This is perhaps one of the most riveting and satisfying anthologies of Grainger's music. Hamelin's superb control and artistry just about sweep the board if you're looking for a disc that not only brings you all the old favourites but also explores some of the less familiar music, such as Grainger's arrangements of two of Stanford's Irish Dances, the Cakewalk Smasher, In Dahomey or some of the rather less familiar folk-music settings such as The Merry King – the latter a delightful discovery.
The deceptive ease with which Hamelin presents these pieces is quite breathtaking. The Irish Tunefrom County Derry, for instance, contains some exacting problems which call on the pianist to play ppp in the outer fingers and mf with the middle in order to bring out the melody which Grainger places almost entirely within the middle register of the piano, and yet Hamelin makes it sound incredibly natural.