Each new release by Marc-André Hamelin on Hyperion is an event, as he has accustomed us to exceptional recordings, each one being a true work of pianistic goldsmith and a model of artistic integrity.
His latest, a double album dedicated to Nocturnes and to Barcarolles by Fauré, is no exception. The cover of the disc, decorated with the canvas Saint-Georges-Majeur at dusk by Monet, is already making your mouth water.
Like Chopin, his direct inspiration (he is the author of 21 nocturnes and 1 barcarolle), the French composer did not initially think of these works as coherent collections, since the pieces, which range from opus 26 to 119, cover a large part of his creative life, from 1881 to 1922 (the composer died in 1924).
The idea of bringing together the two ensembles is original, even if Quebecer Stéphane Lemelin already did it with Atma ten years ago, but by mixing the different pieces. Hamelin, for his part, connects each of the notebooks at once.
The Quebec pianist of course has illustrious predecessors. Perlemuter, the first Collard, Éric Le Sage more recently, and closer to us, David Jalbert from Rimouski, went further in our opinion in researching atmospheres and elasticity of phrasing.
That said, the object that Marc-André Hamelin offers us can be listened to with great pleasure, in particular because of the ideal sound recording of the Hyperion engineers, but also the musician’s sense of detail, above all in the service of partition.
The pianist ends the second disc with the sympathetic Dolly Suite for piano four hands, which the pianist plays with his wife Cathy Fuller, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music.
Extract of Fauré Barcarolle
Classical music
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) – Nocturnes & Barcarolles
Marc-André Hamelin
Hyperion