HOUGH Was mit der Tränen geschiet. Herbstlieber
Stephen Hough viewed as composer first, pianist second
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Stephen Hough
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 02/2012
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1952
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Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Was mit der Tränen geschiet |
Stephen Hough, Composer
Marion Reinhard, Bassoon Michael Hasel, Piccolo Stephen Hough, Composer Stephen Hough, Piano |
(Un) Piccolo Sonatina |
Stephen Hough, Composer
Michael Hasel, Piccolo Stephen Hough, Composer |
Bridgewater |
Stephen Hough, Composer
Marion Reinhard, Bassoon Stephen Hough, Composer Stephen Hough, Piano |
Herbstlieber |
Stephen Hough, Composer
Jacques Imbrailo, Baritone Stephen Hough, Piano Stephen Hough, Composer |
Sonata for Piano 'Broken branches' |
Stephen Hough, Composer
Stephen Hough, Piano Stephen Hough, Composer |
(The) Loneliest Wilderness |
Stephen Hough, Composer
Gábor Takács-Nagy, Conductor Stephen Hough, Composer Steven Isserlis, Cello Tapiola Sinfonietta |
Author: Jed Distler
The wonderful trio for piccolo, contrabassoon and piano that opens this disc exploits each wind instrument’s registral extremes (especially in the haunting Andante finale’s slow, sustained unison lines) as well as Hough’s witty melodic interplay (Poulenc’s ghost benignly hovers over the proceedings). If anything, piccolo soloist Michael Hasel shines even more in a short solo sonata whose scampering vivace finale contrasts with slower, wistful lyrical writing in the first two movements that makes evocative use of the instrument’s lower register.
Bridgewater’s ‘romantic idyll’ subtitle couldn’t be more appropriate for this gorgeous, tuneful six-minute bassoon-and-piano piece, while the five Rilke song-settings Herbstlieder recall Richard Strauss at his most impassioned and intricate. Hough’s excellent booklet-notes cite the short continuous movements of Janá∂ek’s On an Overgrown Path as a model for his one-movement Piano Sonata, which contains virtuoso display without the gloss and glitter one usually gets from pianists who compose.
The sad, slowly unfolding elegy for cello and orchestra, The Loneliest Wilderness, showcases Hough’s gifts for subtle, transparent orchestration and deploying solo instruments to memorable, democratic effect. In short, Hough’s music speaks with substance, fluent ease, confidence and communicative immediacy. That makes him a real composer. It goes without saying that Hough and his colleagues serve up ideal, splendidly engineered performances. A cherishable release.
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