After watching this video, I had to see Stephen Hough play in person. I finally got my chance last week when he played Lizst with the San Diego Symphony. It was a memorable moment in life. Hough is SUI GENERiS. Don't miss seeing him!
Here is a FABULOUS example of how you don't need to make over use of the arms/elbows when shaping your phrasing - his arms remain still the whole time - BUT - one thing is for sure - he's extremely relaxed and that is THE most important thing! He's great in every way!!!
0:50 - 1:50 - Best part of this video! I wish he always played like this (i.e. at a slightly slower pace). His playing is much more refined when he holds back his virtuoso tempo. He tends to speed up until he starts struggling with his phrasing. His pianistic brilliance is rarely used effectively, because of the speed button he keeps pushing. By the way, I once met him in France. He is one of the nicest pianists I've met.
I love Stephen in these pieces. We both feel the connection to the Golden Age. He's recorded these, and I did this one for PianoDisc's Rare Gems of the Golden Age. Do get to a Hough performance--he's a delightful guy! Few 'get' the Golden Age as ge does.
What I like so much about Hough's playing is that the emotion of the music is at his fingertips, a few quirky smiles here and there, but he doesn't gyrate and grind on the piano bench pretentiously as so many artists do. His technique seems flawless like Ashkenazy!
Precisely. The old-time greats knew all that gyrating nonsense was a huge waste of energy; energy that should be put into the _music._ Also, no crazy sweating taking place with minimal movement, unlike the gyrating sweaty clowns of today.
beautiful work,beautiful playing whit a great sense of humor by Hough.I love the charm he plays from 2:00,absolutely marvellous.Also I love Moszkowski´s music in his style elegant,melancholic and aristocratic,no like Chopin or Schumann,but never worthless. If you listen the Piano Concerto Op.59 for instance,you´ll can enjoy whit a inspired music.
Stephen Hough Is a true master of modern times reguarding his craft, you only have listen to his Liszt and Chopin recordings to appreciate that, Long live 'The Hough'!
Thank you so much. I suppose I could have looked it up myself, but the era of internet and google seems to have made many of us so lazy. Thank you. Still, I wish he would post it with a video. I love watching his hands, arms and shoulders while he's playing - a real lesson in piano playing.
Hey - it's st Georges Brandon Hill - one of my fav halls! I love his ideas ..very inventive..nice to see a pianist not taking themselves so seriously they can't have fun!
"The Piano Album" - now available on Virgin Classics in a 2 CD set, with a painting of ballet dancing students on the cover (Degas?). This and three other Moszkowski pieces are on the CD, which was recorded in the '80s, I think. By the way, it really is entitled "The Piano Album".
Dear Stephen Hough: It has now been at least five years since this excerpt was posted, there are pages and pages of (deservedly) ecstatic reactions to your scrumptious reading of this ineffably charming morceaux de concert. Mr. Hough - please record it , or at least make a post (like the one of the Chopin Waltz) where you play the entire work from the beginning to the end. Please. Thank you.
His playing has so much charisma! It's incredible. LOVE his style so much. I feel like he really captures that romantic spirit better than most other pianists in the world today!
I love how he slows down and really practices that nasty little lick at 1:38 - 1:44. (The only difficult thing in this charming piece) It's always comforting to see how even the greats have problems in the same places as the rest of us. Admittedly far lesser problems, but still.By the way, anybody have a good fingering for those 3 measures?In concert, there's always enough adrenaline to sort of hysteria your way through it, but I'm always on the look-out for a good fingering suggestion.
Wonderful !! I would really love to hear him play some Moszkowski pieces in its entirety - is this available anywhere? Manu thanks for this upload though !
I'd like to warm up with that, also most hilarious face ever, also the end is what I sound like trying to end a song before I finally find the right key =p
Wow, He plays it very well, although this is a warming up. I only know that Shura Cherkassky played it very well too. He recorded the piece for Decca. Shura was the star pupil of Joseph Hofmann,
@lordsummat Hello, thanks so much for explaining that. I had a good look at the Scarlatti videos you mentioned and I see what you mean. I play the violin but have an upright piano at home that sadly receives little attention. You are right-a good wrist is vital. I couldn't copy that same note over and over at all on the piano.
It was Liszt who once remarked that Moszkowski best understood how to write for piano, second only to Chopin. Of course, that was before Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ravel, Debussy, among others
Wow, thanks very much for such a detailed reply! Thank you for explaining the different sound qualities that different soloists produce. I will look into Anne S-M. I envy your knowledge. I need to spend more time watching more RUclips videos to see what you mean. Has it taken you many years to recognise different pianists?
