Hamelin plays Hamelin - Paganini Variations PREMIERE LIVE HD

[@ianmoore5502]

Can you believe this was 8 years ago? I remember watching this when it first came out and i absolutely lost it. The comedic genius of this piece, as well as the compositional experimentation, pays off and reminds me that we have barely scratched the surface of music as a whole.

[@franzleone]

I love him, one of the greatest musicians and pianists of all times

[@hadenplouffe3976]

9:42 onward is one of the most exciting finale variations out there!

[@238assante]

anyone noticed Beethoben's 3rd variation from op 109 but in a minor mode. ( about 4'15'') . :)

[@Zdrange03]

4:15

[@madlovba3]

Absolutely jaw-dropping, mon ami! It's great that the world now can to listen to this envelope-pushing, mold-breaking feat! This was the Russian premiere, by the way - he had given its world premiere at Husum festival in Germany before. ;)

[@aprilyu1514]

that was one hell of the finale.......

[@lisztrach2154]

Incredible! this is a monument of technical hardness played by Hamelin as if it was just a game! Certainly one of the greatest pianists of our times

[@sfsphil]

Such a wonderful sense of humor combined with an endless and inexhaustible technical ability.

[@lucilleoleskevich387]

VERY IMAGINATIVE. I wonder what Paganini would think of this musical reflection of today's chaotic society.

[@titusbeertsen]

A new virtuosic highpoint. Amazing!

[@descansobahia]

merci merci...and in 1080i, amazing feat! You must sleep well after this tour de force...Ever grateful..J.

[@fredericrouel9736]

High class humor! Delightful! Love it!

[@wildknight1103]

Simply mind-boggling! Many thanks for uploading.

[@tomekkobialka]

Wow. Just discovered this today, and what a piece! It almost sounds like a whole symphonic orchestra is playing at some parts. Though I was pleasantly surprised to see that Hamelin is still composing - now let's just hope he releases some sheet music. :D (and an album .__.) Thanks a lot for posting this, f1f1s!

[@driemaaldrommels]

I just can't believe how clever Hamelin uses diffrent variantion-styles! There is a Beethoven variation (from the op.109), a Rachmaninoff variation (inverted) and in the end he manages to mix la campanella in aswell! FANTASTIC!!!!!

[@mvdbergrede]

What a hero this guy is! I just listened to Lutoslawski's pagani variations this day and now this. :)

[@789armstrong]

totally wild!

[@bacardifebreezer]

i remember going to see him live later last year in novemeber at the RNCM and he played this as an encore! it was so amazing :') i remember before the concert he was walking towards the concert hall door and i just stood in awe as he walked past... he is brilliant!

[@christophertwigg4550]

Magnificent composition, I think very cleverly constructed both musically in terms of its form and pianistically in terms of providing a suitable outlet for MAHs unique virtuosity. Great entertainment !! Thanks for uploading.

[@chrisvazan]

Rach 18 and Campanella are hilarious!!! The greatest technician of all time by FAR, and definitely one of the greatest overall as well.

[@Highinsight7]

LOVE this!!!! Just awesome...!!! Still... the Brahms rules... Hamelin is just amazing!

[@SimonPiano42]

wow, pure Hamelin. I wonder if anyone but him can play it like that, or should even play it, because is it worth the insane technical demands? I simply don't know. In any case, it's indeed very interesting, humorous, and amazing.

[@TheKeenanBoy]

9:55 is RIDICULOUS the piece is really well written, if he was intending it to be so boundary-pushing

[@andreslka]

25 November live in Portugal!! can't wait...

[@SuperOllywood]

I went to a concert by hamelin recently. He played a haydn sonata, stockhausen, ravel's gaspard de la nuit, the liszt sonata and this! it was amazing...

[@GhostChance1]

This is insane! I can't WAIT until I hear it live in Portland on Feb 16th. The Beethoven Op 109 reference is AWESOME!

[@f1f1s]

Aaah! Sorry! I have been abroad that week so the first upload comes TODAY. I cannot let myself test your patience anymore.

[@chatterboXXIX]

Killer choice of chord at 8:07. MAH knows what he's doing.

[@kasyapa]

Oh, to hear him play Horowitz's transcriptions!

