MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN & SEBASTIAN WEIGLE / TROUT QUINTET & BRAHMS WITH MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN &

SEBASTIAN WEIGLE – 

BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO.2

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (6 August 2026)

THE TROUT QUINTET & BRAHMS

WITH MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN

with musicians of 

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (8 August 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 August 2026 with the title "Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin shows mastery of wide repertoire in concerts with SSO".

Canadian super-virtuoso pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin made his fourth appearance with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since 2005 in a sold-out concert directed by German conductor Sebastian Weigle. Hamelin’s legend as “the pianist’s pianist” was borne out by his complete mastery of the widest repertoire, and the art of making the most complex of works (by Charles Alkan, Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, Nikolai Medtner, Charles Ives, K.S.Sorabji et al) sound like child’s play.

All this seems to have overshadowed his true love and deep understanding of the core repertoire classics, set right in a masterly performance of Johannes Brahms’ monumental Second Piano Concerto in B flat major (Op.83). Cast like a four-movement symphony, its demanding piano part is so well-integrated into the musical fabric as to render its virtuoso presence moot.

Photo: Chris P.Lim

Hamelin’s role was to stand out like a soloist yet be part of the general ensemble, a task far easier said than done. His mission was helped by excellent orchestral players, opening with fellow Montrealer Marc-Antoine Robillard’s pitch-perfect horn solo, whose theme returned like an idee fixe (fixed idea) at pivotal moments.

Photo: Chris P.Lim

In the Andante slow movement, Ng Pei-Sian’s cello sang the concerto’s most memorable melody, its congeniality reciprocated by Hamelin’s mellowness of touch. At the Scherzo’s treacherous development section where lesser pianists fall short, Hamelin’s transcendental technique held sway. Playing very fast, very soft and very smooth all at once is what pianophiles marvel about.

The finale’s lightness saw Brahms at his most mercurial, with the Viennese waltz and Hungarian influences referenced, and a sprightly tarantella rhythm to close brought down the house. Hamelin’s encores, two riotous Earl Wild transcriptions of George Gershwin songs – Liza and Fascinatin’ Rhythm – were icing on the cake.

What an Esplanade full-house looks like,
a view from the gallery.
Photo: Kenneth Kwok

Antonin Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony in D minor (Op.70), the Bohemian composer at his most Brahmsian, completed the concert. The burnished quality of strings and warmth of excellent woodwinds distinguished the performance. Conductor Weigle ensured the Scherzo’s vigourous Slavonic Dance and dramatic finale were not rhythmically strait-jacketed, allowing the music to breathe and stride to a thrilling conclusion.

Photo: Aloysius Lim

On 8 August, Hamelin was joined by SSO musicians for a fully-subscribed chamber concert that will be long remembered for the quality of playing. Newly-appointed concertmaster Andrew Beer on violin and French horn principal Austin Larson were his partners in Brahms’ Horn Trio in E flat major (Op.40).

Photo: LG Lim

Larson’s exceptional tone quality, intonation and breath control were exemplary for its success, with the lively spirit of the hunt leaping into action in the second and fourth movements. Hamelin’s rock- steady pianism and Beer’s excellent articulation supported him to the hilt.

Photo: LG Lim

Photo: Aloysius Lim

Franz Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A major (D.667), better-known as the Trout Quintet, was the ultimate Hausmusik, a collegial house party of musical friends. Despite just having met within the week, Hamelin with violinist Beer, violist Chen Li, cellist Christopher Mui and double bassist Yang Zhengyi played and sounded like long cherished colleagues.

From the opening chord, the music radiated the sunshine of an Austrian summer. The exposition repeats just doubled the pleasure of hearing and seeing men at work. And was not everyone waiting for the fourth movement’s variations on Schubert’s lied Die Forelle (The Trout)? The familiarity of this melody (also heard on Samsung washing machines) will never tire. This delightful outing also highlighted the universality of chamber music, where world-renowned soloists and rank-and-file musicians dine at the same table.

Photo: LG Lim

MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN & SEBASTIAN WEIGLE - BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO.2 with DVORAK SYMPHONY NO.7 / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN

& SEBASTIAN WEIGLE - 

BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO.2

with DVORAK SYMPHONY NO.7

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (6 August 2026)

This review was first published in Bachtrack.com on 10 August 2026 with the title "Hamelin’s Brahms and Weigle’s Dvorak excite a full-house in Singapore".

The tandem of Brahms and Dvorak makes excellent bedfellows in concert, and it is a wonder why that does not take place as often as it should. One reason is that they are, perhaps, too similar in sound and substance, texture and tension. Nevertheless, this Singapore Symphony Orchestra concert was filled to the rafters, most possibly by pianophiles to catch Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin in Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto in B flat major (Op.83). 

Widely considered “the pianist’s pianist”, Hamelin is also the Pied Piper incarnate. Capable of casting spells on everybody who has seen or touched the instrument, this super-virtuoso who has the widest repertoire of all living pianists makes the impossible possible, and the extremely difficult seem like child’s play.

Photo: Chris P.Lim

On Brahms’ own gift of understatement, his “few piano pieces” turned out to be this monumental symphony. His longest, if not for its massively demanding piano solo so well integrated into the sonic fabric as if it were an obbligato part. Was it happenstance that the opening French horn solo be assigned to fellow Montréalais Marc-Antoine Robillard, whose perfect intonation was matched by Hamelin’s immaculate entry and subsequent delivery? The orchestra led by German conductor Sebastian Weigle responded with vigour in the tuttis, as this was their show as much as Hamelin’s.

As a conventional piano concerto, this would still rank as one of the greats. And throw in a not-so-tiny Scherzo, its legend is made. Here, the concerto’s most treacherous passages, with playing very fast and very soft (sotto voce, pianissimo and legato all at once), all fell comfortably within Hamelin’s hands. Ng Pei-Sian’s solo cello in the Andante sang like a dream, reciprocated by the piano’s ruminative entry, later contrasted with the pitched battle with the orchestra. 

Photo: Chris P.Lim

The finale’s Allegretto grazioso, ultimate lightness with the weight of the world lifted off Brahms’ shoulders, saw both piano and orchestra off to the races with the breeziest of finishes. This was a total hit, and Hamelin’s seemingly effortless technique was brought back with two “tiny, tiny wisps” of encores, Earl Wild’s Virtuoso Etudes after Gershwin’s Liza (No.1) and Fascinatin’ Rhythm (No.7). Would the gruff German in Brahms have minded? Given his penchant for wry humour, one suspects not.

Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony in D minor (Op.70), the most Brahmsian of his nine symphonies and one with a Bohemian accent, completed the evening. Dvorak was eight years Brahms’ junior, but was collegially encouraged by his senior. Little wonder how much the first two movements sounded so Teutonic. The drama of the opening Allegro maestoso was distinguished by the strings’ burnished richness, the warmth of woodwind sonorities stood out while overcoming exacting articulation in the Poco adagio, sleeper of a slow movement.

Only in the Scherzo did Dvorak consciously revert to his Slavonic roots, with the vigorous furiant dance infectiously captured by the orchestra. Going attacca into the finale, Weigle’s direction was not to put his charges in a rhythmic strait-jacket, but clearly allowing the music to breathe naturally. Through all the bluster, the enduring spirit of the dance was never forsaken as the symphony wound to an intoxicatingly exciting close.  

Photo: Chris P.Lim

Star Rating *****  

The original review on Bachtrack.com can be found here:

Hamelin’s Brahms and Weigle’s Dvořák excite a full-house in Singapore | Bachtrack