Piano Quintets

"The players, ferociously concentrated and demonstrative in Vierne, find just the delicate touch (in the Hahn). A Hyperion classic, finely recorded."
***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music Magazine (Jan 2002)

'A pair of piano quintets that are as different as could be in terms of musical expression, but prove to be complementary companion pieces that make very appealing listening' (The Daily Telegraph)

Reynaldo Hahn's reputation as the composer of some of the most attractive songs in the French repertoire has increased greatly in recent years with the issue of several recordings, especially Hyperion's 2-CD set (CDA67141/2). His chamber music is now beginning to appear on disc. Like the songs, this Piano Quintet is immediately appealing to anyone with a liking for tuneful, easygoing and not-too-profound chamber music. It was written in 1922.

Louis Vierne's Piano Quintet dates from 1917 and is a much sterner, melancholic work, written in memoriam to the composer's son who was killed in the Great War. Vierne is principally known as the composer of organ music, including six imposing symphonies. His chamber music is much less well-known.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stephen Coombs first came to musical prominence when, at the age of thirteen, he won second prize at the National Piano Concerto Competition. His London debut at the Wigmore Hall only two years later set the pattern for an international career which has won him many prizes and awards, including the Gold Medal at the First International Liszt Concourse in Hungary.
Stephen Coombs has achieved considerable distinction not only as a soloist but as a chamber- and duo-pianist. He has played at many leading festivals including Cheltenham, Salisbury, Spoleto, Snape Maltings, Henley, the Three Choirs, Radley, Bath, Lichfield and the Proms, and his work has taken him around the world giving concerts and masterclasses not only in Britain but also in Germany, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong and the United States.

Alongside his performances of standard works, Stephen Coombs has an impressive reputation as a champion of the rarities of the piano repertoire. He is a major artist with the BBC. In the last six years on Radio 3 alone, he has broadcast over twenty programmes featuring upwards of sixty major works by more than thirty composers, from Beethoven to Brubeck and Mozart to Martinu. He has been the soloist in ten broadcast concertos and a third of all his radio programmes have been live concerts. His commercial recordings on CD so far include the two-piano works of Ravel for Gamut Classics, on the Hyperion label the complete two-piano works of Debussy (with Christopher Scott), the Arensky Piano Concerto and Fantasy on Russian Folk Tunes, the Bortkiewicz Piano Concerto No 1, and, with the pianist Ian Munro, the two Double Concertos of Mendelssohn and the Arensky Suites.

Stephen Coombs frequently appears as soloist with several major orchestras, and has been featured as a concerto soloist many times on Classic FM. This year, in addition to his regular recital schedule, he will be performing at Wigmore Hall and in both the Lichfield and Cardiff Festivals. His current recording project for Hyperion Records of the complete solo piano works of Glazunov, on four CDs, will be completed later this year, and future CDs include the Pierné and Reynaldo Hahn Piano Concertos and both of the Glazunov Concertos.