‘Mirabilis: an apt word indeed to sum up Stephen Hough's choral music. [He] not only brings to his engagement with Catholicism the same questing intellect that characterises his artistic endeavours, but also an abundance of creative energy that has found expression in his compositions of sacred music. Displaying an assured technique across a broad range of styles and mediums, Hough’s choral and organ works offer plenty to intrigue the ear and are given enviably accomplished performances here by the London Choral Sinfonia.’ — Limelight

‘Stephen Hough’s writing for solo voice is as diverting as his chamber works and piano pieces, as a concert at Wigmore Hall in London at the start of this year demonstrated so compellingly. These recordings of a selection of the pianist’s choral works mine a similarly rich seam. At every turn, Hough’s responses to text and vocal shading reveal a composer alive to the forces at his disposal.’ [Best Albums of 2023] — Sunday Times

‘An attractive collection. The Mass sets the tone with its shifting moods, bittersweet and lulling in the lyrical Kyrie before heavenly trumpets exchange dazzling volleys in the Gloria. The Credo brings anxiety and doubt, as choppy syllables battle percussively against insistent statements of 'Credo'. Agnus Deis can often feel like a fait accompli - peace granted before it has been asked. Not here: Hough's music wrestles with the question, before - finally - achieving resolution.’ — Gramophone‍

‘[Hough] brings focus and variety to each of these aural morsels, amply rewarding the concentration required on the part of the listener. Mompou’s folk-inflected idiom, pervaded as it is by Catalan traditions, poses few challenges to 21st-century ears either harmonically or rhythmically. Rather the ear is drawn to discernment of the various manifestations of naivety in this ‘primitivist’ palette. The clarity and simplicity of Hough’s approach allows one to readily perceive the warp and woof of Mompou’s rhetorical loom. Another aspect of Hough’s interpretations that seems more developed than in the readings of many of his colleagues is the air of mysticism with which all four of the books are imbued. Those interested in Spanish musical traditions, as well as aficionados of the reticent but never less than sincere Mompou, will surely be grateful’ — Gramophone

‘What a joy it is to bask in Stephen Hough’s musicianship. This magical disc pairs the late G major sonata and the A major from 1819, with the tantalising 'fragment' of the abandoned D 769a sonata, an intriguing interstitial morsel. The G major andante, with its strange echoes of the allegro from Beethoven’s 18th piano sonata, is pure Houghian delight: precision, phrasing, suspension, a delicacy of touch coexisting with an unfettered robustness. The carefree innocence of the A major’s opening movement is meat and drink to the pianist, and his playing of it demonstrates—again—why he is a supreme interpreter of Schubert: the nuance, shading and sonority seem both acutely focused and entirely innate.’ — The Sunday Times

‘This complete set of Chopin Nocturnes … is a sure-fire winner, fit to be placed alongside recordings by giants of the past, such as my particular favourite, Arthur Rubinstein … even if you know the Nocturnes (or think you do), and are well stocked with recordings, make room for this one, augmented as it is by five other charming but spurious nocturnes, once thought to be by Chopin. Some pianists think a Chopin recital is all about them, and their excessive poetic feelings. Hough thinks these Nocturnes, to which Chopin was devoted, are all about the composer. His reticence does Chopin’s genius a huge service, especially when his playing is so refined, and his dynamics and tempi so perfectly judged’ — The Mail on Sunday, [5 Stars]

‘With the eminent Brahms interpreter Stephen Hough, Collins brings special musical insights to these two late works. Notably, they triumphantly solve the interpretative conundrums posed by some of the composer’s equivocal performing directions...An added bonus is Collins’s transcription of the Amajor Violin Sonata which actually sounds just as idiomatic on the clarinet as in its original incarnation.’ — BBC Music Magazine [5 Stars]

‘Such tenderness in the opening movement [of the Fantasie]—Schumann's deep lament for Clara—then more extrovert but never flamboyant; deeply thought and felt from beginning to end … I was captivated by it under the peculiar circumstances of our first 'live' broadcast from Wigmore Hall last year, but the magic is in this studio recording as well, and it's a well-balanced sound. The intimacy and every mercurial change of colour and mood in Schumann's Kreisleriana; less volcanic than some, perhaps, but Hough doesn't have to shout to make his musical points. The opening Arabeske is a deliciously understated way to start as well. It's Schumann from the top drawer … my Record of the Week’ — BBC Record Review

