Great Artists Series '25: Sir Stephen Hough, piano
(Washington University Box Office - 314-935-6543)
*purchases only refundable due to presenter cancellation
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Single Tickets: (Available Thursday, Sept 5)
$35-40 general admission
$32-37 Wash U faculty/staff
$15 students/youth
Program:
6 Études de concert, Op. 35 (ca. 1886) by Cécile Chaminade (1857 - 1944)
Automne
6 Pièces humoristiques, Op. 87 by Cécile Chaminade
Autrefois
Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178 (1852-53) by Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)
Intermission
Thème varié, Op. 89 (1898) by Cécile Chaminade
Les Sylvains, Op. 60 (1892) by Cécile Chaminade
Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58 (1844) by Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Allegro maestoso
Scherzo. Molto vivace
Largo
Finale. Presto non tanto
Artist's note about the program:
In my book Rough Ideas there are two chapters comparing these two monumental B minor Sonatas, specifically questions of performing and recording them. Liszt and Chopin were born a year apart and they share so much, yet their personalities could not have been more different - and I find that a fascinating aspect to this programme: what is the essence of a composer’s style and soul; how can you tell one from another; what are they aiming at in their creations. I’ve loved Chaminade from my childhood when the mother of my first piano teacher used to play some of her pieces before making us all a pot of tea and slicing a lovely sponge cake. In the present day when we are paying greater attention to female composers I’m frankly astonished that Chaminade's beautiful pieces are not played more. She has the elegance in her piano writing of Saint-Saens and Moszkowski, and all of the pieces I’ve selected these have tunes in them which an audience will leave the hall singing. So rather than just play one set I wanted to focus and celebrate her in a special way by opening each half with her lovely music. And, of course, all three composers were at home in Paris.
“Stephen Hough is a writer, a painter, a poet and a composer, but above all he is a pianist of great subtlety, playful taste and wisdom worn lightly.” - The New York Times
Biography:
One of the most distinctive artists of his generation, Sir Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer.
Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Hough was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (2001). He was awarded Northwestern University’s 2008 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano, won the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award in 2010, and in 2016 was made an Honorary Member of RPS. In 2014 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honors in 2022.
Since taking first prize at the 1983 Naumburg Competition in New York, Sir Stephen has appeared with most of the major European, Asian, and American orchestras and plays recitals regularly in major halls and concert series around the world from London's Royal Festival Hall to New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has been a regular guest at festivals such as Aldeburgh, Aspen, Blossom, Edinburgh, La Roque d'Anthéron, Hollywood Bowl, Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Tanglewood, Verbier, Blossom, and the BBC Proms, where he has made 29 concerto appearances, including playing all of the works of Tchaikovsky for piano and orchestra, a series he later repeated with the Chicago Symphony.
This season, Sir Stephen performs the world premiere of his first piano concerto, The World of Yesterday, with the Utah Symphony conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles, and the Canadian premiere with the Calgary Symphony led by Rune Bergmann. He also performs a recital program celebrating composer-pianists featuring his own Partita in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Alamos, and on tour in China; and, as part of a six-city U.S. tour, he joins the Castalian Quartet in a program at 92NY that includes the New York premiere of his String Quartet No. 1, “Les Six Rencontres.” He also performs a Rachmaninoff Cycle with the Orquestra Sinfônica Do Estado De São Paulo conducted by Thierry Fischer.
Many of Sir Stephen’s catalog of over 60 albums have garnered international prizes including the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or, Monde de la Musique, several Grammy nominations, eight Gramophone Magazine Awards including ‘Record of the Year’ in 1996 and 2003, and the Gramophone ‘Gold Disc’ Award in 2008, which named his complete Saint-Saens Piano Concertos as the best recording of the past 30 years. His 2012 recording of the complete Chopin Waltzes received the Diapason d’Or de l’Annee, France’s most prestigious recording award. His 2005 live recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos was the fastest-selling recording in Hyperion’s history, while his 1987 recording of the Hummel concertos remains Chandos’ best-selling disc to date. His most recent release is an album featuring his choral compositions including his mass, Missa Mirabilis, performed by London Choral Sinfonia, on Orchid Classics.
Published by Josef Weinberger, Sir Stephen has composed works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble, organ, harpsichord, and solo piano. Sir Stephen has also been commissioned by the Takacs Quartet, the Cliburn, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, the Gilmore Foundation, The Genesis Foundation, the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, London’s National Gallery, Wigmore Hall, Le Musée de Louvre, and Musica Viva Australia, among others.
A noted writer, Sir Stephen has contributed articles for The New York Times, the Guardian, The Times, Gramophone, and BBC Music Magazine, and he wrote a blog for The Telegraph for seven years which became one of the most popular and influential forums for cultural discussion and for which he wrote over six hundred articles. He has published four books: The Bible as Prayer (Bloomsbury and Paulist Press, 2007); a novel: The Final Retreat (Sylph Editions, 2018); a book of essays: Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More (Faber & Faber and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019); and a memoir: Enough: Scenes from Childhood (Faber & Faber, 2023).
Sir Stephen resides in London where he holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester and is an Honorary Fellow of Cambridge University’s Girton College. He is also a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School.
**All programs subject to change
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. www.missouriartscouncil.org