Zimerman

[franzliszt2]

Anybody going tonight? Festival hall...Zimerman! It should be a great concert.

[tompilk]

i saw him on 23rd in Manchester with the same programme (obviously) and it was a true spectacle. Probably my favourite concert I've been to (on a par with Marc-Andre Hamelin performing Ives, Schumann and the Alkan Concerto!).
Annoyingly someone's phone went off in the last few notes of Beethoven's 111... I could have shot the woman.
He changes the keyboard after the Bach too.
But seriously I have yet to come across a recording of 111 that satisfies me know after listening to his. It is truly phenominal - he moans about the recording studio, so I say release some live albums!
I'd travel the whole length of the UK to see the Szymanowski too. He lets rip with some of the energetic variations and I don't have a clue how he plays his trills, but he changes the fingering as he plays them!!!
He really does go for it and unleashes plenty of fury, especially in the Brahms rhapsody.
What a night it was... he's shot straight to the top of my must-see list.
If I'd seen him when I was a couple of years younger, I'm sure it'd make me rethink my career path towards music!
unbelievable...

[Kassaa]

15th of june in the Concertgebouw he's playing Bach second partita, Beethoven 111, Brahms 119, and Szymanowski variations, I'm definitely going, 8th of june Anton Kuerti with Beethoven Adieux and Appassionata, after the break the Diabelli VARS, 19th of june Turangalila Symphony with Thibaudet

[franzliszt2]

I think Hamelin is a dwarf next to Zimerman. Hamelin can only impress with virtuosic feats of athletics, Zimerman can comunicate a much deeper message, and he has a transcendental technique. Zimerman proves he can play all sortrs of music, Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Szymanowski, Rachmaninoff etc....Hamelin sticks to romantic repertoire that nobody knows, and therefore has nobody to compare to. Can Hamelin play Beethoven, Mozart, Bach? Schumann (*cough* no!) ? His Alkan is amazing, but thats about all.

I was blown away last night by the sheer artistry and the sounds he created. I cannot even begin to think of words for how great it was...so I shan't try.

[tompilk]

completely agree (except of course the bit about hamelin, but let's leave it at that).

[thierry13]

8th of june Anton Kuerti with Beethoven Adieux and Appassionata, after the break the Diabelli VARS

I actually saw him play exactly that program, except he replaced the appassionata with a talk about the diabelli ... He was amazing. The last movement of les adieux seemed a bit rushy but anyways it was great.

[dnephi]

I actually saw him play exactly that program, except he replaced the appassionata with a talk about the diabelli ... He was amazing. The last movement of les adieux seemed a bit rushy but anyways it was great.

Just jealous you can't play it that fast, perhaps?

I'll see Zimerman in early June.  Same program.

[Petter]

Hamelin sticks to romantic repertoire that nobody knows, and therefore has nobody to compare to. Can Hamelin play Beethoven, Mozart, Bach? Schumann (*cough* no!) ? His Alkan is amazing, but thats about all.

Maybe he records it so someone later will have something to compare with? Why would he need to play Mozart Bach and Beethoven when all other pianists in the world and their mother plays them. I think it´s  admirable that he presents lesser known pieces and composers.

[retrouvailles]

Maybe he records it so someone later will have something to compare with? Why would he need to play Mozart Bach and Beethoven when all other pianists in the world and their mother plays them. I think it´s  admirable that he presents lesser known pieces and composers.

Seconded. We don't need any more recordings of many pieces that all those various sell-out pianists play. Just because Hamelin's repertoire has a good deal of obscurity doesn't mean he is a lesser pianist or shouldn't be compared to others. Now get back to talking about Zimerman.

[rachfan]

Second to the second.  I believe that artists who select and perform repertoire from off the beaten path do an enormous service both for those lesser-known composers and audiences alike.

[thierry13]

Just jealous you can't play it that fast, perhaps?

I never played Les Adieux, but speed is definitely not something I have any kind of problem with. He simply played the hell out of it. It is possible to play it faster and I certainly could, but the point is would it be as beautiful? Of course not. I'm not saying I'm better than anybody, it's just a fact I could play the notes faster ... but what really matters is the music, and he did great justice to the work!

[furtwaengler]

Maybe he records it so someone later will have something to compare with? Why would he need to play Mozart Bach and Beethoven when all other pianists in the world and their mother plays them. I think it´s  admirable that he presents lesser known pieces and composers.

I have a live recording of Hamelin playing Beethoven's last three sonatas, and I think he frequently programs Haydn. Anyway, his Beethoven, I did not care for at first mainly for his deliberately heavy right foot, but at times this very effect brought some suprising inspirational magic, as in the boogie variation of op. 111. Because these three sonatas mark a spiritual pinnicle of music, they'll have an effect when performed competently, especially as a set, and Hamelin's performance did communicate.

But it seems futile to compare him with Zimerman, who for my musical taste is on another level.

[godowsky23]

i think Hamelin is on another level.... his music sometimes seems a diamond

[tompilk]

i think it's a complement to both pianists that we are arguing over the two! The fact that we mention one when we mention superlatives of the other only shows how high esteem they are held in...

[Kassaa]

i think Hamelin is on another level.... his music sometimes seems a diamond

[thierry13]

LOL. Love this one.

[retrouvailles]