Hamelin in the pantheon of 20th/21st century pianists?

Third after Lhévinne and Hofmann. First among pianists recorded in the modern (33 1/3 to CD) era, but equalled or followed very closely by Cziffra. This is an objective assessment.

How much do I actually like his playing? That's variable. He is (still) the best pianist alive, but that doesn't always translate into imbuing performances with the correct feeling. His best recordings (Medtner, Alkan, Chopin, Busoni, Liszt, Reger, Dukas) are peerless, for other musics, you wouldn't want to be without other sources as well. This is a subjective assessment. (I know many people love his Schubert, which I do not, for example.)

[Wanderer]

The Medtner set has been sitting on my Amazon wish list forever!

Then get it, for God's shake! As a set, it is still unsurpassed - and that also goes for most of the included individual performances themselves when compared with other recordings of specific works.

In addition to what I've recommended earlier in the thread, other Hamelin recommendations would be:



Not just incredible fingerwork, but, more importantly, acute musical understanding. His most thrilling release in quite some time.

Also:

Henselt/Alkan concerti
Korngold/Marx concerti
Scriabin piano sonatas
Busoni concerto
Busoni piano works

I like his Chopin and Schumann for what it is, but there is quite a number of other more insightful renditions of these works (which doesn't mean he lacks insight). His Liszt is better than most.

[The new erato]

The Feinberg disc. And his Rite with Andsnes.

[vers la flamme]

I really like this one



It makes me wish he'd recorded Op10 & 25.

Released 2010

Man, how has he not recorded the Chopin Études? I know his Godowsky-Chopin Études are particularly well regarded.

[André]

Man, how has he not recorded the Chopin Études? I know his Godowsky-Chopin Études are particularly well regarded.

+ 1 for the Chopin-Godowsky set and Hamelin's own Études



I heard him play in concert a few times. He displays huge concentration and not an ounce of showmanship. This apparent reserve coupled with the spectacular pianism makes him appear as rather cold and brainy in performance.

I think his best discs so far are the Haydn sonatas.

[staxomega]

All good choices.  The Wigmore Hall recital is particularly good as a cross-section of his interests.  I'd also add Kaleidoscope (his disc of miniatures) and the Roslavets disc below.

--Bruce

Fully agree with you on the Roslavets, that would be one of my favorites from him. I tend to like his discs where there are only few or no other recordings from other pianists.

He is also the best pianist I have heard for Sorabji. IMHO if he were to have recorded Sequentia Cyclica it probably would have been superior to Jonathan Powell's, there are some obvious edits in places in that.

[staxomega]

Busoni Late Piano Music
Chopin Sonatas 2 & 3
Haydn & Mozart Piano Sonatas
Ornstein Piano Quintet
Schumann/Janáček

Possibly others, don't keep track of release dates for everything.
Third after Lhévinne and Hofmann. First among pianists recorded in the modern (33 1/3 to CD) era, but equalled or followed very closely by Cziffra. This is an objective assessment.

How much do I actually like his playing? That's variable. He is (still) the best pianist alive, but that doesn't always translate into imbuing performances with the correct feeling. His best recordings (Medtner, Alkan, Chopin, Busoni, Liszt, Reger, Dukas) are peerless, for other musics, you wouldn't want to be without other sources as well. This is a subjective assessment. (I know many people love his Schubert, which I do not, for example.)

Interesting comment about Josef Lhevvine, aside from one Naxos Historical CD of Chopin I know little of him. Marston's claimed complete reissue is waiting in my to listen to pile.

[bhodges]

+ 1 for the Chopin-Godowsky set and Hamelin's own Études



I heard him play in concert a few times. He displays huge concentration and not an ounce of showmanship. This apparent reserve coupled with the spectacular pianism makes him appear as rather cold and brainy in performance.

I think his best discs so far are the Haydn sonatas.

Another vote for Hamelin's Études, and his own notes on them are worth reading:

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67789

His Medtner (Forgotten Melodies) was my introduction to the composer, and a bit of a revelation. As with many of his other releases on Hyperion, the recording engineers did glorious work.

Glad to see so much love for the Haydn sonatas, too, which I also didn't know that well until hearing his versions. He brings pristine coolness, which seems to suit them well.

And as far as the pantheon (and I'm no piano scholar), he's in my top five for sure, both for his spectacular technique and his eager exploration of unusual repertoire. I've been lucky to hear him live maybe a dozen times, mostly at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (IKIF) in New York. Though Mannes College has moved to another location, the original concert hall on West 83rd Street was small, accommodating scarcely 200 people. The evenings were always events, attracting a devoted audience who were supernaturally quiet and focused on whatever he was playing.

