Stephen Hough plays his own "Radetzky Waltz"

[twooffour]

This is pure awesomeness.

[drjjpdc]

Well I am a bit older at 56, but Stephen is the reincarnation of Rudolf Serkin as far as I am concerned. Needless to say I am going to look for any of piano CD's!

[sanjosemike]

I've always thought Marc-André Hamelin uses too much pedal and plays things much too fast, because he can. (I'm not denying that he is an incredible virtuoso), but Hough is also more of an artist.

Hough has the most incredible technique. He has nothing to apologize for.

sanjosemike

[Pischnaholic]

Stephen Hough has everything that Marc-André Hamelin has -- or more than enough of it, I should say -- and everything that Marc-André Hamelin lacks -- like wit, charm, sophistication, humor, lyricism and style.

Stephen Hough admittedly lives in a jaded, frightfully ignorant world over-crowded with great virtuosi starved for an appreciative audience, but Hough stands out in that world, and - like young RUPERT EGERTON-SMITH, a fellow Englishman - deserves far more acclaim than he receives.

[SebastienLoong]

You know you sound really English. Are you English :)

[Pischnaholic]

Am I English? Only by ancestry, but thank you I take your thought as a great compliment.

[twooffour]

@Pischnaholic

"like wit, charm, sophistication, humor, lyricism and style."

Hey, sorry, I know everyone has different tastes and stuff, but to say that wit and humor is something Hamelin (ESPECIALLY in his compositions) "lacks", is to prove the multiverse hypothesis.

Or at least intelligent life on Mars... I mean, seriously?

No "lyricism" in the Little Nocturne? No "charm" in his Minuetto? No "humor" in the Campanella, or the Scarlatti homage? No "wit" in the triple etude or HR2 cadenza?

[aardvaark069]

Yes yes you have said it better than I could . Hough has it ALL and Hamelin has it all except wit ,charm and all the rest of your well chosen words.

[Pischnaholic]

Thank you kndly. I do urge you to listen to Rupert Egerton-Smith as well -- especially his Gaspard de la nuit.

[twooffour]

@aardvaark069

Do you mean his playing or his compositions? If compositions, your statement is rather ironic because the "charm" and especially the "wit" are probably the biggest and most attractive virtues of most of Hamelin's etudes and his HR2 cadenza.

[game1over2]

ciekawa interpretacja BRAWO

[biegel88]

Again, another brilliant morsel from mon ami, Stephen!

[afertyus1000]

yup, he has it all,and a very genial personality to boot!

[fartlestucks]

Fantastic imagination & humor. Really witty & teasing, on edge-of-seat til quirky ending. He's pretty well out on his own these days with hardly an equal in this type of piece,(well,maybe two others,very different,come close!). After Rach & Earl Wild, thank Hephens,and Stephens, there's a successor with the Right Stough

[funkzoa]

i adore him. You guys should try his piano album for solo piano; such beautiful small pieces especially the Musical Jewellry Box and Valse enigmatique - excellent works.

[aardvaark069]

You should try to find his CD called 'My favorite things" of probably 15 yrs ago. All the playing is of small pieces and it is a treasure box of delight. He's one of my favorites and his Schumann really shines.

[utubuser10]

@aardvaark069 Yes, his playing of those miniatures displays a pianist of rare imagination. I was listening to another one of his albums, "Stephen Hough in Recital," alone in my room one quiet night and was completely taken away by the nuances in his interpretation that I've never heard before in pieces as hackneyed as the Chopin C-sharp minor Waltz of all things -- the voicing, the almost imperceptible variations in tempo, the phrasing. A pianist to treasure.

[rnchy]

Brilliant conception of this melody as a waltz. It makes a very nice waltz. My technique at its best couldn't handle this, tho. Sigh.

[teacherschoice147]

Wonderful!!

[cedricrlongreen]

Brilliant. He's my favorite Pianist of all time. Best skill, sound, phrasing, pedaling, dynamics, control, you name it, he's got it. My piano idol.

[Sanrus]

The best masters in the art of the piano transcription would be proud of such a genius!!

SR