Track Listing

1. Fantasie in C major Op.17 - Schumann
2. Piano Sonata No.2 in G minor Op.22 - Schumann
3. Etudes symphoniques - Schumann

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31827 in Music
• Released on: 2001-03-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
Marc-André Hamelin already has some notable Hyperion discs under his belt and now adds three works by Schumann to his catalogue. The op.17 Fantasie shows Schumann the master of large-scale composition--at almost 33 minutes it is the longest piece on the disc. This is good, rich, meaty stuff, and Hamelin really gives it some welly, but he is equally at home in the quieter, more lyrical passages which are never far away in Schumann. Try the opening of the Langsam getragen. This is archetypal Schumann: intimate, assured and with more than a hint of vulnerability. There's more of this in the slow movement of the Piano Sonata op.22. After the headlong scurrying of the first movement, the Andantino lets us into the quiet place again, the old head-and-heart mix which is Schumann's trademark. The Etudes symphoniques op.13 is one of those grand sweeping pieces that just carries you along. Having set out its stall in leisurely fashion, it cascades through an endlessly inventive set of variations to the Allegro brillante finale, which Hamelin tackles with take-no-prisoners verve. The playing throughout is rich and opulent, tempering Schumann's essentially personal outpouring with the bravura public face. --Keith Clarke