Brasiliana: Piano Music by Radamés Gnattali

Few pianists have done more than Marc-André Hamelin to change what we think of as the piano repertoire. Across more than 60 Hyperion albums, he has repeatedly drawn upon his extraordinary technique, curiosity and musical authority to bring neglected composers and supposedly ‘impossible’ works to a far wider audience—from Godowsky, Busoni and Alkan to Kapustin, Bolcom and beyond.

‘Brasiliana’ continues that tradition. Radamés Gnattali was a major figure in 20th-century Brazilian music. Pianist, arranger, conductor and composer of more than 300 works, Gnattali nonetheless remains little known outside Brazil.

For three decades at Rio de Janeiro’s Rádio Nacional, Gnattali moved between the concert hall, radio studio and popular music scene. His music blends classical technique with Brazilian forms and idioms (choro, samba, Brazilian waltz), rubbing shoulders with jazz harmony and folklore, and with later works anticipating bossa nova.

The 19 works recorded here range from dazzling miniature ‘choros’ and seductive waltzes to melancholy ‘samba-songs’ and larger-scale ‘Brasilianas’. Hamelin once again brings a neglected corner of the piano repertoire into the spotlight.