‘[Rattle] takes the concerto firmly back into the 19th century, and when the soloist eventually enters, the generous space he allows himself for his initial phrases suggests that he shares that view of the work, too…Capuçon’s partnership with Stephen Hough is very much a true meeting of equals, with both contributing ideas to the interpretation; it’s a wonderfully flexible performance, with just the right sense of veiled nostalgia about it.’ — BBC Music Magazine

Some of Stephen Hough’s most exquisite recordings come from his collaborations with EMI and Virgin Classics during this early period, offering a taste of the pianist’s impeccable touch, his musical and intellectual rigor, and his fondness for the short showpieces that filled late 19th-century salons and peppered the 78 rpm records of golden-age pianists. In the two all-Liszt recitals, Stephen Hough is also in his element, creating atmospheric colors, with notes flowing like streams of pearls, shaping and magnifying the dramatic depth of these works. From Mozart to Schumann, Brahms to Britten, looking back at the great virtuoso tradition while looking forward through his own arrangements, Stephen Hough presents, through these early recordings, a fascinating portrait of a young artist whose brilliant, artistic intellect and appetite for creativity remains unmatched today.

‘To call this a concept album would be to diminish its power and timeliness. It is both a meditation on the fragility of life and a Bergmanesque game of chess with Death, for which Hough has laid out his pieces and pawns in a masterstroke of programming … there is a poised and noble feel to Hough’s Chopin, subtly embellished as it is with effortless rubatos. Listen to the Trio section of the Scherzo for a masterclass in unselfconscious artistry. Or marvel at the natural flowing tempo for the Funeral March, supporting a cinematographic contrast of ever more invasive death knells and subdued mourning … two of Hough’s own arrangements, of a Korean traditional song and of Gounod/Bach, are at once transcendental and defiant: checkmate Death’ — Gramophone

‘One of the finest accounts of Brahms’s late piano works on record, one that stands head and shoulders above most contenders in an ever-growing catalogue … in his natural, unmannered freedom, Hough can be ranged alongside Radu Lupu … both join hands with the treasurable few Brahms recordings that have survived from Ilona Eibenschütz, friend of the composer who gave the private premieres of Op 118 and Op 119’ — Gramophone

‘It is a tribute to the quality of Stephen Hough’s musicianship that the new cycle’s most memorable performance should be that of Beethoven’s Janus-like Third Piano Concerto, the one—on record at least—that has often proved the most elusive … a soloist whose fineness of touch and sharpness of delineation recall those of such predecessors as Solomon and Gilels’ — Gramophone

‘Hough begins his disc with the Estampes, a vivid reminder that Debussy loved art as much as music, and Hough similarly paints as well as plays. His 'Pagodes' sets the scene with just the right degree of blurring of the lines, motifs emerging and then receding once more, all combining to ethereal effect. In the closing 'Jardins' his pacing is spot-on’ — Gramophone

‘A bran tub of bonbons, yes, but much more than that: it is also a portrait of an artist in love with music of all sorts … witty, wistful, extrovert, introspective and cheeky by turn, this is a masterclass in a certain style of piano-playing, and a dream of an album’ — Gramophone

‘It's hard not to be smitten by the first-class musicianship, delicacy and fancy twinkling and winking through the Minkus transcriptions, or the genuine feeling bubbling up in Dvorak's Humoresque, Elgar's Salut d'amour, or Richard Tauber's sentimental hit number Das alte Lied … a sweet album, this, superbly played and recorded’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘Some of Stephen Hough's greatest triumphs are to be found in Hyperion's wondrous Romantic Piano Concerto series. In a sense he has returned to that territory with the Dvorak Concerto, a work heinously neglected after it was condemned as being unpianistic … Andris Nelsons and the CBSO clearly relish the symphonic nature of the piece and their playing is one of the great pleasures here’ — Gramophone

‘To music that all too often leaves one rudderless and gasping for air in wave after wave of opulently ambivalent harmony, Hough brings orientation and direction without sacrificing sensuality or mystical aura. He accomplishes this through an almost uncanny variety of touch, tone production and judicious pedalling’ — Gramophone

‘The performance couldn’t be more persuasive and the two players are beautifully recorded, with Isserlis providing typically engaging notes’ — Gramophone

