[ Hyperion / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 20 April 2015
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Since the dawn of the gramophone era Grieg's Lyric Pieces have attracted the greatest pianists to the microphone. Their individual brevity played a part in this, of course, but rather more so did their intellectual transparency. For this new recording Stephen Hough has chosen twenty-seven (of the sixty-six), a generous selection encompassing every nuace of emotion, every tone of pianistic mastery.
"It's rare for a pianist to reveal familiar repertoire in fresh and newly minted ways without being willful, eccentric, or unorthodox. Not Stephen Hough. His expertly curated collection of Grieg Lyric Pieces abounds with individual touches, yet the interpretations couldn't sound more natural or inevitable." (10/10 ClassicsToday June 2015)
"With his virtuoso technique - which makes flashier pieces sound easy - he makes light work of Grieg's marching trolls (Op 54/3), initially comical, later more menacing...His poetic eloquence and cantabile playing evoke magic...The entire programme shows Hough in his element: our foremost Romantic pianist." (Sunday Times)
"Hough is up there with the best; may we never take his excellence for granted. ..Hough's detachment - it's a small thing - is also telling in its way, the detail and overview consistently in balance. His virtuosity, polish, control of nuance and a huge range of dynamics are lovely to have." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Instrumental)
Lyric Pieces Op. 12: No. 1 - Arietta
Lyric Pieces Op. 38: No. 1 - Berceuse
Lyric Pieces Op. 38: No. 6 - Elegy
Lyric Pieces III (6), Op. 43
Valse-Impromptu, Op. 47 No. 1
Lyric Pieces Op. 47: No. 3 - Melody
Lyric Pieces Op. 47: No. 7 - Elegy
Lyric Pieces Op. 54: No. 3 - March of the Trolls
Lyric Pieces Op. 54: No. 4 - Nocturne
Lyric Pieces Op. 54: No. 6 - Bell-Ringing
Lyric Pieces Op. 57: No. 6 - Homesickness
Lyric Pieces Op. 62: No. 1 - Sylph
From early years, Op. 65 No. 1
Lyric Pieces Op. 65: No. 4 - Salon
Lyric Pieces Op. 65: No. 6 - Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Lyric Pieces Op. 68: No. 2 - Sailors' Song
Lyric Pieces Op. 68: No. 3 - At your feet
Lyric Pieces Op. 68: No. 5 - At the cradle
Lyric Pieces Op. 71: No. 2 - Summer's Eve
Lyric Pieces Op. 71: No. 3 - Puck
Lyric Pieces Op. 71: No. 7 - Remembrances
Lyric Pieces Op. 62: No. 6 - Homeward