Piano Sonata No. 1

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)

Altarus Records: AIR-CD9050 (July 1990)

Web page for Altarus Records

Cd cover image Piano Sonata No. 1

Duration: 22:06

Track listing

  • Track 1: Piano Sonata No. 1 (22:06)

Reviews

  • “… most faithful … authoritative performance … continual, dizzying transcendental efflorescence … fine shading … range of dynamics … staggering range and confidence of Hamelin’s playing … sensitivity … incisiveness in touch and dynamics … electric performance … thrilling disc” (CD Review)
  • “… superbly played and beautifully recorded …” (Classic CD)
  • “Hamelin makes … rampant difficulties of this music disappear … more significantly he has consistently solved the problem of how to make (it) sing in multiple cascading, coruscating phrases, projecting it beautifully and strongly without a trace of belligerent pounding or self-conscious point-making … pays remarkable rewards … a recording … as imaginative as it is literal: a rare combination … exhilarating” (Fanfare)
  • “a tour de force … (Hamelin’s) clarity and projection of textural ebb and flow … sheer musicianship … magic combination of total keyboard command, intellectual insight … imagination … beautifully clean recording … exceptional interest of the music …” (Gramophone)
  • “… the work’s originality remains secure … The rhetoric is complex but comprehensible; the emotions are unbridled but genuine. It is a … masterpiece … Or so Hamelin makes it seem, with playing that is youthful, powerful and true both to the letter and spirit of the score.” (La Gazette, Montréal)
  • “… Hamelin apporte à cette musique une virtuosité et un engagement absolus …” (La Presse, Montréal)
  • “decisive, dramatic … ranges from savage climaxes to … greatest delicacy and refinement … faithfully captured by a superlative recording” (Musical Opinion)