Stephen Hough - French Album
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FAURE / POULENC / CHABRIER / DEBUSSY / RAVEL / etc
Stephen Hough - French Album
Stephen Hough (piano)
[ Hyperion / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 10 September 2012
Exquis! Stephen Hough presents an enchanting programme of French music, played with the filigree perfection and total command of the music's expressive world that make him one of the most admired pianists of today. In typical Houghian style this recital is full of surprises and lesser-known gems from the repertoire, as well as works by the masters Fauré, Ravel, Debussy and Poulenc. A particular delight is Hough's own arrangement of the Massenet song Crépuscule, a ravishing exercise in creative yet faithful transcription. This release is both a tribute to the lyric genius which flowered in nineteenth- and twentieth-century France, and a glimpse into the musical mind of a great pianist.
GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Instrumental
"His latest album recital is among the most enjoyable. "A sort of musical dessert trolley," he calls it - a trolley where you want to eat everything in sight...The Fauré selections best display Hough's connoisseur's touch...The lighter French spirit surfaces in Hough's own arrangements of Délibes and Massenet, delivered with delicious wit and grace." (The Times)
"personal touches make Hough the artist he is, but I can imagine some musical Francophiles balking at his free interpretation of Fauré's D flat Nocturne, and more so at his eccentric Debussy (Clair de lune). Yet there are compensations aplenty: Ravel's Alborada del gracioso and Fauré's F sharp minor Impromptu are glitteringly played."
(Sunday Times)
"a substantial feast of of masterly pianism...Hough can be too coolly objective at times but in this repertoire, perhaps paradoxically, the expressive simplicity of his playing can make your eyes burn. In Clair de lune and Chaminade's once ubiquitous Automne, now rarely heard, Hough conjures up a heart-catching melancholy that put me in mind of Cherkassy. I can't offer higher praise." Gramophone Magazine, Editors Choice Awards Issue 2012
"it's a superlative performance [of Alborada del gracioso] by any standards, including repeated notes that turn me green with envy." (BBC Music)
Tracks:
Alkan:
La chanson de la folle au bord de la mer, Op.31 no.8
Bach, J S:
Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV565
arr. Alfred Cortot & Stephen Hough
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV1056: arioso
arr. Alfred Cortot
Chabrier:
Pièces pittoresques (10): No. 2, Mélancolie
Chaminade:
Automne, Op. 35 No. 2
Debussy:
Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque)
Delibes:
Sylvia - Pizzicato
arr. Stephen Hough
Fauré:
Nocturne No. 6 in D flat major, Op. 63
Improvisation in C sharp minor, Op. 84 No. 5
Impromptu No. 5 in F sharp minor Op. 102
Barcarolle No. 5 in F sharp minor Op. 66
Liszt:
Réminiscences de La juive - Fantaisie brillante S409a
Massenet:
Crépuscule
arr. Stephen Hough
Poulenc:
Mélancolie
Nocturne No. 4 in C minor 'Bal fantôme'
15 Improvisations, No. 8 in A minor
Ravel:
Alborada del gracioso (Miroirs No. 4)
