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Editorial Reviews

Kaleidoscope is a sampling of rather obscure, virtuoso, solo piano works that show Marc-André Hamelin's talents to their best advantage. The pieces selected by Hamelin may be called miniatures, but they are hardly miniature in any way except performance time. All were written by pianist/composers, including a couple by Hamelin himself. All but two were written in the twentieth century, although a couple are paraphrases on nineteenth century works and, in the case of Hamelin's "Etude No. 6," a tribute to Scarlatti's eighteenth century keyboard music (which apparently gets audience laughs at live performances because of the leaps and cross-hand maneuvers). Each one has the sound of the showcase pieces popularized by Liszt and others, with flying arpeggios, glissandos, complex ornaments, and the usual fireworks meant to impress audiences aurally and visually. Only toward the end of the disc do the harmonies and figurations become more modern. The last "Toccatina," by Nikolai Kapustin, using jazz and swing idioms, is obviously twentieth century. An amusing piece is the concert paraphrase of Offenbach's "The Song of the Soldiers of the Sea," better known to Americans as the "Marine Hymn," which also must be something to see in live performance as it ends with an upward glissando in the right hand while the left is pounding out chords at the bottom of the keyboard. A lovingly bittersweet performance of Leopold Godowsky's "Alt Wien" is one of a few contrasting calms in the storm. Joseph Hoffman's "Nocturne" is another island of calm, but placed as number three on the disc, it comes too early to offer much refuge. Kaleidoscope is an excellent introduction not only to these works, but to Hamelin's skills, clearly demonstrating why he has been called a "super-virtuoso." Patsy Morita, All Music Guide

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