Tonight I saw Marc-André Hamelin play live at Benaroya Hall — in the big hall, not in the recital hall. Good as it is, the accoustic was too large. Quieter music was magical, but whenever it got louder the resonance of the hall blurred the sound. Not that Hamelin was ever crashy — not at all. He did some truly amazing things. The highlights for me: the rarely-played Feinberg sonata, the "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude" (played with incredible color and finesse), and the Debussy. The "Symphonic Metamorphosis" by Godowsky is musical mush.

The program:

• Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, in A minor
• Franz Liszt: Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (“Benediction of God in Solitude”) from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses
• Franz Liszt: Fantasy and Fugue on B.A.C.H.
• Samuel Feinberg: Sonata No. 4
• Claude Debussy: Images, Book I
• Leopold Godowsky: Symphonic Metamorphosis on Wine, Women and Song after Johann Strauss II

Encores:

1. Leopold Godowsky: "The Gardens of Buitenzorg" from the Java Suite.
2. Marc-André Hamelin: Tocatta on a French Song (something he recently wrote for competitors to play at a competition).