- Frederic Rzewski - Composer
- Corey Hamm - Pianist
Performers
Track List
| # | Name | Composer/Performers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Theme: With determination | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 2 | Var 1: Weaving; delicate but firm | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 3 | Var 2: With firmness | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 4 | Var 3: Slightly slower, with expressive nuances | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 5 | Var 4: Marcato | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 6 | Var 5: Dreamlike, frozen | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 7 | Var 6: Same tempo as beginning | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 8 | Var 7: Lightly, impatiently | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 9 | Var 8: With agility. Not too much pedal; crisp | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
| 10 | Var 9: Evenly | Frederic Rzewski - Composer Corey Hamm - Pianist |
Pianist Corey Hamm plays Frederic Rzewski’s hour-long solo piano epic The People United Will Never Be Defeated! I first heard Ursula Oppens’ great recording of Frederic Rzewski’s 36 variations on Sergio Ortega’s Chilean revolutionary song El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido when I was fourteen years old, and I immediately dreamed of playing it. It took until I was in my thirties (!), but I have now played the fantastic work over sixty times (and counting!) and I am proud of this recording.
Reviews
Frederic Rzewski himself said of the CD “I think the secret of Corey Hamm’s excellent interpretation is his choice of consistently lively tempi. .. Listening to Corey’s version, I feel that he never gets lost in his own private world, but consistently focuses on the theme of revolutionary unity, in which both the new and the old share equally; a unity without which no true revolution can be realized”
Frederic Rzewski April 2014
"This is one of the finest piano performances I've heard of any music at any time, a magnificent performance beautifully recorded."
Lynn rene Bayley, Fanfare Magazine May/June 2015
Headline: "Corey Hamm Joins the Elite in Rzewski"
"There are, arguably, three supremely great recordings of this modern masterpiece: the composer's own on Hat Art (way out of print), Stephen Drury's on New Albion, and Marc-Andre Hamelin's on Hyperion. This version joins them."
David Hurwitz, Classicstoday.com
"Corey Hamm's deep commitment to The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is evident in every note. This is a brilliant and moving tour-de-force of a performance that communicates Rzewski's iconic work directly to the heart."
Jon Kimura Parker
"Hamm is a remarkable artist, whose comprehensive command of this thorny, intense, and complex material is never less than revelatory.The sheer breadth of his unimpeachable technical apparatus, wed to a musical sensibility so deftly in tune with affective nuance and dare I say, micro-dynamics, is overwhelming. A listener needs spend only a few minutes with his imperious delivery of the opening theme "With determination", or the blustery, but intelligently laid out Variation 8, or the eloquent Variation 29 to know he is in the presence of a tremendous pianist. In this recording you will find a definitive performance."
John Bell Young, Fanfare Magazine July/August 2015
"And despite the fact that there are already several fine performances of this work available, this one begs to be included amongst the must-haves."
Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine May/June 2015
"His sensitivity to nuance and expressive details gives the work a variety of tonal colours that is needed in a major work of an hour in length that is performed without break. This was a mesmerizing and thoughtful performance."
Christina Petrowska Quilico, WholeNote 2014
Headline: "Corey Hamm's Not the Only Genius on Latest Effort."
"Following the tune's thread is like reading a whodunit, and in this rendition Hamm shows himself to be the Sherlock Holmes of concert pianists: unconventional, insightful, and fun to meet."
Alexander Varty, The Georgia Straight April 2014
“There is stiff competition on the recording front - Marc-Andre Hamelin, Ralph Van Raat, and Rzewski himself, to name a few - but Hamm is a worthy advocate. Hamm handles the twists and turns - not to mention highly complex technical demands - with aplomb”
Piano Magazine May/June 2015 4 out of five stars
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