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Charles Richard-Hamelin

Chopin - Ballades & Impromptus

Analekta

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Tour Dates

11/03/2019 - The Great Chateauguay Promotions / Chateauguay, Canada
11/10/2019 - The Gilmore ? Rising Piano Star Series / Kalamazoo, MI
11/17/2019 - Palais Montcalm / Quebec City, Canada
11/20/2019 - Salle Bourgie / Montreal, Canada
01/10/2020 - Winspear Centre / Edmonton, Canda
01/11/2020 - Winspear Centre / Edmonton, Canda
02/01/2020 - Winter Classic Festival / Laval, Canada
02/03/2020 - Chamberfest / Ottawa, Canada
02/05/2020 - Glick Indiana History Center / Indianapolis, IN
02/06/2020 - MCMO / Montgomery, AL
02/21/2020 - Valley Concert Society / Abbotsford, Canada
02/29/2020 - NOCCA / Vernon, Canada
03/06/2020 - Jack Singer Concert Hall / Calgary, Canada
03/07/2020 - Jack Singer Concert Hall / Calgary, Canada
03/13/2020 - White Rock Concerts / Surrey, Canada
03/19/2020 - MBAM / Montreal, Canada
1 Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23 9:53  
2 Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38 7:57  
3 Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 7:57  
4 Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 12:09  
5 Impromptu No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 29 4:15  
6 Impromptu No. 2 in F-sharp Major, Op. 36 6:01  
7 Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major, Op. 51 5:51  
8 Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp Minor, Op. posth. 66 5:43  
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Chopin: Ballades & Impromptus, Charles Richard-Hamelin's fifth album on the Analekta label, is simply stunning. This complete edition of Frédéric Chopin's ballades and impromptus makes it possible to appreciate the exceptional playing of the pianist, as well as two important sides of the composer's work and that is the narrative impetus of his ballades and his talent as an improviser on the four impromptus.

Frédéric Chopin's ballades are the first instrumental works to bear this name, originally used to designate refined vocal pieces. Very free in form, all four present a similar psychological journey, in which tension will increase to a fiery coda. Written between 1831 and 1842, they testify to the evolution of Chopin's piano writing.

  • Ema Nikolovska and Charles Richard-Hamelin offer unique program at Koerner Hall / ludwigvan
    Posted At: March 27, 2024 12:00 AM
    Songs by Schubert, Bonds, Debussy, Medtner, Slonimsky, Sarievski; Tchaikovsky: “June” from The Seasons, Op. 37b. Ema Nikolovska, mezzo-soprano; Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano. Koerner Hall, March 24, 2024.Ludwig Van's Joseph So writes…..As I was leaving Koerner Hall Sunday afternoon, having attended the recital given by Macedonian Canadian mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska and French-Canadian pianist Charles Ric...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Chopin Preludes, Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante makes THE CLASSIC REVIEW - Four Recent Chopin Albums
    Posted At: May 20, 2021 12:00 AM

    THE CLASSIC REVIEW writes.....I was quite positive in my review of Charles Richard-Hamelin's previous Chopin release, which included the two Piano Concertos, and liked his album of the four Ballades and Impromptus. I described his performance as "…assured, calm and rather unsentimental." Hamelin's take on the Preludes is coming from the same musical mind, but this calmness somewhat works against t...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin: Chopin Preludes is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: April 13, 2021 12:00 AM

    WFMT's Lisa Flynn writes.....The new album by Charles Richard-Hamelin presents two important works by Frédéric Chopin and consolidates the musician's place in the highest ranks of the pianistic world. Describing the 24 Preludes, Richard-Hamelin says: "One can hear the entire scope of Chopin's output inside the microcosm that are the Preludes. Across all the different major and minor key...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin w/Les Violons du Roy - Mozart Piano Concertos makes CBC Music's 'Canada best classical albums of the year'
    Posted At: December 3, 2020 12:00 AM

