Busoni: Late Piano Music

Marc-Andre Hamelin is an artist who triggers a pavlovian purchasing reaction for almost everything he records, and the fact that Hyperion's website had announced that he had chosen Busoni's music this time, two whole months before release, just intensified my craving to buy this recording. I was not disappointed. The music is rich, but should not be "difficult" to listen to if you like Schumann, Brahms or Liszt, and the sound is up to Hyperion's usual high standards. Hamelin's technical abilities make the music sound almost easy to play, and allows him to focus more on artistic interpretation. I've only had the chance to listen to this set a couple of times so far, but I can't imagine them being done any better.

Some of the music is more interesting than others, but the playing is always superb. Hamelin is one of the greatest pianists around. Buy his Busoni Piano Concerto recording - that is a truly stupendous piece and the playing is super-human!!

Hamelin is a tremendous, thoughtful player and interpreter of these dense works.

Busoni: Late Piano Music Marc-Andre Hamelin is a piano players player. There is just about nothing he can not play. He has yet to releasea bad recording.

I'm not too familiar with Busoni or any of these pieces. Regardless, every minute of this album is stunning. Well worth the price and wait.

Indispensable as a look at the development of Busoni's late romantic classicism. Hamelin's performances conjure the spirit of Busoni's vision.

Rich, masterful, bitter-beautiful and intellectual; good acoustic, kaleidoscopic colours and Hamelin-standard virtuosity. Surely a classic set for main solo pieces and mammoth P Concerto also available from same performer. Look nowhere else?

I normally only bother to review things which are either awful or superb, happily this is in the latter category. Quite superb, please mr Hamelin, give us more!

Marc-André Hamelin never disappoints with his CD releases and this is no exception.Here he and Hyperion give us a three disc set of the late piano music of Busoni.This music will be unfamiliar to many people, other perhaps than his Piano Concerto, again recorded by Hamelin and released on the same label.The piano music has been neglected by many pianists and the only other recordings on my shelves are a six set release of Busoni's music from Geoffrey Douglas Madge, recorded for Philips and released in the 1980s.I shall not list the complete contents and they can easily be found in Amazon's advertizing. However on CD1 is included seven Elegies, number four of which uses the 'greensleeves' melody.CD2 includes four Sonatinas.CD3 has, amongst other works, a wonderful Toccata and enjoyable variations on the Chopin Prelude in C min., op.28 no.20.It is true that this music requires complete attention and, in some cases, repeated listening to fully appreciate the style of writing. Busoni was uncompromising in his writing and many were and are put off by the heavy modulation of the writing and length of some of the compositions. Yet this music is essentially tonal and will give much pleasure to those prepared to explore a neglected genius.If you have an opportunity to sample before buying, try track one of the third CD. Here is a blazing Toccata, played here with an amazing virtuosity, showing once again that Mr. Hamelin is in a league of his own.This pianist is the perfect guide as an introduction to this music which has so much to offer the patient listener and I urge you to try Busoni. You may just find yourself liking him very much ! At around 25 Pounds for the three disc set, this represents a real bargain.

Esta interesante colección de 3 cds está dedicada a la música de piano de Ferruccio Busoni, abarcando los últimos 17 años de su vida (compuestas de 1907 a 1923). Fue grabada en el Henry Wood de Londres en abril 2011 y agosto 2012 (excepto Fantasia after J.S. Bach, que es de enero 1998, en el Abbey Road Studio n°1 de Londres).En su última etapa la seriedad de Busoni se volvió aún más refinada, la escritura del contrapunto más intensa o concentrada y los experimentos en tonalidad aún más audaces. Para entender y recrear esta música felizmente hacen falta unas dotes extraordinarias de entendimiento y un visionario intelecto que clarifique sus estructuras. Una de las grandes fortalezas de Hamelín como artista, aparte de su descomunal técnica, es su comprensión de las líneas musicales y su claridad intelectual. Esto último le ayuda excepcionalmente bien en piezas de virtuosismo trascendente como el 'Preludio y estudio en arpegios', Perpetuum mobile o la magistral Toccata. Hamelin también sabe combinar su claridad intelectual con una belleza incandescente en Nuit de Nöel, la genial Kammer-Fantasie über Carmen (Sonatina n°6) o las 'Variaciones sobre un Preludio de Chopin', al tiempo que revela sonoridades fascinantes en la futurista Indianisches Erntelied. El recuerdo a Bach y al pasado en sus diversas formas también encuentran formalidad y una viva voz con este pianista en la Fantasia after J.S. Bach, en las Canonic Variations & Fugue o en Giga, bolero e variazione.En gran medida esta es la música de un compositor mirando hacia su interior y las expertas interpretaciones de Hamelin alcanzan una dignidad equivalente en su profunda y cultivada narración.Puntuación global: 5 / 5

Marc-André Hamelin s'est fait une spécialité des répertoires rares. Il nous avait déjà livré, par disques successifs, une quasi intégrale des oeuvres pour piano du trop peu connu Alkan, d'une qualité extraordinaire. Il remet cela avec cette intégrale encore plus rarement enregistrée des oeuvres tardives pour piano de Busoni, compositeur qui sort peu à peu de l'ombre (beaucoup grâce à son opéra Doktor Faust) et qui fut aussi un pianiste émérite de niveau international.On retrouve chez Alkan et Busoni ce goût pour une musique élaborée, d'une extrême virtuosité sans que ceci ne s'entende nécessairement d'ailleurs. Les lignes mélodiques y sont souvent complexes, virevoltantes, voire entremêlées. Chez Busoni, la vénération qu'il portait à JS Bach - au point que pendant presque toute sa carrière on le connut surtout pour ses interprétations du Kantor - s'entend. Son catalogue d'oeuvres tardives est parsemé de toccatas et fugues, d'utilisations absolument explicites de thèmes de son aîné qu'il développe et élabore ensuite à sa manière, celle d'un artiste à cheval sur deux siècles, un oeil tourné vers la clacissisme, l'autre vers une modernité contenue et modérée.M.A. Hamelin sait nous séduire d'emblée par un jeu à la fois brillant, sobre, d'une élégance totale et qui parvient à mettre à portée immédiate une musique qui, sous d'autres doigts, aurait pu paraître d'une importance moindre qu'elle ne l'est en vérité. Un superbe coffret qui vous prodiguera près de trois heures trente de musique rarement jouée et à découvrir absolument.