‘Stephen Hough is up there with the best; may we never take his excellence for granted … his virtuosity, polish, control of nuance and a huge range of dynamics are lovely to have’ — Gramophone

‘Not only does Andrew Litton draw a terrifically agile response from his combined Colorado Symphony forces, he masterminds a reading which in its expressive urgency, arresting conviction and dramatic bite grabs the listener from the word go’ — Gramophone

‘A new disc from Stephen Hough is always welcome. How will he surprise us this time and where will he take us? … there’s the dark and turbulent eponymous tone-poem and the far-from-restful presto finale of the 'Moonlight', given additional agitation by Hough’s spiky left-hand off-beats. The two adroitly chosen Nocturnes show that Chopin’s nocturnal reveries could be as dark and threatening in their own way as Hough’s, if his Sonata notturno luminoso is anything to go by. Angular, dissonant, fiery and often bleak, this work (18’23" in length) suggests, among its many images, ‘the irrational fears or the disturbing dreams which are only darkened by the harsh glare of a suspended, dusty light bulb’ (the composer’s useful route map in a note appended to Harriet Smith’s thoughtful booklet)’ — Gramophone

‘I ended up delighted by and in complete admiration of Hough's boldness. He has become a warmer player of increased range in Brahms, and unafraid to take risks … the concertos call for a brilliant, interesting and capricious personality who will make them compelling as discourse. I cannot believe Brahms would have expected anything else’ — Gramophone

‘Stephen Hough calls his extremely generous, 79-minute, 17-item French Album ‘a sort of musical dessert trolley’, but that sells it short. It’s much more of a festive hamper, offering a full meal to lovers of French music, mixing up the familiar and the unknown with Stephen’s typical charm and panache’ — The Mail on Sunday

‘His eclectic tonal style embraces a wide array of influences yet maintains its own personality....In short, Hough's music speaks with susbtance, fluent ease, confidence and communicative immediacy. That makes him a real composer. It goes without saying that Hough and his colleagues serve up ideal, splendidly engineered performances. A cherishable release.’ — Gramophone

‘Launching his latest album with the earliest of waltzes to which Chopin gave an opus number, Stephen Hough sets a sparkling tone for what follows on this altogether brilliant disc … Hough is a pianist with all the elegance, wit and virtuosity required for these pieces, yet he also finds the deep vein of melancholy that runs through many of them’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘Performances which ideally blend poetry and virtuosity … the Bergen Philharmonic, a fast-rising orchestra under their music director Andrew Litton, are excellent partners. This is a self-recommending issue’ — The Mail on Sunday

‘Finely judged, delightfully youthful performances...Hough finds a language, a style, a startling response for the unique and elusive scent of each poem. There are solos and various pairings of voices, interwoven with often surprising and always thrilling piano writing.’ — BBC Music Magazine

'Hough's ability to strip off the layers of varnish from a work so that it recaptures much of its startling freshness is remarkable, and his combination of bravura swagger and the most fastidious care with line and texture is utterly convincing' — The Guardian, 5 stars

‘The greater the music here, the more revelatory the playing, especially in a magnificent account of the Polonaise-fantasie … a ticket to a pianistic paradise’ — The Mail on Sunday

‘Hough's fingers probe and caress; textures and colours dance and blend with cleansing clarity’ — The Times

‘Listening to this recital I felt as though I were a guest at a sumptuous banquet … it is the different wines accompanying each course that make this meal special, that is to say the discriminating premier cru tone, touch (what magically hushed pianissimos) and masterly pedalling to which the diners are treated, each element adjusted to each composer yet all unmistakably Stephen Hough—vintage Hough at that, for here is a pianist at the height of his powers … a great piano recording and front runner for instrumental disc of the year’ — Gramophone

‘The Takács Quartet … reveal anew the extraordinarily imaginative way in which [String Quartet No 2 Op 51] begins, and breath air into the intricate textures which precede the vacillating second theme. There's an absolute unanimity to their playing … this latest reading [Piano Quintet] has fire and passion aplenty, and the recording places Hough pleasingly within the overall texture … there's a feeling of coming together of ideas, with these artists—masters of colour all of them—sparking off one another in a very unstudio-ish way. And throughout, Hough's virtuosity makes light of Brahms's unforgiving textures’ — Gramophone

