Description
The transcendental difficulties of Beethoven's
'Hammerklavier' sonata will always deter all but the greatest pianists of the day, with only a select few able to master its formidable musical, emotional and technical challenges.
Marc-André Hamelin is of course very much of their number, and his performance—one which relishes all the work's glory and grandeur—is simply
stupendous.
'Marc-André Hamelin launches into the Hammerklavier Sonata's opening Allegro with both assertion and transparency. He intelligently scales his dynamics and times the silences to navigate and illuminate the music's contrasting peaks and valleys most effectively.' – Gramophone