Virtuoso pianists tend to be divided into two groups: those of supreme technical ability and those with a profound aptitude for expression. These two groups are often treated as if they were mutually exclusive, and critics are fond of exclaiming when a member of one group shows himself able to travel into the terrain of the other.
The Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin is a prime example of this kind of crossover artist. His technical facility is breathtaking: The piano quivers and trembles under his thunderous assault. But his sensitivity is also superb. In a recital of the music of Chopin and Charles-Valentin Alkan that was never less than engaging, he linked two composers — one familiar, one not — by underlining their similarities, not to say their operatic sides. Aching melodies and long arcing lines, constantly emerging before sinking again into clouds of bristling notes.