Stephen Hough
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The Romantic Piano Concerto 27 - Saint-Saëns
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
If Saint-Saëns's idiom once answered – and maybe still does – to qualities fundamental to the French musical character, it must be said straight away that Hough sounds the complete insider.... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2002, Recording of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2002, Winner - Concerto
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2001, Editor's Choice
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Gramophone Awards, 2008, Gold Disc
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Musicians are big on postcards...But none are as beautifully written as those by Stephen Hough, a reliable scribe wherever he is in the world. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2026, Editor's Choice
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Beethoven: The Piano Concertos
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Hough’s individualities of phrasing and subtleties of pedalling are all contained within a relatively Classical sense of order. He brings splendour to the greater grandiosity of the Emperor... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 2nd May 2020, Record of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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The sequence works well as a recital-like experience, and also as a vehicle for Hough’s comprehensive mastery of his art...The idiom of his own ‘Vida breve’ Sonata, with its cogent sweep and... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice 2021
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2021, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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Grieg & Liszt: Piano Concertos
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton
These two like-minded musicians manage to bring to these much-recorded works not merely thrilling virtuosity and lyrical depth but a Mendelssohnian lightness of touch where needed...Litton,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 24th October 2011
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Building a Library, February 2014, Modern Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2012, Editor's Choice
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Hough: Piano Concerto, Sonatina & Partita
RecommendedSir Stephen Hough (piano), The Hallé, Sir Mark Elder
a sophisticated, entertaining Piano Concerto that avoids pastiche yet cleverly evokes lost musical words. […] It all leads to an exhilarating finale, a tarantella appassionata which sends the... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2025, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 7th March 2025
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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He is tender in op. 118/2 and powerful on op. 118/3. Op. 116/4 sings, and op. 117/2 is delicate, with a lovely touch. In several of these works—op. 116/5 and 6, and op. 117/1, for example—Brahms’s... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2020, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Finalist - Instrumental
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2020
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Dvorak & Schumann: Piano Concertos
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
Hough joins forces with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons for a robust, grand reading that nonetheless leaves room for lyricism and introspection…[but it's in the... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 1st April 2016
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2016
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The Romantic Piano Concerto 50 – Tchaikovsky
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano)
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Both soloist and conductor seem committed to emphasising the architectural integrity of Tchaikovsky's musical thinking...Yet by keeping things moving and delivering performances that project... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th March 2010
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Sunday Times, 2010, Albums of the Year
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Building a Library, November 2022, Also Recommended - 1st Concerto
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Special offer. Elgar: Violin Concerto & Violin Sonata
Renaud Capuçon (violin), Stephen Hough (piano), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
Accuracy matters, and violinist Renaud Capuçon has it in abundance..He is, though, much more than a technical sharp-shooter...Taken whole, this generous, richly enjoyable disc is an easy recommendation... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice
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Record Review, 6th March 2021, Record of the Week
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Gramophone Magazine, April 2021, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2021
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