Liszt: Piano Sonata In B Minor; Venezia E Napoli &

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)

The Liszt Sonata is undoubtedly one of the peaks of the repertoire, and recordings are suitably copious, but when an artist of Hamelin’s virtuoso pedigree wishes to tackle it no excuse need be made for an additional version. The recital opens with a lesser-known masterwork, the Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H, and for light relief there is Liszt’s scintillating supplement to his Italian Année de Pèlerinage, the three pieces of Venezia e Napoli, but perhaps the emotional core of the recital is Liszt’s intensely spiritual Bénédiction du Dieu dans la solitude.

This is a major Liszt recital from one of today’s most admired recording artists.

Liszt:
 Piano Sonata in B minor, S178
 Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 3)
 Fantasia & Fugue on B-A-C-H, S529
 Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (10), S. 173
 Andante lagrimoso (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 9)
 Ave Maria (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 2)
 Cantique d'amour (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 10)
 Funérailles (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 7)
 Hymne de l'enfant a son reveil (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 6)
 Invocation (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 1)
 Miserere, d'apres Palestrina (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 8)
 Pater noster (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 5)
 Pensée des Morts (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 No. 4)
 Venezia e Napoli (3 pieces), S. 162

"Needless to say, Hamelin's performance of Liszt's Piano Sonata yields nothing in transcendental virtuosity...He opens with a very dramatic reading of the Fantasie and Fugue on B-A-C-H, with total clarity in articulation and voice-leading...Similar vigour and energy is to be found in evocative and exultant readings of Venezia e Napoli, highly characterized and full of shimmering colours"
International Record Review - April 2011

"Hamelin comes up with one of the finest recordings [of the Sonata] I've yet heard. Certainly I can't think of one where Liszt's immense single-movement design hangs together better. Under Hamelin's astonishing fingers, the work's progress unfolds with a fusion of spontaneity and seeming inevitability that enthrals both mind and ear as a great masterpiece should."
BBC Music Magazine - May 2011 *****

"[Benediction de Dieu contains] some of the loveliest pianissimo sounds you'll ever hear, a masterclass in touch and pedalling...After the 'tarantella' from Venezia e Napoli, played with a speed and clarity that will be the despair of Hamelin's peers, comes the mighty and oft-recorded Sonata, an account embracing the letter and spirit of the score that often comes close to perfection.
Classic FM Magazine - June 2011 *****