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A standing ovation concluded Marc Andre Hamelin’s masterful piano recital held in Minky Hall on Jan. 17. Audience members burst with enthusiastic praise for Hamelin’s awe-inspiring command of the keys on his piano. “I’m totally amazed at how he can play something that extraordinary,” said an audience member. “It’s so powerful. It’s truly amazing.”
Hamelin, a native of Boston, took the stage Sunday afternoon to showcase his recently acclaimed work. Among the songs chosen, Hamelin particularly highlighted the significance of his “Twelve Etudes” that concluded his performance. It was a culmination of excerpts from several short pieces.
In his program notes, Hamelin described his experience in creating No. 8 – “Erlkonig.” This etude represents Hamelin’s instrumental interpretation of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s poetry. “My piece is basically a faithful setting of it, adhering as closely to the poem as any vocal setting,” wrote Hamelin in the notes.
Other crowd-pleasing etudes included No. 2 – “Coma Berenices” and No. 7 – After Tchaikovsy. The former symbolized Hamelin’s musical realization of a beautiful head of flowing hair, and the latter an etude written for the left hand only. In No. 7, Hamelin presented his mastery of unorthodox styles with astonishing command of the piano’s pedals.
Hamelin assured audience members that the technique of playing with one hand was not intended to display proficiency. “I consider it a fascinating compositional constraint,” Hamelin said. “It is a special delight to try to make one hand sound like two”.
Crowd reactions correlated with Hamelin’s variations in speed, volume and tone. The music flowed through Hamelin and was transmitted to eager classical music lovers. A palpable energy emitted from the amalgamation of fleeting notes and the louder, more powerful ones that contrasted them.
Much like the crescendos in his music, crowd emotions underwent a gradual progression. Emotions went down as certain notes evoked melancholy and sadness. This style proved particularly successful in presenting a musical adaptation of the emotions felt through poetry readings.
Some audience members closed their eyes, seemingly allowing the music to be felt. Others hesitated to blink so as to capture every second of Hamelin’s performing style. The silence between songs did nothing to disrupt the bewilderment of the students, professors and members of the general public in attendance.
Hamelin’s body language complemented the emotions evoked by many of his works. A sense of true feeling for music dominated the performance. Audience reactions indicated the way he performed was as appreciated as the music he performed. Not only were attendees struck by his musical genius, but also by the confident air assumed throughout the performance.
Hamelin is no stranger to performance. He frequently plays recitals in New York, Boston, Amsterdam, Glasgow and Berlin, to name a few. He’s played with symphony orchestras from Boston, Montreal, San Francisco and Indianapolis. More recently, Hamelin opened the Aspen Music Festival’s season.
