Piano Music

'Magnificent. Easily the most sophisticated Villa-Lobos piano disc currently in the catalogue' (International Record Review)

'Enough technical dazzle to satisfy even the most virtuoso-hungry listeners' (Fanfare)

'An impressive disc' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Marc-André Hamelin's transcendental sheen and facility bless everything he plays. He makes As três Marias wink and scintillate with an inimitable verve … leaves all others standing' (Gramophone)

This recital includes Rudepoêma, composed for Artur Rubinstein, the complete Próle do Bébé (The Baby's Family) and As Três Marias, three delightful miniatures representing the three stars in the 'belt' of the constellation Orion. The most important of Villa-Lobos's solo piano works in definitive performances by Marc-André Hamelin.

First Prize-winner of the 1985 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition, Marc-André Hamelin has been called a 'super-virtuoso' (Harold Schonberg, The New York Times) and described by Carol Bergeron of the Montreal paper Le Devoir as 'Glenn Gould's only worthy successor'. Born in Montreal in 1961, Marc-André Hamelin studied at the Vincent d'Indy School of Music, then moved to the United States and received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he still lives. His principal teachers were Yvonne Hubert, Harvey Wedeen and Russell Sherman.
Now well established in both North America and Europe, Marc-André Hamelin has given recitals in Amsterdam, Belfast, Berlin, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Milan, Montreal, Munich, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Toronto, Vienna, Washington and Warsaw. Festival appearances have included Blackheath Halls Pianoworks (London), Consonances (St Nazaire), Duszniki Chopin, Espoo, La Grange de Meslay en Touraine, Lanaudière, Manchester Glories of the Keyboard Festival, Ravinia, La Roque d'Antheron, Ruhr Piano Festival, Singapore International Piano Festival, Snape Maltings, the Proms, Schloss vor Husum Rarities of Piano Music and the Valldemosa Chopin Festival. Following the success of his June 1994 Wigmore Hall series Virtuoso Romantics, Mr Hamelin was invited to give recitals in the Wigmore Hall Masterconcert Series and the International Piano Series at the South Bank. He returned to Wigmore Hall for a three-part series in June 1999 titled Exploration & Celebration.

Recent concerto performances have included appearances with the orchestras of Birmingham, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Lahti, Minneapolis, Montpellier, Montreal, Netherlands Radio, Philadelphia, BBC Philharmonic and Scottish, Polish National Radio, Royal Concertgebouw, Toronto, Vancouver and the Ulster Orchestra. Conductors he has played under include Matthias Bamert, Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Dennis Russell Davies, Christoph Eschenbach, Günther Herbig, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Vassili Sinaisky, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Osmo Vanska, Hans Vonk, Hugh Wolff and David Zinman.

Under an exclusive contract with Hyperion Mr Hamelin has recorded concertos by Alkan, Henselt, Korngold and Joseph Marx with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Live at Wigmore Hall; discs of Alkan (Canadian Juno Award 1996), Catoire, Grainger (Soundscapes Award 1997, Australia), Liszt, Reger, Roslavets, Rzewski, 'The Composer-Pianists' from Alkan to Hamelin (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 1997 & 1998) and the complete sonatas of both Medtner and Scriabin. His recently issued recording of the epic Busoni Concerto with the CBSO under Mark Elder has received enormous critical acclaim.