Marc-André Hamelin
, by general acclaim, one of the great virtuosos of the day, here attempts to recapture the compositional as well as technical spirit of the pianistic giants of the past.
Liszt
, of course, was a pianist-composer, but he was not the only one.
Hamelin
issued an album of his
own etudes
in 2010, but in these "New Piano Works," mostly composed during the 2010s, he is even more adventurous. Many of these works are variations of one kind or another, and
starts off with his own
Variations on a Theme of Paganini
, previously essayed by
,
Rachmaninov
, and several others. These variations introduce not only the usual high level of virtuosity but also the eclectic range of references in most of these works; he quotes
's set and also alludes to
Alkan
Chopin
Brahms
, and others. The variation form is ideal for
's project, for he can drop in quotations and allusions the same as a 19th century virtuoso would. His
Variations diabellique sur des thèmes de Beethoven
is a wickedly humorous exegesis on
Beethoven
's
Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120
. There are hints of jazz in some of
's variations, and these flower fully in the
Suite à l'ancienne
, which annotator
Francis Pott
proposes as a tribute to the jazz-classical fusionist
Nikolai Kapustin
; he composed a similar
Suite in the Old Style
.
concludes with an explosive
Toccata on l'Homme Armé
, the medieval tune that served as the basis for numerous Renaissance masses. So
's range of references is wide, but it is never random, and the listener who missed the subtler allusions will still enjoy the music. This is a bold, highly entertaining re-creation of the role of the classic virtuoso, idiomatically and clearly recorded at London's Henry Wood Hall. This release made classical best-seller lists in early 2024. ~ James Manheim