LISZT: PIANO CONCERTO N. 1 - GRIEG: PIANO CONCERTO

Performer: Stephen Hough, piano; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton
Composer: Liszt
Number of discs: 1
Barcode: 0034571995786
Label: Hyperion
Format: LP
Genre: Orchestral Classical
Year: 2025

180-gram black vinyl

Color gatefold cover

Notes in English

Pressed at MPO, France

Remastered by Theo Krieger

Limited edition

Every new release by Stephen Hough is a must-have event for piano enthusiasts, who have long come to appreciate his refined interpretative approach and absolute technical mastery. For this new recording, Hough traveled to Bergen—the birthplace of Edvard Grieg—to perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Litton.

Renowned for its extraordinary melodic richness, Grieg’s concerto is one of the most famous works of the Romantic repertoire, while Liszt’s dazzling concerto presents numerous challenges for both soloist and orchestra. Hough and Litton deliver exciting, authoritative, and highly personal interpretations, combining unbridled virtuosity with expressive nuance, poetry, and sophistication—qualities that have earned Hough the prestigious “Record of the Year” title from Gramophone twice.

This recording follows Hough and Litton’s acclaimed complete set of Sergei Rachmaninov’s piano concertos, a double album box set that garnered numerous awards and achieved remarkable sales. Originally released in 2011, coinciding with Liszt’s bicentenary and Hough’s fiftieth birthday, this LP is a splendid celebration of both the composer and the artist.

Reviews of the CD edition:

"Stephen Hough continues to astonish, displaying in every performance an expressive freedom that allows him to effortlessly overcome any technical challenge, varying and emphasizing virtually unheard aspects of each work with absolute nonchalance […] Hough possesses a highly distinctive personality, enabling him to instinctively capture even the subtlest emotional nuances, establishing him at the top of the international concert scene […] With a technique of crystalline perfection, the English pianist executes all cadenzas with dazzling brilliance and glissandi with the suddenness of a lightning bolt" (Gramophone)
EDITOR’S CHOICE (Gramophone) – OUTSTANDING (International Record Review) – EDITOR’S CHOICE (International Piano Review)

Stephen Hough, piano
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton, conductor

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, S124

Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16