Hamelin in Stockholm - Alkan - Le Festin D'Esope, Op 39 No 12 9/14

[bernadettesharon]

Can I have the sheet please?

[Rachmaninoffkid]

photographic memory, this guy basically has like 10000 songs worth of piano experience. that’s why he’s so... Hamelin.

[CNJmusician26]

At the end of the video he gives the look, like, "...And can you do that? I didn't think so."

[VilliusPossessoris]

A great performance by the first MIDI player ever.... Hamelin.

[jhpeters2001]

My favorite musical piece by my favorite composer. In 8 minutes it makes me laugh and cry like a baby, and every other emotion. Seriously. Great ending too.

[drummingmonster]

this piano... has just been made... a bitch

[ForsakenRainMan527]

THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!

[MrCrusader40]

What a performer, how can anyone dislike this? Having his CDs it is great to see this genius at work.

[fredericfranc]

...what the Scandinavians really want to hear is this rustic-pastoral Edvard Grieg kind of crap...so this kind of thing is likely to fuck them up, or at least severely disorient them...

[addeex1]

@fredericfranc Dude please... don't be so american ;D

[fredericfranc]

@addeex1 ...I was actually born and rased in Europe...and have more living relatives in Sweden than in any other country, so...

[SuperRezyser]

Marc, you one suave fucker!

[Danilocompositore]

Con che naturalezza che lo suona



[maxkomponist]

It sounds like a mix of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto + Le danse de la Fée Dragée by Tchaikovsky. His technique is superb!

[liszt73]

THE NEW LISZT!!!!!!

[amxmachine]

i personally do not prefer hamelin's tempo in this piece. a good portion of the profoundness is traded with to much forward enthusiasm especially in variations XIV, XV, XVIII and most of all XXV suffers the biggest loss!

[huelchrath]

@amxmachine I agree. Sometimes I think Hamelin's superb technique is hindering him: "Oh wait, I think I can play that faster"

[amxmachine]

@huelchrath In my experience playing faster gives me more excitement especially flawlessly executed, but others do not enjoy it as much as me. sometimes even slow what you hear may not be what they hear. this was the hardest line for me to learn as I am still learning it!

[forgottenbooks]

It's surprising how modern Alkan's melody seems. Absolutely delightful.

[MusicXofXtheXsoul]

playing it is one thing, but how the hell do you memorize this? o.O

[IlCOLElI]

@MusicXofXtheXsoul If you ever played piano you'll know that it's not hard to memorize it. If you actually can play it. It will all flow into your head when you play.

[amxmachine]

@IlCOLElI i never understood why people need sheet music when they perform. when i play its in my head out my eyes through my hands and right back to my heart :)

[arsviatticae]

@amxmachine as with me, I am shortsighted but don't wear glasses, so I prefer to play from memory, but some people may have visual memory dominating over ear and hand, they are the ones.

[cowzilla8]

Enter Cheat Code:(Marc-Andre Hamelin).

Cheat Code Accepted.

[Folbold]

@cowzilla8 You win !

[bravebloodprince]

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! NO HUMAN IS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT GOOD! GIVE ME A FUCKIN' BREAK!

[IDIOTIGROUP]

1 person wasn't invited to Esope's feast.

[123mazeppa]

If someone can link me to a melodious, harmonical, romantic composition of Alkan, then just maybe... I might start to like Alkan. But for now, I'll say that

Alkan is totally devoid of music.

That's why I hate playing Alkan's compositions.

[OrangeSodaKing]

@123mazeppa How about the Nocturne Op. 22? Grand Duo Concertant Op. 21? Sonate de Concert Op. 47? Chant in E Major Op. 38a No. 1? Etude in G Major Op. 35 No. 3? Barcarolle Op. 65 No. 6 (very simplistic, but there's a world of music to explore inside it)? Etude Op. 35 No. 10 "Song of Love, Song of Death"? There are plenty of works by him that I believe are great listening (like the ones I named), but I think that many of his LISTENERS put more emphasis than needed on the highly virtuosic music.

[123mazeppa]

lol, At first I thought the background was just wallpaper until the woman's head

moved at 0:10. Hamelin is the greatest player of Alkan - he even composed

a piece that combined Alkan's notes. What the hell!!

Anyway, in my opinion I really hate Alkan. Is it me, or is it that Alkan's

compositions are just all virtuosity but lack of melody.

Chopin and Liszt are big virtuoso's too but they have great harmonics which

make me love to play their pieces. But playing Alkan is like banging a drum

[F14Lolcat]

@123mazeppa Festin D'Esope is a beautiful and great piece of music. Sometimes it's just banging, but listen from 2:07-3:04 ... I think this composition is Alkan's best.

[saulboyjt]

Alkan was one of the Great Jewish composers of the Romantic Era, and probably one of the greatest composers of all time. Amazing indeed.

[wolfkuehn]

After listening to 14 year-old J T Hassel playing the same piece I think Hamelin has competition. Hamelin is faster and more refined but I wonder how young Hassel is going to play this piece in 5 years. There is no such thing as an "epoque" or brand - it's called evolution.

[scriabinish]

@wolfkuehn Let me know when Hassel records and performs Godowsky's complete works.

[jeremiebazinet]

Il est évident que l'époque LISZT est dépassée...Maintenant c'est l'époque Hamelin...quelle intelligence et quelle habileté

[Rodintube]

I believe the brand name is ALKAN.

[Sword1479]

Jesus Christ! Alkan wasn't human!

[TheWanderingNight]

4:48; like trying to rip the keyboard apart!

[rdubugnon]

Le plus grand pianiste vivant ... et de loin ! quelle musicalité, puissance et finesse alliées... plus de l'humour et une sacrée intelligence. Je l'adore !

Richard

[felixliuft]

great performance!!

[mayorde18]

insane.

[chidlers99]

Thanks for posting. Great close-up of the most fascinating fingers on the planet.

[huelchrath]

At 3:20 you can hear that Hamelin's technical strength sometimes becomes his greatest weakness: A bit slower, a bit more accentuated would be better in my opinion.

[Robinerd]

5:14 - 5:28 is extremely OMGWTF!

and the rest is just pure craziness

[Robinerd]

watch out, he's breaking the speed limit!

[sonodavide]

incredibile...

[OrangeSodaKing]

Whoa! The "crawling ants" sort of sounding variation around 4 minutes was amazing! This whole performance is great. Thanks for an upload of a live performance of this piece by Hamelin! I want to see the Trois Morceaux next! :D

[alkanetude]

well.

[f1f1s]

A new brand of player pianos has been invented.

This kind of all-capable synthesizers can perform everything you put in their programme. The brand name is 'Hamelin'!

[poordiogen]

amazing!

[addeex1]

Omg I didn't know he has been in stockholm :O

[Ixezed]

The camera angles are horrible ! All the good technical parts are filmed from below or with a strange angle..

[madlovba2]

Thank you very much for sharing this incredible concert, and especially this video! I always wanted to see Hamelin's performance of this masterpiece of Alkan, and here it is! Thanks again!!!