Piano Sonata
Dukas' massive Piano Sonata, often called the FrenchHammerklavierafter Beethoven's equally daunting masterpiece, is one of the pinnacles of the piano repertory. Unfortunately, we've long waited for a major international virtuoso to provide a fully satisfying recording. At last, here it is. Marc-Andre Hamelin succeeds because he has the technique and the firm structural grasp of a work that often seems diffuse in competing versions. He makes Dukas' long journey from the troubled anxiety of the first movement to the triumph of the last movement a thrilling experience. His solemn, gentle second movement contrasts well with the lively third movement, full of virtuosic glitter interrupted by a middle section that's like a bad dream. The wealth of ideas and experiences in the music are brought to life in Hamelin’s knowingly expert interpretation. The substantial filler is a true rarity, the only published works of Abel Decaux, a prominent organist and teacher in both France and the U.S. They anticipate later innovations of modernists like Debussy and Schoenberg. Hamelin is an expert guide to Decaux's music, as he is to Dukas' masterpiece.--Dan Davis