Yes, well… Luckily I won’t have to sit through it myself 
I’m guessing Levit or Kissin will be the best ones of these.
Hamelin really want’s to show us something with Schuber 960… But first part is ok… Babayan & Trifonov are doing interesting program
I wish Hamelin would drop the D960 and get to work on Feinberg 5 & 6. It seems like he’s desperate to convince us he’s a deep and sensitive musician. He’s just not, IMO, but that doesn’t matter too much if he stays out of the standard rep.
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Does everyone here hate the d960 or is it just that Hamelin doesn’t play it well? I like the piece but haven’t heard him play it.
The Hamelin program is by far the most interesting one.
I love the work, but I’m right at the border of where I’m tired of it, and I think it’s a terrible recital piece. It’s such a personal work - I hear it as his swan song, and I have to be in the mood to listen to it. I don’t want to have it forced on me, and I above all can’t listen to a poor performance which is always a risk in concert.
With Hamelin in particular it’s also that he’s been on a mission the last 5-10 years to prove how moosicalé he is, and that he’s not just a virtuoso, which has led to some incredibly tiresome programs with repertoire which simply isn’t his thing. The Canadian says it beautifully above. Personally I don’t think 960 is among them however - he’s played the work for 20+ years, I think he really does love it, and his 97/98 performances has one of my favourite recs of it. But… see above. No thanks.
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It’s also that his tech is declining and he needs to take a different approach.
The physical tech required for Alkan is perhaps fading but the mental fortitude to untie knots of notes like in Feinberg etc. is ideal rep for him at this stage.
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Not really sure how much his technic has declinded to be honest. Yeah there is the occasional slip here and there, but all pianist makes those. If the Busoni concert he will play in March is recorded, maybe we can decide for our self
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Compare his 90s Rach 2nd son to his 2010s performances, Mepth. You’ll hear more slips and less ‘head room’ when unleashing parts that require more speed and power.
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For me, the problem with D960 is I‘ve simply had my fill of it. I’ve heard it 4 times in recital in the past year. That’s enough. Also, I do not think this is music in which Hamelin excels (not that I’d get the opportunity to hear this programme, but whatever).
Yeah, there is prolly something to that.
Brew: Yeah I can understand. Like everyone, I like the standard rep, but pianist should try to not play the same pieces all the time. There are great Schubert sonatas that are seldom played
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I don’t think his technique is necessarily beginning to decline in any real way. I think the biggest difference between 90s MAH and today’s MAH is married life. His obsession with practicing has probably gone down a notch.
He was married back then to a different woman, are you suggesting he neglected her and dotes on his present wife? 
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From what I’ve heard about that relationship I think she might very well have been the reason he practised so much.
I’m not worried either - it’s also that at his age you won’t have the same drive and pulse anymore, and desire to charge in to things like S.139. The last thing I listened to with him was the Herz variations from last fall which were very impressive. Not that they’re comparable to the Busoni concerto, but the difficulties that are there were handled with such ease, and such simplicity.
So guesstimating - how much did he prax back then vs. prax now?
10 hrs a day then and just 2 now? for eg.
Well, Dreyschock did 16 hrs/day with the left hand alone… and I’d like to think MAH is better. So 18-19 hrs/hand?
Today society is more efficient of course thanks to automation and computerization, so he probably only needs around half that. 9 hrs/hand. 
Andrew Tyson is playing cool program in Dubrovnik at the end of the August. I won’t be there but maybe find someone who will be to record it.
F. Couperin Selected keyboard works
O. Messiaen Selections from Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jesus
F. Liszt Vallee d’Obermann
H. Dutilleux Le jeu des contraires
F. Ravel Miroirs
https://www.dso.hr/en/concerts-and-tickets/concerts-2019/august/1100-andrew-tyson-eng
More about this small piano cycle (including Bozhanov) in Dubrovnik:
https://www.dso.hr/en/concerts-and-tickets/concerts-2019/august
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Just fantastic. I have a friend who will tape him soon too, but I don’t think it’s in that program.
Bozhanov would be great to hear too, although I fear he’s already passed his expiration date alas.
That looks really interesting, and with Tyson doing it it’s even more interesting 
One guy on Sokolov’s Facebook page wrote:
“Please, who knows if is there a recording of Bach’s Concerto BWV 1056? He played it with our student’s orchestra and I remember the 2nd mvt ever since!”
He said it was some 30 years ago. Anyone heard anyihting about Sokolov playing Bach F minor Concerto? @xsdc?