Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) Berceuse in D flat major Op 57 / Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor Op 35 / Two Nocturnes Op 27 / Nocturne in C sharp minor / Barcarolle in F sharp major Op 60 / Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor Op 58
Gramophone Editor's Choice - February 2009
Recent discs from Marc-Andre Hamelin have concentrated on music which is obscure, under recorded or virtually unplayable. However in this latest recording he turns his attention to two mainstays of the Romantic repertoire: Chopin's Piano Sonatas Nos 2 and 3. The results are simply staggering: playing of matchless brilliance and consummate artistry, stunningly recorded. As a recent critic of Hamelin's live performance of the B minor sonata remarked, 'Hamelin starts where most other pianists leave off ... such was his control that frequently it seemed as though an extra dimension were being added, the music's teeming internal life clarified by his ability to voice the inner parts'.
The disc is completed by some of Chopin's greatest single-movement works; the contrasting two Nocturnes of Op 27, the extraordinarily colouristic Berceuse Op 57 and the monumental Barcarolle in F sharp major. We think this is one of the most authoritative and important Chopin discs to have appeared in recent years - an unmissable release.
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Price: $19.98