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07/09/2018
“Dream Album”
Stephen Hough: Radetzky Waltz (after J. Strauss, Jr.) – Niccolo’s Waltz (after N. Paganini) – Osmanthus Romp – Osmanthus Reverie – Iver-song (Lullaby) - Lullaby
Henry Love (trans. S. Hough): Das alte Lied
Julius Isserlis: In the Steppes, opus 11, n° 2
Ludwig Minkus (trans. S. Hough): Don Quixote: “Kitri’s Variation” – “Dulcinea’s Variation”
Vasily Solovyov-Sedoy (trans. S. Hough): Moscow Nights
Franz Liszt: Harmonies du soir, S139, n° 11 – Etude in F minor, S139, n° 10
Isaac Albéniz (arr. S. Hough): Capricho Catalan, opus 165, n° 5
Manuel Ponce: Intermezzo n° 1
Ernö Dohnányi: Rhapsody in C major, opus 11, n° 3
Jean Sibelius: Kuusi (“The Spruce”), opus 75, n° 5
William Seymer: Solöga (‘sun-eye’), opus 11, n° 3
Cécile Chaminade: Pas des éscarpes (‘Scarf Dance’), from opus 37
Eric Coates: By the Sleepy Lagoon
Arthur F. Tate (trans. S. Hough): Somewhere a Voice is Calling
Traditional (arr. S. Hough): Mathilda’s Rhumba – Blow the wind southerly
Antonín Dvorák: Humoresque in G-Flat major, opus 101, n° 7 – Songs my mother taught me (trans. S. Hough), opus 55, n° 4
Sir Edward Elgar: Salut d’Amour, opus 12
Federico Mompou: Scčnes d’Enfants: Jeunes filles au jardin, n° 5
Stephen Hough (piano)
Recording: Concert Hall, Wayastone Estate, Monmouth, England (September 1 and 2, 2016) – 80’03
Hyperion CDA68176 – Booklet in English (Distributed by PIAS)
Dreams, that infinitesimal body of ethereal goodness, the resultant clauses of benevolent memories through time immemorial, is what Stephen Hough’s latest release is all about. The Englishman’s musical buoyancy flows like an endless bolt of silky velvet. But do souvenirs willingly turn into dreams? Are dreams really our own reality? [The] “Dream Album” is a bit of both. A plate of delectable musical canapes, this prodigious extraction of time and space is a witty mastering of magical beauty.
Ever since being smitten by his delivery of Claude Debussy’s śuvres earlier this year, this reviewer has taken a keen interest in the future movement of this highly-gifted artist. Now the glance moves to a pocket-size featuring compositions of familiar and esoteric articulation.
It’s hard to fully grasp the genius within, but Hyperion fittingly landscapes the kaleidoscopic fields with verdant crops: the harvest is bountiful. Stephen Hough adds a touch of free-spirited gold, be it in transcription (i.e. the dulcet flourishes inside Minkus’ “Variations” from Don Quixote or the dramatically nostalgic World War I song Somewhere a voice is calling by Arthur Tate) or arrangement (i.e. the sassy spontaneity of Mathilda’s Rhumba or Albéniz’s soft-pedalled Capricho Catalan) or original extraction (such as Ernö Dohnányi’s energetic Rhapsody in C major or the lilting Dvorák Humoresque.)
Each one of these chapters has a story to tell: we enter a musical space via pithy liner notes, parlaying a special-connected essence. Even Stephen Hough, the composer, shows his own excellence brilliant in the quirky and Gershwin-esque Osmanthus Romp and it’s kindred tempered alter-ego Osmanthus Reverie.)
We imbibe this kinetic spirit: toothsome and traditional, while, at times, abstract and avante-garde...surprise around every corner with tasteful aplomb. Stephen Hough’s dreams have become our reality.
Stephen Hough Website
Christie Grimstad
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