'Bewitching, otherworldly and playful music … If ever a composer wanted to share a sheer joy in sound, it's Tsontakis … The Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays like a dream and Stephen Hough brings an Apollonian sense of beauty and control to the proceedings' — Metro

The combination of Stephen Hough and wind players from the BPO makes for sparkling performances of these two quintets… It is noticeable that the Berlin horn is less plummy than the Viennese, and in the slow movement of the Mozart Hough and his partners take a lighter view than their rivals, highlighting the tenderness. Hough and the Berliners also bring out the stylistic contrasts between Mozart and the youthful Beethoven, who expressly adopted the layout of the Mozart Quintet. — Gramophone

‘There are all too few pianists with the equivalent of Hough's three Michelin stars … opening with two of Mozart's solo masterpieces, the ear is welcomed into an intimate, pellucid sound world with a sophistcated grading of dynamics … [Liszt-Busoni Fantasy on Non piu andrai] provides a hair-raising bravura display that deserves to be heard more often. At least, when played like this’ — Gramophone

'Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough open with a beginners' open-string solo (Ludwig Lebell's Berceuse orientale) and continue with increasingly challenging material that culminates in Gaspar Cassadó's bravura Requiebros. The contemporary selections are especially satisfying. Gavin Bryars's With Miriam by the River pays homage to the composer's cello-playing mother in music of quiet, lyrical intensity. Howard Blake's Archangel's Lullaby, written to celebrate the birth of Isserlis's son Gabriel, has a Fauré-like sensibility... Hough's Angelic Song (yet another gift to Gabriel Isserlis) is a ravishingly simple meditation. Isserlis père's own The Haunted House may not merit repeated hearings but its silliness is sure to provide a chuckle or two, aided by Simon Callow's sly narration, and the cello's role a sound-effects machine could motivate many youngsters to pick up instrument. Delightful.' — Gramophone

‘Deeply considered, immensely satisfying accounts. Isserlis and Hough make a formidable team and I look forward to more duo sonatas’ — Gramophone

‘[Isserlis's] current recording with Hough displaces all others: at last two musicians have taken this work and delivered a spontaneous stream of musical dialectic that makes perfect sense’ — BBC Music Magazine

'Hough again has a more intimate stance than many pianists, quietly brilliant in the cross-cutting between musical ideas. Everything is wonderfully fresh and nothing is laboured - it's a superb and surprising recital' — BBC Music Magazine

‘It's clear that Stephen Hough has technically and spiritually digested the first book of Années de pèlerinage to the extent that he can risk personalising certain pieces without sounding the least bit mannered’ — Gramophone

'As a retrospective of a fine pianist, this bargain issue has many virtues … If you have not already added these Hough performances in your collection, here is a painless way of doing so' — American Record Guide

‘Hough. Litton. Rachmaninov concertos. Hyperion. Already a mouth-watering prospect, is it not? So, like the old Fry's Five Boys chocolate advert, does Anticipation match Realisation in these five much recorded confections? The answer is 'yes' on almost every level’ — Gramophone

‘Overall, these live concert recordings stand out in a field jam-packed with first-rate Rachmaninov concerto cycles’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘I doubt whether anyone today could play these sonatas better than Stephen Hough, who spins an exquisitely limpid cantabile, has an instinctive understanding of the rubato crucial to this style, and keeps the textures marvellously lucid … If you want to explore these brilliant, intriguingly diverse sonatas, this fabulous disc is the one to go for’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘This is astonishing piano playing and Chopin interpretation, at its very best, fully measuresup to the greatness of these pieces. And to their freshness, not least; the Ballades and Scherzos, along with just about all Chopin's work, have been constsntly before the public, and Stephen Hough's accounts of them offer plenty of refinement to spirit and senses. It's not given to many to play them as well as he. Hough is unfailingly thoughtful; there's not a note that hasn't been cared for … he combines a staggering technique with a genuinely engaging musical imagination. Handsomely recorded and produced’ — Gramophone

‘An unalloyed joy … the joy they take in each other’s playing is infectious, and if this doesn’t win a few more awards I’ll eat my CD player’ — The Mail on Sunday

‘Another winner from the ever-imaginative Stephen Hough. In all these pieces Hough's magic is presented in full, clear Hyperion sound’ — Gramophone

