Part of the Yamaha
International Piano Series, Hamelin played a Yamaha CFX piano in a recital
that included Bach, Fauré, Ravel and Liszt. http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/
Liszt’s Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV542 was at one
commanding yet sensitive with a forward momentum and a clear structural line. In
Hamelin’s hands Fauré’s Impromptu No.2 in F minor Op.31 was gloriously romantic
with lovely rubato and a silken touch. Fauré’s Barcarolle No.3 in G was
mesmerising in its atmospheric ebb and flow, its fleeting moods caught perfectly.
Marc-André Hamelin’s performance of Ravel’s Gaspard de la
Nuit must rank amongst the finest I’ve heard. Ondine was pure poetry and delicacy
to such an extent that words seem insufficient. Hamelin gave us a superb Le
Gibet and a formidable Scarbo. What a wonderful touch Hemelin has.
This well planned recital gave us Liszt’s brief Nuages Gris,
its harmonic progressions linking us very much to Debussy and the preceding Ravel.
I have heard many fine interpretations of Liszt’s B minor Piano Sonata but last
night’s performance from Hamelin was really special, full of poetry and
passion, yet beautifully controlled. There were lovely little touches
throughout and, oh, those beautiful rippling passages. This was a performance
to treasure.
As an encore Hamelin gave us a substantial treat, his own brilliant
set of Paganini Variations, with syncopated rhythms and jazz influences, dissonances
and quotes from other composers including a brief reference to Rachmaninov’s
Variations.
Marc-André Hamelin is a superb artist and this was one of
those occasions that will live in the memory.
And what about that Yamaha piano? What stood out most of all
was the beautifully sweet upper register – particularly in the hands of a master
like Marc-André Hamelin.
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