    Has there ever been a year during which new albums were as vital to our survival as they were in 2020? CBC Music picks Canada best classical albums of the year, from solo piano to opera and everything in between   With concert halls shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrival of new music - along with quarantine videos and live streams - was the closest we got this year to the thrill...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin Mozart PC No. 22, 24, w/Les Violons du Roy is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: March 12, 2020 12:00 AM

    For their first album collaboration, pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and Les Violons du Roy, under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, have chosen to record Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 22 and 24. Richard-Hamelin says, "This project, which brings together two of my favorite Mozart concertos, was an unforgettable experience. Throughout the recording, I felt like I was doing chamber music. The concertos comp...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Mozart PC No. 22, 24, w/Les Violons du Roy is the KDFC: Download of the Week
    Posted At: March 10, 2020 12:00 AM

    For their first album collaboration, pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and Les Violons du Roy, under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, have chosen to record Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 22 & 24. "This project, which brings together two of my favourite Mozart concertos, was an unforgettable experience. Throughout the recording, I felt like I was doing chamber music with each mem...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Mozart PC No. 22, 24, w/Les Violons du Roy is the KUSC: Download of the Week
    Posted At: March 10, 2020 12:00 AM

    For their first album collaboration, pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and Les Violons du Roy, under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, have chosen to record Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 22 & 24. "This project, which brings together two of my favourite Mozart concertos, was an unforgettable experience. Throughout the recording, I felt like I was doing chamber music with each mem...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin makes The GRAMOPHONE: Listening Room
    Posted At: March 3, 2020 12:00 AM

    James Jolly's latest playlist includes a quartet of concertos – Chopin from Benjamin Grosvenor, Mozart from Charles Richard-Hamelin, Tjeknavorian Snr from Tjeknavorian Jnr, and Adès from Kirill Gerstein plus Lili Boulanger songs with Cyrille Dubois, and Walton sung by Carolyn Sampson – plus pre-release tracks by Matthias Goerne and Jan Lisiecki, Seong-Jin Cho, and the Czech Philhar...
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  • Concentration and purposefulness on Charles Richard-Hamelin's new Chopin recording / Classics Today
    Posted At: November 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    The clear, singing tone and technical refinement distinguishing Charles Richard-Hamelin's 2015 International Chopin Competition performances issued by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, along with his previous (2015) solo-Chopin Analekta release, make themselves felt throughout the Ballades and Impromptus. At times the calculation behind his carefully meted-out rubatos prevents climactic moments from achievi...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin Chopin - Ballades & Impromptus makes PublicRadio90's 'Genre Fluid Fridays on Classiclectic'
    Posted At: November 15, 2019 12:00 AM

    Genre Fluid Fridays on Classiclectic: Music exploration and discovery through the lens of classically-minded composers and musicians.  Explore beyond the horizon of classical music, Fridays on Public Radio 90, beginning just after 9:30am ET.  This edition brings newer releases from New Amsterdam Records, including music from Nathan Schram & Attacca Quartet and JACK Quartet & So Perc...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin Chopin - Ballades & Impromptus is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: November 13, 2019 12:00 AM

    In 2015, Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin received the Silver Medal at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He has continued to explore the music of Chopin in many of his recordings. Richard-Hamelin's latest album from Analekta features the complete Ballades and Impromptus, showing two important sides of the composer's work. For November 13, Charles Richard-Hamelin Chopi...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin's Chopin: Ballades & Impromptus is at the top of Toronto's 'New Classical Chartz'
    Posted At: October 31, 2019 12:00 AM

    According to "Classical Chartz", host Mike Duncan has declared the recording "Chopin: Ballades & Impromptus" by pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin to be the top of the charts. What is a "ballade"? Well, in this context, it's not a vocal piece in the style of Celine Dion. Chopin either borrowed the term from the  interludes during a ballet – ongoing music in between dance sets, or it was b...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin on mentoring and more / theWholeNote
    Posted At: June 14, 2019 12:00 AM

    Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Charles Richard-Hamelin impresses with his extremely refined playing and absolute musicality. The OSM and Maestro Nagano offer an emotionally contagious world-class performance that is in perfect harmony with the soloist. "It was with heart and discipline that each musician and artisa...
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  • NOCCA 2019-20 concert season includes the return of Charles Richard-Hamelin / Vernon Morning Star
    Posted At: May 13, 2019 12:00 AM

    NOCCA unveils their 2019-2020 concert season, which will be presented at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre. The season will include highlights such as Mendelssohn's String Octet in E Flat Major, not previously performed in Vernon, a piano trio of international performers in their BC debut, and the return of the phenomenal pianist, Charles Richard-Hamelin on Saturday, February 29, 2...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Chopin Piano Concertos is WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: May 3, 2019 12:00 AM

    In their first recording together, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Kent Nagano, and pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin perform Chopin's concertos for piano and orchestra, two vibrant and poetic works that the composer wrote in his early 20s. Richard-Hamelin was the silver medalist at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He is also the recipient of the Order of A...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Chopin Piano Concertos is CLASSIC fM: Album of the Week
    Posted At: April 15, 2019 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} Throughout the week Classic FM's presenters bring you the best new recordings, including world exclusives and premiere broadcasts of latest releases. John Suchet's Album of the Week presents a track from...
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  • The hugely impressive Charles Richard-Hamelin makes this week's GRAMOPHONE - Listening Room
    Posted At: March 28, 2019 12:00 AM

    For Piano Day 2019 - March 29 – a date chosen perhaps to take our minds, some chance, off other events, GRAMOPHONE made this week's playlist particularly piano-rich. Alongside two Romantic piano concertos – Chopin's Second played by the hugely impressive Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and Liszt's First from the Korean Jae-Hyuck Cho (Juilliard-trained and an organist as well as piani...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Chopin Piano Concertos 1&2 is an exhilarating encounter with standard repertoire / The Whole Note
    Posted At: March 27, 2019 12:00 AM

    Charles Richard-Hamelin's recent recording Chopin: Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Analekta, AN 2 9146, analekta.com/en) is an exhilarating encounter with these two items of standard repertoire. There is a freshness in this performance that owes everything to its collaborators. Kent Nagano and the OSM are deeply aware of how much Chopin has vested in the piano's role. Their ability to morph into someth...
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  • Analekta, now an Apple Music curator
    Posted At: June 23, 2017 12:00 AM

    Analekta, the largest independent classical music label in Canada, is now an Apple Music Curator.  In addition to sharing its own classical music knowledge and expertise in the form of thematic playlists, it will also call upon its artists to curate playlists of their own favourite music and share on Apple Music.  Analekta will propose an initial selection of 17 playlists based on themes s...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - 'Live' is KDFC: Album of the Week!
    Posted At: January 16, 2017 12:00 AM

    Discover New Music with KDFC's Album of the Week! This week's pick is Charles Richard-Hamelin - Live: Beethoven, Enescu, Chopin. The spotlight this week is on the second recording by the young Canadian pianist, Charles Richard-Hamelin​. The 27-year-old is from Quebec and studied at McGill University. He was silver medalist and winner of the Krystian Zimerman award for best sonata at th...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin - Live: Beethoven, Enescu, Chopin / KDFC: Download of the Week
    Posted At: January 10, 2017 12:00 AM

    Each week KDFC: San Francisco members can download a free mp3 from some of the biggest releases in the world of Classical music. Our pick this week is from Analekta. The Canadian label is proud to present Live: Beethoven – Enescu – Chopin, the second album by Charles Richard-Hamelin, one of the most notable pianists of his generation, silver medalist and winner of the Krystian Zimerman P...
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  • Charles Richard-Hamelin LIVE / WFMT: 'Featured Release'
    Posted At: October 23, 2016 12:00 AM

    Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian Zimerman award of the best sonata at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, Charles Richard-Hamelin stands out as one of the most important pianists of his generation. This recital of works by Beethoven, Enescu and Chopin was recorded in May 2016 in Quebec City. The Chopin: Introduction and Rondo in E-flat major, Op 16 (10:35) from Charles Ric...
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