Romantic Masterpieces: Kenneth Hamilton Piano Recital

ROMANTIC MASTERPIECES

KENNETH HAMILTON, PIANO

ESPLANADE RECITAL STUDIO

9 APRIL 2013

This review was published in The Straits Times on 11th April 2013 under the title "Pianist Kenneth Hamilton is a one-man orchestra"

Scottish pianist Kenneth Hamilton is a regular visitor to Singapore, and his recitals always showcase either rarely performed repertoire or supremely virtuosic showpieces. It comes as no surprise that the tour de force of his latest programme was the local premiere of Charles-Valentin Alkan's Concerto For Solo Piano Without Orchestra.

This gargantuan work, spanning 50 minutes with the first movement at 30 minutes alone, has long polarised opinions among audience and pianists alike. While some consider it to be an ingenious masterpiece, others have dismissed it as pointless virtuosic garble. In reality, it is probably a bit of both, but there is no denying that this monstrosity was the litmus test for the cerebral and physical prowess of the performer.

Despite the conjectural nature of the score, this was a fuss-free reading that made coherent sense of the work. Hamilton's considerable technique was given a deservedly good showing, be it revelling in the Chopinesque chromatic filigree or dispatching the rapid and torrential Lisztian left-hand octave passages. However, some muddied pedalling, coupled with the reverberant acoustics of the recital studio, made much of the playing sound diffused.

The inner and searching playing in the moments of stasis of the Adagio was a much-needed reprieve from the blistering end to the first movement. It was in this slower movement that lyricism reigned supreme. Hamilton's crystal-clear projection, and his alertness to the sardonic punctuations of the movement, brought out the finest qualities of Alkan's romanticism.

The final movement, marked Allegretto alla barbaresca, was a feverish and unrelenting brew of conflicting themes. Despite the inevitable missed notes, Hamilton negotiated the treacherous leaps and unforgiving octaves and arpeggios triumphantly, and ended the work in a riotous blaze.

Chopin's popular Sonata No. 2 in B-flat can sound tired and stale under the hands of the unimaginative. It was thus refreshing that Hamilton took the opening movement at a slower tempo than usually played, allowing the inner turmoil of the music to fully manifest and not permitting it to sound overly virtuosic.

The octaves in the Scherzo were executed with robust aplomb, which contrasted perfectly with the subliminal poetry of the waltz amid the aggressiveness. Although some rhythmic liberty was taken with the funeral march's third movement, where dotted rhythms were made to sound as triplets, it merely served to reinforce Hamilton's pathetic rather than powerful approach to this work, and the eerie murmuring of the finale brought the work to a tremulous end.

While much of Liszt's works during his concertising days were dismissed as shallow virtuosity, his later works delved much into spirituality. His transcription of Wagner's Tannhauser overture was perhaps the consummate integration of his two conflicting personalities.

In this performance, Hamilton's technical brilliance took a backseat as he produced the most velvety of sounds in the opening, mimicking the timbre of woodwind instruments, and even the majestic chordal section never sounded harsh. The way he could sustain a lyrical line indefinitely was miraculous.

Afforded a standing ovation by the majority of the sold-out crowd, Hamilton obliged with two encores: Chopin's Etude In C-Sharp Minor Opus 25 No. 7 and a Liszt transcription of Am Stillen Herd from Wagner's Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg. Although his programme was a reflection of his barnstorming virtuosity, it was the quieter moments of the recital which showed him at his best.

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