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Track Listings
| 1. Grande Sonate 'Les Quatre Ages', Op. 33: 20 ans. Tres vite |
| 2. Grande Sonate 'Les Quatre Ages', Op. 33: 30 ans, Quasi-Faust. Assez vite |
| 3. Grande Sonate 'Les Quatre Ages', Op. 33: 40 ans, un menage heureux. Lentement |
| 4. Grande Sonate 'Les Quatre Ages', Op. 33: 50 ans, Promethee enchaine. Extremement lent |
| 5. Sonatine, Op. 61: Allegro vivace |
| 6. Sonatine, Op. 61: Allegramente |
| 7. Sonatine, Op. 61: Scherzo-Minuet |
| 8. Sonatine, Op. 61: Tempo giusto - Coda |
| 9. Barcarolle, Op. 65, No. 6 |
| 10. Le Festin d'Esope, Op. 39, No. 12 |
Product Description
Grande sonate "Les 4 Âges" - Sonatine - Barcarolle - Festin d'Esope / Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Gareth Ross
Format:Audio CD
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
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
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.
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.
By "jpecarski"
Format:Audio CD
Marc-Andre Hamelin is an astounding virtuoso. He gives life to Alkan's works, which I hear for the very first time! It is really mind-boggling how he succeeds in tackling the Augean stables of the eight-part fugue at the end of Quasi-Faust!!!
It is no wonder, then that even Liszt was afraid to compete with Alkan, whom he deemed a superior virtuoso to himself. Alkan's music in itself has a tremendous intrinsic value, which, if one can feel, describes to such depth the essence of the human soul!
It is no wonder, then that even Liszt was afraid to compete with Alkan, whom he deemed a superior virtuoso to himself. Alkan's music in itself has a tremendous intrinsic value, which, if one can feel, describes to such depth the essence of the human soul!
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4.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviving the forgotten master of the piano
One can only wonder to what extent Alkan would be part of our mental musical furniture today, if he had only been more of a publicity hound. Read more
Published on May 6 2004 by The Sanity Inspector
5.0 out of 5 stars
....WOW!
There's not that much I can add--Hamelin's virtuosity speaks for itself. As a pianist, I understand just how difficult this music is, and the ease with which Hamelin plays it is... Read more
Published on Jan 24 2002 by "thalberg"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievable!
I had never heard before any music by Alkan or had I heard Marc-Andre Hamelin play until I heard him on Performance Today. I was completely overwhelmed. Read more
Published on Jan 10 2001 by history buff
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding
Great music, great sound, great performance. One of the best. If you haven't heard Alkan's music before, this CD will be especially welcome.
Published on Mar 20 2000 by Erica K
5.0 out of 5 stars
I couldn't believe it.
REMARKABLE! Fantastic pianist! Beyond any superlative! I have to tell you, I usually give tough reviews, but this CD leaves nothing to be desired. Read more
Published on Nov 7 1999 by John Bradley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hamelin at the height of his techniqie!
Wow. Marc-Andre Hamelin conquers yet more of Alkan's monstrously diffucult works. This is by far the best recording of EACH work on here in my opinion to date, and one can only... Read more
Published on Sep 4 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
First-rate music, first-rate performance
Alkan's time has arrived. It is a mystery to me that he's not as celebrated as Chopin or Schumann, his near contemporaries. Read more
Published on Aug 12 1999 by J Scott Morrison
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning!
Stunning should be an adequate description of this CD, if it were not for the fact that descriptive words are losing value every day due to misuse and overuse. Read more
Published on Mar 26 1999
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