New Release! Liszt & Thalberg: Opera Transcriptions & Fantasies

Today, Marc-André Hamelin releases Liszt & Thalberg: Opera Transcriptions & Fantasies, Hyperion’s Record of the Month.

If, as Liszt himself dubbed it, Hexaméron is ‘a monster’, it’s a monster which certainly holds no terrors for Marc-André Hamelin, and the encounter between them makes for some thrilling pianism. The remainder of the recital—high-octane transformations of nineteenth-century operatic favourites—is every bit as electrifying, from a musician who never ceases to astonish whatever the repertoire.

Presto Classical praises the album, “[A] flabbergasting new recording … [Hexaméron] makes for an arresting opening on this album, with Hamelin revelling in the diversity of each composer-pianist’s technical strengths … his wry acknowledgement of Liszt’s desire to have the last word genuinely made me chuckle: the gloves truly come off for the home straight as he races towards the finishing-line with a crazily accelerating flurry of double-octaves, then smashes through it in a thunderous closing chord which hangs in the air for a good five seconds. It’s jaw-dropping pianism.”

Read more on Hyperion’s page here or purchase the album on Amazon here.