[@PointyTailofSatan]

You think this is amazing? You haven't heard Hamelin's cadenza for Liszt's Hungarian #2. It's so technically incredible, upcoming concert pianists are starting to play it in competitions as a encore.

[@f1f1s]

Well, you are knocking at an open door-it is amazing, the sheet music can be purchased, and his own performance is a milestone in modern art of piano.

[@larcdaisukiiiii]

amazing,,,,,,

[@YosukeTmr]

awesome!

[@sunamiassault]

this is so cool.

[@LaetitiaHahnandPhilipHahn]

It is funny, I like it

[@luableah7615]

ikr

[@nathanscoleman]

**fainting @ the LH octaves from 9:50 on** .... that was sick!

[@masterofsynapsis]

Stunning, as always... by the way I recently found out that Lang Lang also has a You Tube account. 21 accounts to be precise...

[@koksklaus08]

just IN-CRE-DI-BLE!

[@4candles]

Great stuff - I was wondering what this would sound like! He definitely has quite a recognisable compositional voice. And of course his technique is impeccable and, again, quite recognisable. Lovely to hear him joking around within the variations too with nods to Rachmaninov and other composers...

[@JosephChomgc]

awesome

[@1984ekul]

I love Hamelin's playing, and I love his arrangements, but I can live without his original compositions. They all sound like the music that would come from Sorabji and Alkan going to Busoni's crib for a wild LSD rave.

[@ciararespect4296]

Tbf this one was quite enjoyable. Some etudes he wrote are a bit mad

[@pianoboylaker6560]

If you like this kind of thing buy a piano and get two cats to fight on the keyboard. I swear you won't notice the difference.

[@ciararespect4296]

@@pianoboylaker6560 I've got a piano thanks and play concerts change your name from pianoboy to boringboy and give up any musical instrument as you haven't a clue lol

[@chiupiano]

perfect combination of the theme and La Campanella at 9:04!!

[@PhoenixS4444]

7:30 - 8:19 inversion of the inversion. I like your humour Hamelin.

[@fantasticmusic20]

WOW!

[@paedde06]

Übermorgen darf ich ihn wieder live erleben...!!!!

[@haiqingxu6096]

Ich kann nur "wunderbar" sagen

[@davtones]

Unbelievable!!

[@masterofsynapsis]

8:47 to 8:52 a tarantella! Love it!

[@lsbrother]

why are some people just so over eager to clap - they clap when he's told them what he's going to play (why?) and then they clap before he's finished playing. They just can't bear that someone might clap before them?

[@X.00896]

At Hampton School? I was there too; it was astoundingly good, even if the Stockhausen wasn't to my taste!

[@FlyingBlackAndWhite]

absolutely STUNNING. very very cute composition... perhaps the FUNNIEST I have seen. Hamelin is such a clown... a Virtuosic one

[@AnatoArchives]

that crunchy Amaj chord at the start

[@brooksiefan]

How much to change the angle of that camera?! : )

[@andreslka]

Ah! Mr. Hamelin always writes beautiful impossible music yo be played, then plays it flawlessly... in a live concert. lots of sorabji and rzewski ambience around. I know its supposed to be humerous, but the beethoven quotations are not to my taste. the rest is pure genious. Thank you very much for the upload.

[@f1f1s]

Sorry! I had almost no time to purchase a quality mic to connect it to the cam... and no time to test an aux mic even if I had bought it because the rental time was very limited! Next time-definitely.

[@RozarSmacco]

Is the full recital ready for upload? By chance?

[@f1f1s]

@madlovba3 Well, I remembered he had given the first performance at some unusually named town, but Husum sounds kind of Oriental (like Gurzuf or Hussein) - that’s why I was confused and could not figure out the part of the world. The quotation was taken from his North-American premiere leaflet. However the superficial search for "Hamelin Husum" or "Hamelin Paganini" still returns non-relevant videos, which means this is at least the YT premiere... Welcome to the community of devotees, MAH!

[@GregLile]

I love the nod to Rachmaninoff at 7:30

[@anhypotheton]

In the beginning, Paganini created the theme and the 24th caprice. And Rachmaninoff saw that it was good. Rachmaninoff inverted the theme in his 18th variation (Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini), in a major key (D flat). It became one of the most famous melodies ever. Then, Hamelin saw that it was good, and he inverted Rach's melody, which is a inversion of Paganini's theme, in 7:35. So two inversions = the same. But whether it is humourous, of course, is everyone's choice.

