Symphony for solo piano

"Alkan's biting individuality provokes a typically exhilarating recital from Hamelin."
Gramophone Sept 2001

'Hamelin has no equal as an interpreter of Alkan; he inhabits the overheated world of this strange proto-Lisztian figure with a completeness that combines a total mastery of its fearsome technical challenges with an innate understanding of its sometime elusive emotional content'
(The Guardian)

***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music Magazine (Sept 2001)

"Marc-Andre Hamelin puts us further in his debt with another superbly played disc of Alkan…exorbitantly taxing writing draws appropriately stunning pianism from Hamelin."
(BBC Music)

'Another self-recommending discographic coup. What next? I'm all ears' (Fanfare)

Marc-Andre Hamelin's first solo Alkan recording (CDA66794) met with the most ecstatic critical reception, being described by Fanfare as 'one of the best releases of anything to have been made, a classic of the recorded era'. This spectacularly virtuosic follow-up proves to be no less awesome.

The disc is framed by two of the 'monster' works for which Alkan is notorious. The four movements of the Symphony for solo piano are taken from his magnum opus, the 12 Studies in the minor keys Op 39. This piece has become one of Alkan's best known but never has its finale (once described as a 'ride in hell') been so spectacularly thrown off. The Trois Morceaux dans le Genre Pathetique are the earliest pieces in which Alkan's true personal style became apparent. These are three massive studies each with programmatic titles and an atmosphere of Gothic horror that requires a supreme virtuoso to tackle their outlandish technical demands. This is their first recording.

The recital is completed by three pieces of rather religious inspiration. While their scale and technical demands are those of a more conventional composer, their quirky sound-world and often sardonic mood confirm the composer as our reclusive Frenchman.