Search - Listz, Marc-Andre Hamelin :: Reminiscences De Norma / Don Juan Fantasy

Inspired Liszt Performances

brent taylor | Indianapolis, Indiana | 04/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so this recording has been around for a while, right? Do yourself a favor and get a copy before it disappears. This came out before Marc-Andre Hamelin gained the really widespread notoriety he has today. The playing is marvellous and a little less self-conscious than what we hear today; not that there is anything wrong with Hamelin's more recent recordings but this gets the blood stirring! The recording is worth it's price for the Norma paraphrase alone. There is only one overlap in this recording and Hamelin's Liszt recording for Hyperion: the Don Juan Fantasy. In the latter recording Hamelin make some cuts and comes in a minute faster but here is the better version. Well worth having for any serious Liszt collection. The recorded sound is close and loud, but it adds to the overall level of excitement. This is a fun recording and its get more play than many of my other Liszt recordings."

Superhuman, but boring?

02/21/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Certainly his fingerwork is of superhuman. Any extremely difficult passagework does not sound labored and dutiful. His perception of complicated texture is amazingly clear to listners. Probably his performance of "Don Juan Fantasie" is the most accomplished one ever recorded. But something emotional is lacking, I feel."