Legato

We live in a 'renaissance of the piano', as the New York Times so surprisingly put it in summer 2005. A new generation is reviving the piano's popularity as pianists with a passion for virtuosity and a willingness to expand their repertoire take to the concert stages. In addition to the standard classics, they perform formerly disparaged works or discover neglected composers.LEGATO is a series dedicated to presenting some of this new movement's most fascinating pianists - their development, their ideas and, of course, their music. Each episode in this series presents an artist and explores an aspect of the world of piano music. Viewers meet the artists and get to know their styles, their methods of working and their personal idiosyncrasies. The sum of these portraits provides viewers with an overall picture of the art of piano playing today. Montréal native Marc-André Hamelin is a perfect representative of this new group of pianists. Internationally renowned for his musical virtuosity and refined pianism, he operates on a level of virtuosity that 'is simply way beyond mental reach,' as The Times once wrote about one of his concerts. This video portrays Marc-André Hamelin in concert and interview. He presented works by Joseph Haydn, Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, and George Gershwin along with his own compositions at the Philharmonie Essen in June 2007.