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Pianist Stephen Hough with a playlist of fireworks and finesse

Pianist Stephen Hough reveals familiar and unfamiliar works in a new light, including dances from Richard Strauss and Irving Berlin and a dazzling Blue Danube from 1928.

Pianist Stephen Hough introduces some of the piano music and the pianists who have been a source of inspiration to him over the years. Artur Schnabel plays Beethoven, Alfred Cortot performs Chopin and Josef Lhévinne offers what Stephen calls “one of the greatest tracks of piano music ever recorded”, with a remarkable 1928 recording of Josef Strauss II’s Blue Danube Waltz.

Stephen also selects a movement from Michael Tippett’s Piano Concerto, and a couple of his own recordings of music by Cécile Chaminade and John Corigliano. There’s choral music from Thomas Tallis, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar, as well as fiery intensity from the cellist Daniil Shafran and a turbocharged excerpt from Richard Strauss’s opera Salome.

Plus, a celebration of the joint creative talents of Shirley Bassey and Nelson Riddle in the music of Irving Berlin.

A series in which each week a musician explores a selection of music - from the inside.

A Tandem Production for ѿý Radio 3

Photo credit: Sim Canetty-Clarke

1 hour, 56 minutes

Music Played

  • Cécile Chaminade

    Scarf Dance

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Étude Op. 25 No. 1

    Performer: Alfred Cortot.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Spem in Alium

    Ensemble: ORA Singers. Conductor: Suzi Digby.
  • Franz Schubert

    Sonata in A minor for arpeggione & piano, D. 821 (I. Allegro moderato)

    Performer: Daniil Borisovich Shafran. Performer: Lydia Percheskaya.
  • Richard Strauss

    Dance of the Seven Veils (Salome)

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Georg Solti.
  • Irving Berlin

    Let's Face the Music and Dance

    Performer: Shirley Bassey.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata in A major, Op. 2 No. 2 (IV. Rondo)

    Performer: Artur Schnabel.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony No. 4 (I. Allegro non troppo)

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Carlos Kleiber.
  • John Corigliano

    Étude Fantasy (III. Fifths to thirds; IV. Ornaments)

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Missa Brevis, Op. 63 (II. Gloria)

    Performer: James O’Donnell. Choir: Westminster Cathedral Choir. Conductor: David Hill.
  • Edward Elgar

    Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Deus (The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38)

    Singer: Richard Lewis. Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: John Barbirolli.
  • Michael Tippett

    Piano Concerto (I. Allegro non troppo)

    Performer: Steven Osborne. Orchestra: ѿý Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
  • Johann Strauss II

    The Blue Danube

    Performer: Josef Lhévinne.

Broadcasts

  • Sat 11 Feb 2023 13:00
  • Sat 30 Mar 2024 13:00

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