Acclaimed by The New York Times as “a performer of near-superhuman technical prowess,” Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.    

Hamelin begins with two emotionally charged and technically demanding works by Polish-born composers. Weinberg was a close colleague and admirer of Shostakovich, and his fifth piano sonata has the same rhythmic drive and profound introspection we hear in works of the more well-known composer.

The centerpiece of Chopin’s four-movement Piano Sonata No. 2 is the famous funeral march. This masterpiece of the piano repertoire has been interpreted as an exploration of mortal dread, death itself, and the soul’s release into the afterlife.

Enescu’s Carillon Nocturne captures the haunting clanging of night-time church bells in a Romanian monastery, and segues into Debussy’s Bells Through the Leaves, the first in a set of evocative musical paintings.

Never one to leave technical challenges on the table, Hamelin ends the program with Earl Wild’s brilliant Seven Virtuoso Etudes based on the Gershwin songs “Liza,” “Somebody Loves Me,” “The Man I Love,” “Embraceable You,” “Oh, Lady, Be Good!,” “I Got Rhythm,” and “Fascinating Rhythm.”  

Be wowed by one of the piano world’s greats in this sensational program!