Here is a cunning and potent mix of every conceivable form of pianistic and musical intricacy (it excludes the merely decorative, salon or ephemeral). Everything is of the most absorbing interest; everything is impeccably performed. Hamelin’s richly inclusive programme ranges from Godowsky’s Toccata, music of the most wicked, labyrinthine complexity, to three of his own projected cycle of 12 Etudes, among them a ferociously witty and demanding Prelude and Fugue and a reworking of Chopin’s Op. 10 No. 5, full of black thoughts as well as black notes. Then there is Alkan’s sinister absorption of the Andante from Haydn’s Surprise Symphony (loyal to Haydn, Alkan’s teasing perversity also makes such music peculiarly his own); a Berceuse by Samuel Feinberg that prompts Francis Pott, in his brilliantly illuminating notes, to question what sort of child would be lulled by such strangeness; more superb Medtner and Scriabin to complement Hamelin’s earlier recordings of music by these composers (and with the Medtner as a trailer for his forthcoming Hyperion cycle of the complete piano sonatas) and a cloudy, profoundly expressive Fantasia after J. S. Bach by Busoni.
Clearly among the most remarkable pianists of our time, Hamelin makes light of every technical and musical difficulty, easing his way through Godowsky’s intricacy with yards to spare, registering every sly modulation of Alkan’s “Le premier billet-doux” and generating a white-hot intensity in Rachmaninov’s admirably revised version of his Second Moment musical. Here, Hamelin’s maintenance of a ‘line’ set within a hectically whirling complexity is something to marvel at. Taut, sinewy and impassioned, this performance is a worthy successor to Rachmaninov’s own legendary disc. Hamelin is, arguably, less glassy, more imaginative and wide-ranging than Earl Wild in his none the less superb recording of Medtner’s First Improvisation (Chesky), more aware, in Francis Pott’s words, of the way the music’s theme “attempts to maintain equilibrium in a rhythmic whirlpool but emerges only in disembodied snatches”. More generally, every phrase and note of these performances is coolly appraised within its overall context and the results are audacious and immaculate as required. Give Hamelin five, six, seven or even eight glittering clubs to juggle and his playing increases rather than diminishes in elegance, character and facility. Hyperion’s sound is superb. Irresistible for pianists, this disc should be in every musician’s collection.'