‘Powerful, sympathetic and beautifully recorded, and his fans everywhere will be thrilled’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘Marvellous performances, full of joy, vigour and sparkle. The recording is in the demonstration bracket and this Hyperion set includes no fewer than four encores. An easy first choice’ — The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

‘Superlative’ — The Independent

‘Superb … Hough’s new set in Hyperion’s outstanding Romantic Piano Concerto series sweeps the board’ — The Guardian

‘A remarkably astute survey of Strauss's works for cello in demonstration quality sound.’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘Thoughtful, poetic and rich-toned readings of youthful Brahms. These pieces [Four Ballades] emerge as little gems, the songful Second as ear-catching as the haunted woodland sprites of the Third’ — Gramophone

‘[Hough’s] new disc must be one of the current prime choices in these pieces’ — International Record Review

'The highlight is Janacek’s On an Overgrown Path book one, played with such inward feeling that one hardly dares to breathe — simple, tender, pure magic.' — Financial Times

'Hough brings orientation and direction without sacrificing sensuality or mystical aura. He accomplishes this through an almost uncanny variety of touch, tone production and judicious pedalling […] Shape and direction are the operatives in Vers la flamme, creating an impact unlike any other recording I know.

Listening to dozens of new piano recordings each year, a sort of private rating system inevitably develops. For me, discs warranting the highest praise are those that persuasively introduce new music, that chart new interpretative territory for a work or that demonstrate something fresh and heretofore unrecognised in music long familiar […] Hough’s contribution in this release could scarcely be more generous.' — Gramophone

‘His moving performance of the B flat Sonata, marked throughout by refined, discerning pianism and an uncommonly subtle ear for texture … Hough seeks out the music’s inwardness and fragility, its ethereal, self … communing remoteness … [D784] magnificently done … the lyrical music is limpidly coloured and poignantly inflected… Hough’s individual and searching reading of the two great sonatas … take their place alongside the most recommendable in the catalogue’ — Gramophone

‘Hough's playing is glorious’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘Scintillating performances and vivid sonics from Hyperion. Even the notes, by Hough himself, are superlative’ — American Record Guide

‘Impressive virtuosity, as musically purposeful as it’s exciting … Hough’s brilliantly exact judgement of sonority in Copland’s Piano Variations – chiselled, rather than flinty  … makes this the best performance I’ve heard’ — Classic FM Magazine

‘Altogether outstanding in every way … a real treat … utterly compelling playing with a recording to match … in the hands of an imaginative pianist like Stephen Hough this other-worldly, almost eremitic [music] becomes revelatory. He catches Mompou's wistful moods to perfection’ — Gramophone

‘[Hough] can scamper with the best and is able to incorporate delightful capriciousness without derailing the flow of thought … These performances…boast of nearly ideal lightness, vivacity and impetus’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘There is much to enjoy in these two brash and captivating works … [First Concerto] is exciting music, and Hough plays it head down, full throttle and with glassy clarity … [Second Concerto] Hough performs it lovingly, as one would expect’ — Gramophone

‘It is hard to imagine better performances’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘Must take pride of place among recordings of this repertoire. A most distinguished record in every way’ — The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

‘Hough at his magical best’ — Classic FM Magazine

‘Few new discs of piano music match this for sheer magic: magnetic performances that come as a revelation. Vivid piano sound’ — The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

‘Buried English gold unearthed by a brilliant treasure hunter … I can think of few other living pianists who … can play them with such persuasive advocacy and winning yet unforced charm’ — Classic CD

'Virtuosity as impish as it is magisterial … [he] wings his way through every good-humoured page with a poetic and technical zest that takes us back to the great pianists of the past; to a golden age of piano playing' — BBC Music Magazine

‘A first class Hyperion recording’ — The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

‘If these ardent renderings … do not find a place in your heart then you should wonder what your heart's made of’ — Classic FM Magazine

‘Hyperion are to be congratulated on their courage in issuing this charming collection of songs which might be classified as an endangered species. Warmly recommended’ — British Music Society Journal

‘The finest of Hummel's Piano Concertos, dynamically projected by the young Stephen Hough.’ — BBC Music Magazine

‘The A minor is Hummel's most often-heard concerto, never better played, however, than by Stephen Hough on this prize-winning Chandos disc. The coda is quite stunning; it is not only his dazzling virtuosity that carries all before it but also the delicacy and refinement of colour he produces.’ — The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music