‘Breathtaking’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

'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)

‘Another Hyperion/Hamelin must’ (Gramophone)

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

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

‘Breathtaking virtuosity, outshining all rivals’ (The Guardian)

‘Ear-boggling … another self-recommending discographic coup. What next? I'm all ears’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Marc-André Hamelin puts us further in his debt with another superbly played disc of Alkan … [the Symphony’s] big-boned, exorbitantly taxing writing draws appropriately stunning pianism from Hamelin’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Hamelin has no equal as an interpreter of Alkan; he inhabits the overheated world of this strange proto-Lisztian figure with a completeness that combines a total mastery of its fearsome technical challenges with an innate understanding of its sometimes elusive emotional content’ (The Guardian)

‘This quite exceptional recording confirms Marc-André Hamelin as the greatest living exponent of Alkan’s music … spontaneous, inspirational playing in which the architecture of each work, phrasing, astonishing accuracy and articulation, and the full use of the tonal resources of the instrument combine to illuminate these extravagant scores as never before’ (International Record Review)

‘Hamelin’s playing is not only mind-blowingly virtuosic but powerfully ardent and touchingly sensitive to boot. Absolutely not to be missed!’ (www.bn.com)

‘This is a delightfully nostalgic trip through English part-singing from the first half of the 20th century. The programme is deftly chosen and Laudibus give heart-warming accounts’ (BBC Music Magazine)