Hi Bruce Lee! Could you explain how you can recognise different pianists? I am an amateur violinist but am really interested in the piano. I admit that I can't tell much difference between great pianists! They all sound amazing to me. What are the things that you listen out for when trying to recognise/identify different pianists? Do you need to know the music really well first before deciding who is playing or are there other clues? Thanks in advance!
He is only practizing of course, but it could use a bit more space between the sentences, some little pauzes. This is mostly technique and there is more music to these compositions. I would love to hear him really perform this accordingly. I know he can, he is very musical.
@Mgglawrence To play this piece, you need to have a very good wrist, due to the fact as you said, that you have to change fingers when playing the same note, and producing 'good' sound. To produce notes at that speed you change fingers so it's like playing a different note. If you only use one finger, then it can sound disconnected and will probably be slow. Watch the Scarlatti Sonata in d minor you'll understand better what I'm saying.
Can a pianist watching this please help me with this question? At 2:14 he seems to be playing the same note many times, very quickly, but several of his fingers are working fast! How many fingers is he using to play this same note? He seems to use his left hand to play some of them too. It is all too fast for me to take in! Thanks...
Did he ever release a recording of this piece? of was he merely warming up for something else? if anyone knows of a CD available with him playing the Caprice Espagnol Op.37, I'd once again be very grateful.
Hello Charlotte. Years after your question I realise - but yes, he has recorded this piece. It's on one of his earliest recordings, "Stephen Hough: The Piano Album" , originally released on Virgin. It's been reissued a few times since then but is easy enough to find secondhand online for a few pounds.
I like Hofmann's touch better than Hough's here. (I'm comparing Hofmann @.@) But Hough has one of the most unique tones I have ever heard, one of sheer elegance, although it can be tiring if you listen to hours of it (which I have)- he's one of my favorite pianists of today.
This is actually my favourite performance of this piece, including the interruptions and silliness.
This tempo seems to bring out the musicality better than the breakneck speed it's usually performed.
He has possibly the most beautiful piano technique I've seen. So elegant and effortless.
I seem to find a new pianist who is much better than me daily... He's incredible!
Effortless? Pletnev!
Hamelin
That's the technique that makes his Hummel Concerto No. 3 Finale possible!
After watching this video, I had to see Stephen Hough play in person. I finally got my chance last week when he played Lizst with the San Diego Symphony. It was a memorable moment in life. Hough is SUI GENERiS. Don't miss seeing him!
Personally I would have to warm up for about 17 years to be able to play Mr Hough's warmup piece.
Here is a FABULOUS example of how you don't need to make over use of the arms/elbows when shaping your phrasing - his arms remain still the whole time - BUT - one thing is for sure - he's extremely relaxed and that is THE most important thing! He's great in every way!!!
0:50 - 1:50 - Best part of this video! I wish he always played like this (i.e. at a slightly slower pace). His playing is much more refined when he holds back his virtuoso tempo. He tends to speed up until he starts struggling with his phrasing. His pianistic brilliance is rarely used effectively, because of the speed button he keeps pushing.
By the way, I once met him in France. He is one of the nicest pianists I've met.
i love the sort of effortless effect he puts in the piece. It really has the ''caprice' aspect
3:59 "I'm nervous. I haven't been practicing at all"???? Wish I could sound that good without any practice. :-(
'I have to play it on Friday and I realise I haven't been practicing it all week!'
lol! Reminds me of my own piano lessons when I was a kid!
I love Stephen in these pieces. We both feel the connection to the Golden Age. He's recorded these, and I did this one for PianoDisc's Rare Gems of the Golden Age. Do get to a Hough performance--he's a delightful guy! Few 'get' the Golden Age as ge does.
Def a favorite! Thank you Stephen
What I like so much about Hough's playing is that the emotion of the music is at his fingertips, a few quirky smiles here and there, but he doesn't gyrate and grind on the piano bench pretentiously as so many artists do. His technique seems flawless like Ashkenazy!
anthony james LOL... ashkenazy... that's a joke right?
@@annulrsolformrkelse4023
Last time I saw Elana was a woman's name
@@harisjutt69 lol yeah I'm aware. I guess (or at least hope) that username was changed during the two years since I wrote my comment.
@@annulrsolformrkelse4023
Yeah maybe it could've been changed
Precisely. The old-time greats knew all that gyrating nonsense was a huge waste of energy; energy that should be put into the _music._ Also, no crazy sweating taking place with minimal movement, unlike the gyrating sweaty clowns of today.
beautiful work,beautiful playing whit a great sense of humor by Hough.I love the charm he plays from 2:00,absolutely marvellous.Also I love Moszkowski´s music in his style elegant,melancholic and aristocratic,no like Chopin or Schumann,but never worthless. If you listen the Piano Concerto Op.59 for instance,you´ll can enjoy whit a inspired music.
