Nikolai Kapustin: Klaviersonate Nr.6 (op.62) auf CD

Product-Information:

Here is a disc to set the pulse racing. Nikolai Kapustin is a Russian composer who writes jazz piano music teeming with energetic spontaneity and bristling with the kind of creative immediacy one associates with improvisation (although the music is fully and meticulously written out). Kapustin is already known to the Hyperion catalogue through Steven Osborne's trail-blazing recording of the first two Piano Sonatas and the Preludes in Jazz Style, and Marc-André Hamelin is another pianist who has for years played his music in concert. Hamelin's legendary technical prowess and his exceptional affinity with jazz fuse to create one of the most sparkling, infectiously foot-tapping piano discs you could wish to hear.

In a recital spanning various traditional instrumental genres, Marc-André Hamelin includes two sets of studies. In terms of their stylistic breadth, formidable technical challenges and audacious invention, the Eight Concert Études (1984) hold their own against the celebrated benchmarks in the genre, from Liszt and Lyapunov to Godowsky's re-worked Chopin. The Five Études in Different Intervals (1992) begins with a madcap study in minor seconds recalling the bouncy demeanor of Zez Confrey's Kitten on the Keys (although here someone has dosed poor kitty with Grade A Catnip!), and ends with an octave study to end all octave studies. Throughout, Kapustin's bottomless well of thematic resoursefulness works overtime.

A disc to dazzle your friends with – and play ‹guess the composer!‹

Rezensionen

»the music is full of virtuosity which Marc-André handles effortlessly« (BBC Music Magazine)

»exceptionally well-played and recorded« (The Times)

»Marc-André Hamelin simply flies through the music, ignoring any technical difficulties with the most marvellous command and virtuosity … In all, this second disc of Kapustin's marvellous music from Hyperion is the most exceptionally satisfying discovery« (Hi-Fi+)

»Hamelin plays with all his trademark virtuosity and nimble wit, making the keyboard thunder and sing« (San Francisco Chronicle)

Rezensionen

klassik-heute. com: »Für die Liebhaber einer heutigen, gescheiten, immer wieder vom Jazz inspirierten Klaviermusik mit hohem Unterhaltungsquotienten sind die Kompositionen von Nikolai Kapustin eine wahre Fundgrube! Und wenn ein Überpianist wie Hamelin mit gleichsam lächelnden und zugleich ätzenden Fingern in den Variations- und Etüden-Zyklen bzw. -sammlungen nach dem Rechten, nach dem Würzigen und nach dem Gescheiten sucht, dann ist für fast 80 Minuten friedfertige Unterweisung gesorgt. Diese neue Hamelin-Veröffentlichung markiert die Obergrenze dessen, was auf dem Sektor Kapustin geleistet werden kann und bis jetzt geboten wurde.«