--Bruce

[amw]

Interesting comment about Josef Lhevvine, aside from one Naxos Historical CD of Chopin I know little of him. Marston's claimed complete reissue is waiting in my to listen to pile.

There's very little available: a few piano rolls and a tiny handful of actual recordings. I first became familiar through my dad's piano teacher, who had studied with him in her youth (she was quite elderly by that point), and still thought he was most likely the greatest pianist who had ever lived. From at least a technical, pianistic perspective, the existing recordings support this assertion, although piano technique is obviously hard to quantify.

The only repertoire overlap I know of between him and Hamelin is Schumann's Papillons (a 1927 piano roll from Lhévinne and a 2002 studio recording from Hamelin). It might be interesting to compare the two someday.

[Mandryka]

Busoni Late Piano Music
Chopin Sonatas 2 & 3
Haydn & Mozart Piano Sonatas
Ornstein Piano Quintet
Schumann/Janáček

Possibly others, don't keep track of release dates for everything.
Third after Lhévinne and Hofmann. First among pianists recorded in the modern (33 1/3 to CD) era, but equalled or followed very closely by Cziffra. This is an objective assessment.

How much do I actually like his playing? That's variable. He is (still) the best pianist alive, but that doesn't always translate into imbuing performances with the correct feeling. His best recordings (Medtner, Alkan, Chopin, Busoni, Liszt, Reger, Dukas) are peerless, for other musics, you wouldn't want to be without other sources as well. This is a subjective assessment. (I know many people love his Schubert, which I do not, for example.)

So you rate his Chopin sonatas do you?  In fact I just listened to the third, not specially attentively I should say, and I thought that this is obviously impeccable and brilliant but without "the correct feeling" -- I'll try again later.

I heard him play K310 and op 110 -- it was wonderful! 

[amw]

So you rate his Chopin sonatas do you?  In fact I just listened to the third, not specially attentively I should say, and I thought that this is obviously impeccable and brilliant but without "the correct feeling" -- I'll try again later.

It's hard to pin down the correct feeling for the third sonata. I generally think Argerich (1970s) has the best emotional balance, but neither the 70s studio nor the 70s live recordings are technically ideal, and of course a ~10:45 "Allegro maestoso" and ~4:30 "Presto non tanto" are a bit ridiculous even by Chopin's very fast metronome mark standards. Hamelin avoids the usual opposite trap of making the piece incredibly slow and romantic, striking the relatively moderate tempi indicated, and playing with a great deal of poetry. If there is something that's missing, it's probably a sense of freedom.

[Mandryka]

It's hard to pin down the correct feeling for the third sonata. I generally think Argerich (1970s) has the best emotional balance, but neither the 70s studio nor the 70s live recordings are technically ideal, and of course a ~10:45 "Allegro maestoso" and ~4:30 "Presto non tanto" are a bit ridiculous even by Chopin's very fast metronome mark standards. Hamelin avoids the usual opposite trap of making the piece incredibly slow and romantic, striking the relatively moderate tempi indicated, and playing with a great deal of poetry. If there is something that's missing, it's probably a sense of freedom.

A friend of mine thinks that the third is about the life force, the force that through the green fuse drives the flower.

[bhodges]

I have no idea if the 1995 Danacord recording on which this appears is still available, but never mind, worth hearing.

Sigismond Thalberg: Grande Fantasie sur des motifs de l'Opera Don Pasquale, Op. 67 (Marc-André Hamelin, live at Schloss Vor Husum festival, 1994)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_DhK-rymHo

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

I have no idea if the 1995 Danacord recording on which this appears is still available, but never mind, worth hearing.

Sigismond Thalberg: Grande Fantasie sur des motifs de l'Opera Don Pasquale, Op. 67 (Marc-André Hamelin, live at Schloss Vor Husum festival, 1994)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_DhK-rymHo

--Bruce

Listening now, thanks.

[JBS]

I have no idea if the 1995 Danacord recording on which this appears is still available, but never mind, worth hearing.

Sigismond Thalberg: Grande Fantasie sur des motifs de l'Opera Don Pasquale, Op. 67 (Marc-André Hamelin, live at Schloss Vor Husum festival, 1994)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_DhK-rymHo

--Bruce

The same work is included on his most recent Hyperion recording.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I should check out some other recordings by him.  Years ago, someone had raved on about how much he loved his recordings (and concerts), so I listened to one of them and was rather put off...trying to remember which one it was, but I felt like he just rushed through it and it left me cold.  Since then, I haven't bothered to look into them further--talented or not.   

PD