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Track(s) taken from CDA67951/3

Three Albumleaves, BV289

composer
No 1: 1917; Nos 2 & 3: 1921

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
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Recording details: August 2012
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: November 2013
Total duration: 9 minutes 28 seconds

Cover artwork: Materia (1912) by Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916)
Private Collection / Giraudon / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Works where Busoni found his truest voice … Hamelin, playing with unfaltering lucidity and authority, achieves an astonishing triumph even by his exalted standards. As always, Hyperion has done him proud … an album that could never be bettered’ (Gramophone)

‘Marc-André Hamelin’s performance of the Busoni Piano Concerto for Hyperion is one of the finest ever recorded of that mammoth work, and now he has produced what is arguably the most important collection of the solo piano music since Geoffrey Douglas Madge’s epic six-disc survey for Philips in 1987 … All the most significant works are here … Hamelin includes some rarities Madge omitted, notably Busoni’s first foray into 'Red Indian’ music, the spellbinding Indianisches Erntelied (not published till 2001) … As to the performances, they are all you could hope from a player of such quality, laced with repertoire he might have been born to interpret. This is playing of a very high order, such as—despite the now numerous competing versions of the Elegies, Sonatinas and Toccata—one seldom hears. Hamelin is well-nigh ideal in sensitivity of phrasing, clarity of tone and delineation of voices, not to mention subtlety of pedalling … He reminds you that you are listening to one of history’s greatest piano composers, a philosopher of the piano to whose ear and mind the whole of European concert music seems to have been continually present. A fabulous set, almost beyond praise’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING

‘What comes through on listening to Hamelin is the underlying consistency of his approach over this music as a whole and, above all, the singularity of Busoni's musical vision and its relevance to composers and pianists almost a century on’ (International Record Review)

‘Few pianists have the time and technique to devote to music that is so little-known. Marc-André Hamelin is the shining exception. He demonstrated his Busoni credentials more than a decade ago with an outstanding account of the Piano Concerto … Hamelin handles all with great intelligence. There's a swagger when the music demands it, a fabulously refined sense of sonority and transparency when required. The technical challenges are surmounted so effortlessly that you begin to take the confidence of his playing for granted, when in fact it's a remarkable achievement’ (The Guardian)» More

‘The gift I'd choose for myself would be Marc-André Hamelin's magisterial three-disc survey of Busoni's later piano music—elusive and haunting material from a pivotal figure’ (The Times)» More

‘Hyperion does Busoni a great service in issuing this magnificent three-disc box. Those readers who know Busoni mainly (or only) via his transcriptions will have a whole new world revealed to them. Hamelin, one of today’s super-virtuosos but also a musician of the highest rank, seems to be the ideal interpreter, and is captured throughout in superb sound’ (International Piano)» More

‘This three-CD set presents Marc-André Hamelin, another formidable pianist, in Busoni works from the first quarter of the 20th century. The music draws from the heritage of Bach, Liszt and Wagner, while taking modern paths and anticipating atonality. Even when a particular piece seems amorphous or elusive, these elegies, fantasias, sonatinas and more are continually fascinating, especially in Mr. Hamelin’s commanding performances’ (The New York Times)» More

‘Hamelin's recent release of three CDs devoted to the late piano music of Ferruccio Busoni represents another milestone in an outstanding career … These three discs contain a number of pieces not previously recorded and also include a sampling of the numerous Bach arrangements Busoni is best known for. The programming is exemplary, the sound is alluring (from a Steinway piano recorded in London’s Henry Wood Hall) and the program notes are excellent. Bravo Hamelin!’ (The Whole Note, Canada)» More

«L’impeccable virtuosité de Marc-André Hamelin se joue des pièges recélés par ces redoutables partitions; sa quête faustienne, à la fois analytique et méditée, assume la dimension philosophique quasi médiévale de cette alchimie sonore et nous en livre une référence absolue» (Classica, France)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING

„Marc André Hamelin ist derzeit unumstritten der König der Busoni-Interpreten. Triumphal meistert er die außerordentlichen technischen Schwierigkeiten und die komplexe Kontrapunktik der Musik Busonis“ (Class Aktuell, Germany)» More

„Marc-André Hamelin gelingt, alle Facetten in exzellenten Interpretationen darzustellen … seiner qualitativ hochwertigen Edition der Klaviermusik von Ferruccio Busoni dürfte deshalb über eine lange Zeit der Referenzstatus sicher sein“ (Piano, Germany)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING
The first of the three pieces published in 1921 as Drei Albumblätter (Three Albumleaves) is an arrangement of the placid Albumblatt for flute and piano (1917); it soon found its way into the ‘Arioso’ of the opera Turandot. The second piece, an Andante with extended octave passages in the left hand, is a two-page fugato on a stepwise theme; it was used in Doktor Faust, as was the third (and longest) piece. Marked ‘in the style of a chorale prelude’, this one transposes down an octave Bach’s harmonization of the chorale Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV278, whose tenor part, in one of Busoni’s most brilliant inspirations, becomes a theme in its own right, in the top part.

from notes by Marc-André Roberge © 2013

La première des trois pièces publiées en 1921 sous le titre de Drei Albumblätter (Trois feuilles d’album) est un arrangement de la feuille d’album sereine pour flûte et piano (1917); elle allait bientôt se retrouver dans l’«Arioso» de l’opéra Turandot. La deuxième pièce, un Andante avec de longs passages en octaves à la main gauche, est un fugato de deux pages sur un thème en mouvement conjoint; il est utilisé dans Doktor Faust, comme l’est la troisième pièce (la plus longue). Marquée «dans le style d’un prélude de choral», cette pièce transpose une octave plus bas l’harmonisation par Bach du choral Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV278, dont la partie de ténor, dans l’une des plus brillantes inspirations de Busoni, devient un thème en soi, dans la partie supérieure.

extrait des notes rédigées par Marc-André Roberge © 2013

Das erste der Drei Albumblätter (1921 herausgegeben) ist eine Bearbeitung des friedlichen Albumblatts für Flöte und Klavier von 1917; bald wurde es auch im „Arioso“ der Oper Turandot verarbeitet. Das zweite Stück, ein Andante mit ausgedehnten Oktavpassagen in der linken Hand, ist ein zweiseitiges Fugato über ein stufenweises Thema; es wurde, ebenso wie das dritte (und längste) Stück zunächst in Doktor Faust verwendet. Das dritte Albumblatt ist überschrieben mit den Worten „in der Art eines Choralvorspiels“ und ist eine Transposition (um eine Oktave nach unten) von Bachs Aussetzung des Chorals Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV278, dessen Tenorstimme von Busoni besonders brillant und inspiriert behandelt wird und als selbstständiges Thema in der Oberstimme erklingt.

aus dem Begleittext von Marc-André Roberge © 2013
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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