Stephen Hough Is a true master of modern times reguarding his craft, you only have listen to his Liszt and Chopin recordings to appreciate that, Long live 'The Hough'!
OMG why is he always amazing?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Not only brilliant playing from Hough but superb recording and a great sounding Steinway
I love his speed.
I once play this work and this is for me the best example.
Please someday listen to Josef Hofman
@@bachopinbee5991Lhevinne too
Jesus Christ it's superb. Thank God that some people do that.
fantastic touch and technique. onyl wish i could play anywhere close to this.
thanks for posting
Wow ! Some warm-up! More like a work-out to me!
Oozing natural talent...he even makes the easy bits sound easy!
A robot or a bird? I give up. All is forgotten when I close my eyes, because what comes out is pure music, and pure fun.
Delicious playing.
I love this video! The great heritage of the Golden Age of the piano in today's world can be summed up in two words: STEPHEN HOUGH.
:)
This a real description of a great player who listens and who is aware of what is he creating and how to preserve that.
Thank you so much. I suppose I could have looked it up myself, but the era of internet and google seems to have made many of us so lazy. Thank you. Still, I wish he would post it with a video. I love watching his hands, arms and shoulders while he's playing - a real lesson in piano playing.
His expressions are marvelously characteristic! Gosh, I love this pianist now XD
Stunningly beautiful 💜
God damn it the man is superb.
yes to both.
This piece has already been recorded, in one of Stephen's first albums on Virgin. 'The Piano Album"
Hey - it's st Georges Brandon Hill - one of my fav halls! I love his ideas ..very inventive..nice to see a pianist not taking themselves so seriously they can't have fun!
Incredible.
Technique!!
Bravissimo! That's a super piece.
I cant recall if i ever thanked you for posting this reply..
so thanks very much for that info.
"The Piano Album" - now available on Virgin Classics in a 2 CD set, with a painting of ballet dancing students on the cover (Degas?). This and three other Moszkowski pieces are on the CD, which was recorded in the '80s, I think. By the way, it really is entitled "The Piano Album".
I keep returning to this - truly a delight to behold.
Dear Stephen Hough: It has now been at least five years since this excerpt was posted, there are pages and pages of (deservedly) ecstatic reactions to your scrumptious reading of this ineffably charming morceaux de concert. Mr. Hough - please record it , or at least make a post (like the one of the Chopin Waltz) where you play the entire work from the beginning to the end. Please. Thank you.
He is AWESOME!!!!!
Gracias!
LOVELY.Many thanks for posting
Wow!
His playing has so much charisma! It's incredible. LOVE his style so much. I feel like he really captures that romantic spirit better than most other pianists in the world today!
The fuck? Warming up?
Stephen really knows how to play always maintaining the most beautiful tone--I just love the way he plays!!
Extraordinaria obra, fantástico pianista !!
Stephen Hough could play the phone book and render it expressively, intelligibly, and musically.
this performance is straighly talking about Hough's sentences where each performer has to enjoy playing piano. he really just enjoying this, simply..
What an inmense technique.
I love how he slows down and really practices that nasty little lick at 1:38 - 1:44. (The only difficult thing in this charming piece) It's always comforting to see how even the greats have problems in the same places as the rest of us. Admittedly far lesser problems, but still.By the way, anybody have a good fingering for those 3 measures?In concert, there's always enough adrenaline to sort of hysteria your way through it, but I'm always on the look-out for a good fingering suggestion.
Wonderful !! I would really love to hear him play some Moszkowski pieces in its entirety - is this available anywhere?
Manu thanks for this upload though !
this pianist has more charm than any other pianist living that i know.
@RabidCh I'm not sure I could watch any pianist for "hours" and not get tired of their tone!
my favorite living pianist by far...
Panie Stephen jest Pan niesamowity.
Love the raised eyebrow at 1:27!
What's wrong?
Nice!👍👍👍
great great technique and beautiful musicality!!
I do warmups as well. But honestly it doesn't sound so good like his warmup :-)
keep in mind this was a warm up! his performance is way better!
Here is Stephen Hough, who told us there is no improvisation in classic, or is this just a medley through pieces, incredible...
