Marc-André Hamelin

The Canadian Marc-André Hamelin is the piano-lovers' pianist. He is not the kind of pianist that has been catapulted to fame by one of the large record companies with large-scale marketing campaigns. Fame and fortune are not his goals. He has risen to the top in his own quiet manner. Through his notable choice of repertoire he has already distinguished himself from the majority of pianists. Hamelin's concerts and CDs are true journeys of discovery. Alongside known pieces from the canon, obscure 'rarities' are retrieved from oblivion, demonstrating that the piano repertory is infinitely larger than is assumed. He has breathed new life into Alkan, Medtner and Ives, whose 'Concord Sonata' is one of Hamelin's favourite pieces: the complexity of this work together with the technical obstacles that have frightened away other pianists have failed to deter him. There is no other pianist who can perform this music with so much clarity, expressiveness and also with such lyrical dreaminess as Hamelin. Firstly, he lifts Ives' poetry to the surface and then homes in on his avant-garde aspect.