Vilnius festival. Mission Possible. Marc-André Hamelin Performs Beethoven, Schumann and Ravel

Performers:
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN (piano, Canada)

Programme:
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN – Piano sonata, Op. 106, in B flat major (Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier)
ROBERT SCHUMANN  – Waldszenen, Op. 82 (Forest Scenes)
MAURICE RAVEL – Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55 (Gaspard of the Night)

Mission Possible suits only a master like Marc-André Hamelin! The Montreal-born, Boston-based celebrity has been called “a performer of almost superhuman technical skill” by The New York Times. That these are not empty words is evident from Hamelin’s recitals he has given at the world’s greatest concert halls and festivals, 11 Grammy nominations, the Ontario Arts Foundation awards and other honours, Canadian state medals, as well as the admiration of audiences worldwide.

Hamelin is an exclusive artist for Hyperion Records, with a discography of more than 70 albums (solo, orchestral and chamber works) and a wide stylistic horizon ranging from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s sonatas and rondos to William Bolcom’s ragtime. The pianist, who has mastered the most difficult classical opuses, is praised for a refined sound palette, a sense of humour and, according to the critics, a “chameleon’s ability to persuade”, is also known as the successor of the famous ragtime maestro James P. Johnson. “Is there another pianist in the world who, after presenting us with the revelatory two-record C. Ph. E. E. Bach’s review, could so skilfully look back to the ragtime of the late 20th century? This man is a marvel”, writes the respectable Gramophone.

Hamelin invites the Vilnius Festival audience to hear his reading of great classical, romantic and impressionist opuses, which not every pianist turns to because of their musical and intellectual depth and the technical challenges: some of them are described by the performers as “simply unplayable”.

The festival organisers:
Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, PI “Vilniaus festivaliai”, Vilnius City Municipality