What makes him so special is the way his facility and fluency give him what you might call a helicopter view of what he’s playing.
It’s as if his muscles work in a different way to other pianists. To make an analogy with automotive power, it’s as if he has torque and to spare, so that in situations where most players slow down slightly, show signs of somehow changing gear, reveal signs of fatigue or try simply to mask their limitations through the use of rubato that gives them breathing space, Hamelin can keeping going without interruption in a straight line or on whatever curve he thinks the music needs.
I’m great fan of nowdays Henle because they brought some really good pianists, with excellent fingerings. For example Schiff for WTC, Perahia for Beethoven Sonatas, Ian Fountain for all Cello & Piano works. I havel Hamelin’s edition and he didn’t put so many fingerings of his own…
He should do scriabin etudes for Henle next, weird that they dont have them published yet… Or has the original copyright not expired yet…they have other scrib sheeyat tho
