Frédéric Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 3; etc. (Charles Richard-Hamelin)

Information

Composer: Frédéric Chopin

• Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
• Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat major, Op. 61
• Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1
• Nocturne in E major, Op. 62 No. 2

Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano

Date: 2015

Label: Analekta

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Review

A welcome newcomer to the seriously over-crowded international piano scene, Charles Richard-Hamelin (French-Canadian but no relation to Marc-André) is clearly a musician-pianist rather than the other way around. Not that he is in any way deficient as a pianist. Far from it. Fluent, multi-faceted and tonally seductive, he is a technician of exceptional elegance and sophistication. Part of that sophistication is his refusal to dazzle. Technique is at all times put to strictly musical ends. His playing repeatedly put me in mind of Chopin’s idol, Mozart, who prized the twin virtues of ‘taste and feeling’and said of piano-playing that it should ‘flow like oil’.

The playing here – quite strikingly in the outer movements of the B minor Sonata – is blessedly free of that metre-driven angularity and stasis that have increasingly beset performances over the past half-century. Melodic inflection is curvaceous, natural and discreetly sensuous; the tonal palette is unfailingly refined (a prime requirement in Chopin), and the pervasive polyphony of Chopin’s textures is eminently clear but never ostentatious. That said, Richard-Hamelin is not, on present evidence, a ‘big’ pianist, though the Third Sonata and Polonaise-Fantasy in A flat are some of Chopin’s biggest works: I feel an insufficiency of large-scale momentum and binding connections; I miss a truly epic sense of drama. Too many sentences; not enough paragraphs. But time is on his side.

— Jeremy Siepmann

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Frédéric Chopin (1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish Romantic composer and virtuoso pianist. A prodigy from Warsaw, he moved to Paris at 21, where he spent the rest of his short life. Although often in poor health, he produced a remarkable body of piano-centered works, including nocturnes, mazurkas, waltzes, polonaises, études and two piano concertos. His music, which is known for technical brilliance and innovative harmony, helped shape musical nationalism and late-Romantic style. Chopin's iconic status, dramatic life, and early death made him one of the enduring symbols of the Romantic era.

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Charles Richard-Hamelin (born 17 July 1989) is a Canadian pianist. Born in Lanaudière, Quebec, he studied at McGill University, the Yale School of Music and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He gained international recognition after winning the silver medal and the Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition. Richard-Hamelin has performed with leading orchestras and at renowned festivals worldwide, collaborating with distinguished conductors and chamber musicians. His acclaimed discography, featuring works by Chopin and Mozart, has earned multiple award.

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