Hyperion Records

CDA66794

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Recording details: November 1994
All Saints, Durham Road, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: June 1995
Total duration: 68 minutes 15 seconds

'Breathtaking virtuosity, outshining all rivals' (The Guardian)

'The whole disc is an outstanding achievement - There's no better introduction in the current catalogue to this intriguing, paradoxical composer' (The Independent)

'Sa virtuosité hors du commun, symbolisée par une fluidité et un contrôle de la dynamique tout simplement sidérants' (Répertoire, France)

'Without a shadow of a doubt the finest Alkan recording ever made' (Soundscapes, Australia)

'Another Hyperion/Hamelin must' (Gramophone)

'The virtuosity is mind-boggling' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Un virtuoso sbalorditivo ... destinato a fare la gioia di chi cerca il virtuosismo puro (qui elevato a livelli stratosferici) e l'originalità del programma' (Musica, Italy)

'Breathtaking' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

'Alkan est servi par un pianiste à la technique stupéfiante' (Répertoire, France)

'One of the phenomenal pianists of the century ... superhuman ... staggering virtuosity' (American Record Guide)

'Phenomenal. Breathtaking. Staggering' (Fanfare, USA)

'The quality of playing throughout is on that mouth-gaping, heart-pounding level where amazement and high respect result from an overwhelming experience. . . That someone could play this way is imaginable. That someone is actually playing this way is unbelievable. I heard this CD's Sonatina and Aesop for the first time in my car. I nearly drove off the road - several times' (Fanfare, USA)

'Easily one of the best piano recordings ever made' (Fanfare, USA)

'Truly extraordinary…quite simply, self-recommending' (International Record Review)

'Hamelin’s breathtakingly confident accounts of this under-rated music are as compulsive as they are revelatory' (Amazon.co.uk)

'The stupendous Hamelin truly gets under the skin of this ambitious, philosophical music and the mountain ranges of technical ability that it demands. The finest Alkan pianist of his generation' (BBC Music Magazine)