About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

Stephen Hough is one of the few pianists around who has not forgotten the lighter side of the repertoire. Sure, he can give a mightily impressive performance of Liszt's B Minor Sonata, but it is a special delight to hear his charming way with Paderewski's "Menuet célèbre," "The March of the Siamese Children" from Richard Rodgers's The King and I (in Hough's own arrangement), and other miniature gems on his Piano Album and New Piano Album. There are some sweet morsels on this English Album as well, including Frank Bridge's "The Dew Fairy" and "Heart's Ease"; Stephen Reynolds's "Impromptu: Le Printemps" (from Two Poems in Homage to Fauré); York Bowen's "The Way to Polden (An Ambling Tune)"; and Hough's own pair of Valses Enigmatiques. But there is plenty of meat in this program, too, and some of it requires some aural chewing before it can be properly digested. Alan Rawsthorne's Bagatelles, which open the disc, have the energy and edginess of early Prokofiev, for example, while the closing Six Studies by Kenneth Leighton form a brawny, brainy set. Hough plays everything on this diverse collection with imagination, commitment, and breathtaking virtuosity. The result is a pithy demonstration of the range of styles encompassed by English composers in the last century and is yet another testament to Hough's impeccable taste. Andrew Farach-Colton, Barnes & Noble

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