Information
Composer: Charles Ives; Samuel Barber
- Ives - Piano Sonata No 2 "Concord"
- Barber - Piano Sonata, Op. 26
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Jaime Martín, flute
Date: 2004
Label: Hyperion
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The latest in a trio of superb Concords, but offered in a wicked juxtaposition
This superb recital of two sharply, indeed mischievously, opposed American sonatas follows Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s celebrated Warner Classics disc of the Ives and also precedes Steven Mayer’s Naxos version. It also replaces Hamelin’s own 1989 recording of the Concord Sonata which was coupled with Maurice Wright’s 1982 Sonata.
Ives’s transcendentalism, his pioneering spirit, could hardly provide a greater contrast to Barber’s compact and conservative Sonata. By his own confession, Ives wrote ‘not a nice sonata for a nice piano player’, whereas Barber was inspired by Horowitz’s demonic pianism. Ives wanted to challenge and go beyond his instrument; Barber composed with its specific qualities in mind. And as Jed Distler tells us in his sparkling booklet-notes, Barber loathed Ives: a clash of opposites, of a revolutionary versus a neo-romantic.
Hamelin’s performance of the Concord Sonata is in the truest sense transcendental, his facility allowing him a cool poetry and lyricism inaccessible to other, more strenuously employed pianists. His Barber, arguably the most agile on record, is much less charged or intense than Horowitz’s legendary recording. But if there are moments when, to paraphrase Denis Matthews, his performance is a bit like arriving at the summit of Mt Everest by helicopter, this is nonetheless an enthralling reading.
As for the Ives, the major offering here, I would never want to be without Aimard’s, Mayer’s or Hamelin’s discs. All three pianists subdue their awe-inspiring command to a purely musical end; all three are, in their different ways, intrepid and thrilling explorers.
Hyperion’s sound is immaculate and Hamelin’s disc is a valuable addition to his unique, tirelessly evolving discography.
-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone
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Charles Ives (October 20, 1874 – May 19, 1954) was an American actuary, businessman, and modernist composer. He was amongst the earliest American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His experimentation foreshadowed many musical innovations that were later more widely adopted during the 20th century. Ives composed four numbered symphonies as well as a number of works with the word 'Symphony' in their titles. He left behind material for an unfinished Universe Symphony, which he was unable to complete after two decades. Ives also composed two string quartets and other works of chamber music.
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Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. He is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. His Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: for his opera Vanessa (1956–57) and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of his death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded.
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Marc-André Hamelin (born September 5, 1961 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. He is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical brilliance of his performances of the classic repertoire. Hamelin, who has received 11 Grammy Award nominations, has recorded a wide variety of composers' music with the Hyperion label. He is well known for his attention to lesser-known composers especially of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and for performing works by pianist-composers. Hamelin has also composed several works, including a set of piano études in all of the minor keys.
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