More Preludes To Chopin

Description

Following his critically acclaimed Preludes to Chopin, Kenneth Hamilton presents More Preludes to Chopin, a remarkable and thought-provoking new album, and the latest release in Prima Facie's Heritage series.
"An interesting conceit which demands our attention." - Musicweb "Here is a release that stands out from the crowds by a country mile."- Fanfare Magazine

Hamilton writes: "I was delighted, encouraged and touched by the reception of Preludes to Chopin.
More Preludes to Chopin is the second instalment of what will eventually be a three-CD cycle, presenting all of Chopin's preludes as prefaces to longer pieces.
As with the original CD, this new recording shares its inspiration with that of my book After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance (Oxford University Press): a fascination with the performance styles of the so-called "golden age" of pianism from Chopin and Liszt to Paderewski--from around 1830 to 1945--and an abiding interest in how Romantic and late-Romantic approaches might be adopted or adapted in a modern context to enrich our own playing."

Preludes to Chopin attracted intense attention for the originality of its performance style.
For Dr Chang Tou Liang of the Singapore Straits Times it offered "a new way of listening to Chopin".
Stefan Pieper (Klassik Heute) commented: "Hamilton's approach to Chopin ignores the pianistic fashions of today's music market, challenges the dogmas of historical performance practice, and offers an entire palette of new and intriguing experiences"; while James Manheim (AllMusic) wrote: "The commercial success of this release shows how strongly audiences hunger for fresh interpretations of mainstream repertory, and a fresh interpretation is exactly what you get."

This new recording features a strikingly eloquent later version of Chopin's famous Nocturne op.9 no.2 using the composer's personal variants, an epic rendition of the dramatic C minor Nocturne inspired by Chopin's own interpretative advice to his students, and a gripping performance of the great Polonaise-Fantasy.
The CD is accompanied by Hamilton's fascinating notes on the pieces and their performance history.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

"Both of Hamilton's Chopin albums have been commercially successful, a testimony to the strength of audience interest in fresh interpretations of core Romantic repertory?Hamilton is a successful new voice." -James Manheim, AllMusic

"Here is a release that stands out from the crowds by a country mile.
Well recorded, played with real mastery, and including fabulously but unsurprisingly eloquent notes from Hamilton himself, any lover of Chopin's music?and indeed of piano playing?should acquire this urgently." Colin Clarke, Fanfare

"All these pieces are superbly played?It is to be hoped that Volume 3 of this project will soon be released.
It will be interesting to see what 'longer' pieces are coupled with the remaining Preludes." John France, Music Web International

"Explosively brilliant piano playing?Hamilton's technical pianistic finesse is spectacular?this isn't a Chopin "for beginners"?instead, one can't help quickly succumbing to the intriguingly untamed nature of Hamilton's playing" Stefan Pieper, Klassik Heute

"Imaginative and ingenious...Hamilton's playing is up there with the best of Chopin interpreters, and it is his spirited advocacy of programme planning by preluding that makes this recital disc stand above the routine." Dr Chang Tou Liang, Pianomania

"Magical? Hamilton's playing here enchanted me and kept me listening for one pleasant surprise after another, each utterly convincing?This is real music-making, not subservient reciting from a sacred text.
Hamilton's Chopin could change your whole attitude toward the role of the performer in classical music." Ralph P.
Locke, ArtsFuse