[@Maximilian2808]

Sorry, i dont check it. Could you explain what Rachmaninoff has to do with that passage please? :)

[@chatterboXXIX]

Yeah, I am a pretty good technical pianist, but those octaves swam beyond my ken. How does he do it? There may be a physics problem here :)

[@lsbrother]

the var at 2:43 reminded me very much of some 'pastiches' by Sorabji - very similar dissonant sequences

[@anhypotheton]

7:35 Ahahahaha the inversion of Rachmaninoff's inversion of that theme this is irresistably humourous

[@rvn10rvn17]

was that his transcription of la danza after the 18th variation?

[@SimonPiano42]

awesome! what happened to the 10th of december concert you wanted to upload?

[@OperaVince]

Check it out. Hamelin looks like he's finally breaking a sweat!

[@radovanlorkovic3562]

He knew his Brahms variations well, but knew, what to do with them..

[@f1f1s]

It’s at 08:38, perhaps... I had the same thought, too!

[@IbstisztBlogspotHkgracomtey]

Very ingenious on the last variation and this have the 'shadow' of Rzewski?

[@VayDooble]

He makes a rhetorical assertion of Hamelin's incomparable superiority to maestro Volodos, and proceeds to enquire about the nature of copulation.

[@chatterboXXIX]

Check out the cbc version with way better audio!

[@ErickV88]

Not a question.

[@nathanscoleman]

Perhaps the real mystery here is whether or not MAH has X-men powers ... perhaps a time warp localized around his hands while playing octaves?? He's definitely super-human!

[@brozors]

5:45 laughter from the cameraman

[@y1g1tcn]

La campanella part was the best

[@coqdorysme]

holy shit O_O

[@Vampianist3]

Love the part where he combines campanella into it :)

[@chatterboXXIX]

I'm pretty sure there's some Rzewski homage in there, too.

[@petrouchka2011]

true.

[@AndreaCiceri96]

but at 8:00 ~ 8:20 looks it like "The people united will never be defeated"? excuse me for english

[@christinaryckelynck9833]

Ik kan mij daar niet in vinden...:o(

[@liszt8559]

beethoven piano sonata no.29 mvt.3, symphony no.5, chopin barcarolle, la campanella...

[@SimonPiano42]

you still haven't uploaded the 10th of december concert.. just sayin' :p but with all you've shared with us so far, i forgive you :D

[@MrChibbles55]

Can anyone hear anything clearly?

[@blackkeys00]

and Sorabji too at 2:39

[@7Volkan6]

To the people who applauded at 6:11 euge.ca/2012/12/30/applause/

[@MScJorgePoveda]

Interesante como intercala la Campanella.....

[@OperaVince]

I get it. I just thought it was crass.

[@sonhyun5203]

진짜미쳤다

[@JonnyboyCalippo]

4:17 like in Beethovens 30 Piano Sonata in the 3rd movement, third Variation :D

[@KazukiSakurada]

素晴らしい。私もこんな風に弾いてみたい。

[@mlkoln]

Die schönsten Bilder taugen nichts, wenn der Ton beschissen ist.

[@brozors]

It is because he is a pianist's pianist. to be honest, his tone isn't exactly the most pleasant even when playing more traditional repertoire (Haydn, Chopin).

[@Ryan_gogaku]

You kinda get used to that aesthetic after a while. Sometimes the artist wants to make crunchy sounds to contrast with the "purer" harmonies. Part of it is also embracing the piano as what it is: a percussion instrument. We hit hammers, and the hammers hit the strings. Sometimes, it's important to explore the possibilities of the instrument in that way, instead of being limited to what we otherwise learn to like.

[@Gatapotata]

sounds like "La Danza", doesn't it???

[@FoivosApostolou]

which is just the original theme transposed in major...

[@ChrystF1]

Leider ziemlich schlechte Tonqualität - es gibt viel bessere hier auf KZbin von Hamelin

[@AsrielKujo]

bass

[@ErickV88]

Beethoven's 5th symphony at 6:05.

[@proberts8]

And also Beethoven Op 109.

[@Valkyrie91a]

Yes, but Liszt composed pieces that at the time only he could play. I like watching the performance of pianists who are so technically gifted!