Beat by Beat | Classsical & BeyondKeying on the PianoPAUL ENNISThree pianists, Quebec-born and internationally celebrated, willall find themselves on stages in Toronto and vicinity over thecourse of six days in January 2014. The last time such a confluenceof singular dexterity occurred was during the Glenn Gould 75thanniversary celebrations in late September and early October of2007. Then, in homage to Gould’s love of the genre, Louis Lortie’sentire recital consisted of piano transcriptions by Bach, Grieg, Gouldand Lortie; André LaPlante saluted the 50th anniversary of Gould’sHamelin.Russian debut with music by Prokofiev and Shostakovich that curiouslyalso included Mozart’s Piano Sonata K282; Marc-AndréHamelin’s program comprised works championed and recordedby Gould, including Jacques Hétu’s Variations for Piano Op.8 andsurprisingly Mozart’s Sonata in C, K545.I happened to be in the audience at the Glenn Gould Studio whenHamelin began the second half of his concert by introducing theMozart, saying that it was his least favourite of any Gould recording heheard growing up.18 | December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 thewholenote.com
SIM CANETTY-CLARKEHamelin began playing the piano at five. His pharmacist fatherwas an amateur pianist enamoured of the pianists of the GoldenAge — Vladimir de Pachmann, Benno Moiseiwitsch, LeopoldGodowsky — and sufficiently proficient at the instrument to be ableto play difficult pieces like César Franck’s Symphonic Variations andsome of the Chopin Études. In a recent interview with Colin Eatockfor the summer 2013 issue of Queen’s Quarterly Hamelin spokecandidly about his father’s early influence:“Listening to these pianists [in his father’s record collection] taughtme to view music with a great sense of freedom. Perhaps this wasn’ttoo healthy, from the perspective of today’s musicological advances,because I grew up with a disregard for the letter of the score. This issomething I acquired later on. I believe it’s the combination of thesetwo elements that make me who I am today, and make me do what Ido the way I do it.”From the age of 11 to 17 hestudied with Yvonne Hubertat L’école de musique Vincentd’Indy.Hubert taught LaPlanteand Lortie among manyothers — Janina Fialkowskatells a wonderful story on CBCRadio 2’s This Is My Musicabout hearing LaPlante practicingLiszt when they wereboth students at the school inMontreal, she nine, and he twoyears older.Hamelin has literally broughtto light many works by 19thand 20th century composerswhose compositions wererarely played in the last severaldecades. There’s an especiallyrevealing response to Eatock’squestion about Hamelin’srecorded music and whether hehas followed “certain definabletendencies”:“If you look at my discography,I don’t think you’ll findanything like it anywhere else.I’ve always had a taste for theunfamiliar, and a desire tobring it to the forefront — in thehope of enlarging awareness ofthe repertoire, and helping other pianists by offering them a greaterdiversity of things to choose from. And I’ve pretty much always beenable to do what I wanted.”Responding to a question about whether it’s his virtuosity thatappeals to his fans, Hamelin answered:“For many people, difficulty has an attraction all its own. But I don’tenjoy playing difficult music for its own sake — and I wish peopleunderstood this. If I do it, it’s because I believe in the music, and I’ll dowhatever it takes to play it. But I want people to transcend virtuosity,For me, musicis everything!One can do without most things,but not without the pleasure ofan exceptional piano.FAZIOLI creates grand pianosand concert pianos, destined formusicians who seek a musicalpalette of endless colour.FAZIOLI pianos: born forGreat Music.2013-2014SeasonFeb. 2, Ilya Poletaev pianoHeliconian Hall 35 Hazelton Avewww.syrinxconcerts.ca 416.654.0877Each concert highlights a Canadian compositiontogether with familiar classical repertoire.Home of the world’s greatperformance pianos210 BLOOR STREET WEST – TORONTOwww.remenyi.comthewholenote.com December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 | 19