I think this piece sounds rather nice played slower and with some flair
❤
I'd like to warm up with that, also most hilarious face ever, also the end is what I sound like trying to end a song before I finally find the right key =p
Wow, He plays it very well, although this is a warming up. I only know that Shura Cherkassky played it very well too. He recorded the piece for Decca. Shura was the star pupil of Joseph Hofmann,
@lordsummat
Hello, thanks so much for explaining that. I had a good look at the Scarlatti videos you mentioned and I see what you mean. I play the violin but have an upright piano at home that sadly receives little attention. You are right-a good wrist is vital. I couldn't copy that same note over and over at all on the piano.
I've just noticed-it happens at the very beginning too!
Es gibt interessantere Aufnahmen, auch von Hough.
It was Liszt who once remarked that Moszkowski best understood how to write for piano, second only to Chopin. Of course, that was before Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ravel, Debussy, among others
In my opinion, prokofiev isn't anywhere near akl the others. But that's just me.
Wow, thanks very much for such a detailed reply! Thank you for explaining the different sound qualities that different soloists produce. I will look into Anne S-M. I envy your knowledge. I need to spend more time watching more RUclips videos to see what you mean. Has it taken you many years to recognise different pianists?
What a delight!!
Your a star than you. You've been moved the top of my social calender!
A monster...and seems to be a funny man also!
Hi Bruce Lee!
Could you explain how you can recognise different pianists? I am an amateur violinist but am really interested in the piano. I admit that I can't tell much difference between great pianists! They all sound amazing to me. What are the things that you listen out for when trying to recognise/identify different pianists? Do you need to know the music really well first before deciding who is playing or are there other clues? Thanks in advance!
3:27 is a brilliant moment.
My favorite part is the rapid chords at 2:23.
скорость мысли = скорость пальцев! зарядка для мозга = освоение любого муз.инструмента (НО Ф-НО вне конкуренции!!)
where is this recording made?? looks like a place in Bristol...
They need to record Stephen at higher fps, lol.
He is only practizing of course, but it could use a bit more space between the sentences, some little pauzes. This is mostly technique and there is more music to these compositions. I would love to hear him really perform this accordingly. I know he can, he is very musical.
What where the last Chords?
Just an impromptu, probably sounded better than the piece imo, he used some nice chords there
Is that Katchaturians saber dance at the beginning?
По стилю исполнения напоминает Великого Горовица..
@Mgglawrence To play this piece, you need to have a very good wrist, due to the fact as you said, that you have to change fingers when playing the same note, and producing 'good' sound.
To produce notes at that speed you change fingers so it's like playing a different note. If you only use one finger, then it can sound disconnected and will probably be slow. Watch the Scarlatti Sonata in d minor you'll understand better what I'm saying.
It's all Moszkowski's Caprice Espagnol.
Can a pianist watching this please help me with this question? At 2:14 he seems to be playing the same note many times, very quickly, but several of his fingers are working fast! How many fingers is he using to play this same note? He seems to use his left hand to play some of them too. It is all too fast for me to take in! Thanks...
Pretty technique.
And that is his warmup??
Did he ever release a recording of this piece? of was he merely warming up for something else?
if anyone knows of a CD available with him playing the Caprice Espagnol Op.37, I'd once again be very grateful.
Hello Charlotte. Years after your question I realise - but yes, he has recorded this piece. It's on one of his earliest recordings, "Stephen Hough: The Piano Album" , originally released on Virgin. It's been reissued a few times since then but is easy enough to find secondhand online for a few pounds.
His technique is very like that of Horowitz.
The assumption is "video record it", right? You do know he has this on disc, right?
@2hyeok nope its mozakuski, or title watever
who's the lady sitting next to him - I mean what's her function?
Thomasshiraza Stephen's groupies are more likely to be he's than she's I think!
yes he is - no secret about it
Probably an accompanist to practice concertos
When you play Moszkowski, you're rewuired by law to have a CPR speclialist by your side AT ALL TIMES in case you fycking have a heart attack
Bird-like
I like Hofmann's touch better than Hough's here. (I'm comparing Hofmann @.@)
But Hough has one of the most unique tones I have ever heard, one of sheer elegance, although it can be tiring if you listen to hours of it (which I have)- he's one of my favorite pianists of today.
RabidCh Hoffman had a small span ,,,he used a special keyboard with narrow keys which was fitted out for him exclusively.
Look it up.
Caprice espagnol Op.37.
@IloveJesusYesId0 Charming. "IloveJesusYesI dO" - One can only wonder wonder if it's reciprocal.
0:34
What's that woman doing? She looks fed up
She looks quite beautiful, especially with her sleeves rolled up. Would love to have her as a page-turner