Charles Richard-Hamelin by Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Brahms, Van (2019/2019), Walter Hall, Toronto, Canada

Renowned Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin displays the brilliant skills that won him the silver medal and the Krystian Zimerman Prize (for the best performance of a sonata) at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. His solo selections begin with a suite of sharply-etched miniatures by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. It includes the dramatic Prelude in C-sharp minor that became so popular that audiences demanded that Rachmaninoff play it at every recital – much to his annoyance! Richard-Hamelin follows this with a proudly Polish work by Chopin, composed in Vienna and premiered in Paris.  The program concludes with another work that adopts the Gypsy/Romani style: the first of the three Piano Quartets by Brahms. His choice to use it, in 1863, for his performing debut in Vienna, proved highly successful. The finale is a spicy “Hungarian Rhapsody” that never fails to bring an audience to its feet.