Stephen Hough

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... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2016, 4 out of 5 stars More…

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.... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

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... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2021, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

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,... — Classic FM Magazine, February 2012, 5 out of 5 stars More…

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... — Fanfare, Jul/Aug 2020 More…

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... — Gramophone Magazine, June 2015 More…

The underrated Fourth Concerto features the Dallas Symphony's stellar brass and winds ideally aligned, plus Hough's balletic projection of the finale's dazzling runs. No less distinct are the... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2004, 4 out of 5 stars More…

The finest of Hummel's Piano Concertos, dynamically projected by the young Stephen Hough. — BBC Music Magazine, November 2006 More…