Reger Piano Concerto and Marc-Andre Hamelin?

[thalbergmad]

Only my personal opinion, but the Hamelin CD of Rubinstein and Scharwenka PC's was an excellent example of how to play a romantic concerto unromantically.

Henselt concerto was a little better, but Ponti in my opinion is preferable. Reger/Telemann variations left me emotionally blank whilst Bolet fully revealed the genius of the composition.

No doubt he is a great pianist, but I can understand why some think he can be without emotion.

Thal

[Gareth Vaughan]

I find Shura Cherkassky's performance of Rubinstein's 4th PC the most persuasive. He chose it for his farewell concert in the UK, at which I was lucky to be present. His playing really added status to the old war horse and I found many passages were transformed into something fresh and new - at least, to my ears.

[FBerwald]

Only my personal opinion, but the Hamelin CD of Rubinstein and Scharwenka PC's was an excellent example of how to play a romantic concerto unromantically.

Henselt concerto was a little better, but Ponti in my opinion is preferable. Reger/Telemann variations left me emotionally blank whilst Bolet fully revealed the genius of the composition.

No doubt he is a great pianist, but I can understand why some think he can be without emotion.

Thal

Finally... Thank You. I was afraid I was the only one who felt so.

For the record I have no dislike for Hamelin but when I heard his version of Liszt's 2nd Rhapsody I was outraged. I actually felt he had gone too far...

[Amphissa]

 
I'm with you, FB and Thal. Hamelin's destruction of Rachmaninoff was most not only tasteless, but boring -- an exercise in virtuosity without poetry.

[Alan Howe]

I think we're getting off-topic a bit here. Let's not get into a protracted debate about the merits or otherwise of Hamelin in general.

[Amphissa]

 
I have all the existing recordings of the Reger PC and have listened to them more than once. It is not among my favorites, but I'm becoming more attuned to it over time. I think Hamelin would do fine with a piece like this, since it is more a modern piece than a deeply romantic one. Better than Serkin, Douglas or Derwinger? I don't know. The Douglas came out not so long ago, with good audio, so the need for a new recording is not pressing for me.

[Alan Howe]

I agree. Douglas is spectacularly good in this work.