Erich Wolfgang Korngold & Joseph Marx: Piano Concertos – Marc-André Hamelin

Super-virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin plays two of the lushest products of late Romanticism. The Marx concerto, long awaited by pianophiles the world over, is a first recording. Written in the 1930s, it is perhaps closest in style to Richard Strauss with its gushing melodies and rich orchestration

The Korngold left-hand
Concerto was written (like that of Ravel) for Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who had lost his right arm during the First World War. It is Korngold at his most experimental and features a very large and colorful orchestra, and a particularly demanding (and awkward) piano part

Reviews

“All the most wildly romantic concertos you can think of rolled into one huge pianistic feat” (Gramophone)

“One of the most memorable in Hyperion’s much-valued Romantic Piano Concerto series” (The Scotsman)

“Exceptional pianism” (BBC Music Magazine)

“Heroic piano playing of monumental proportions” (In Tune, Japan / USA)