Stephen Hough's French Album

Stephen Hough

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Stephen Hough's French Album Review

by Blair Sanderson

One of the most imaginative pianists of his generation, Stephen Hough has recorded music across the spectrum, from the great concertos to character sketches, and he has often presented them on albums with appealing themes. In the case of Stephen Hough's French Album, he plays a selection of short pieces by Romantic and modern composers, including Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Emmanuel Chabrier, Jules Massenet, Francis Poulenc, Cécile Chaminade, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Claude Debussy, and Léo Delibes. The roster requires little explanation, for these are among the best-loved French composers for the piano, and Hough's affection for their music is readily apparent in his flashy and witty renditions. What's odd about this album, though, is the lead-off with J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and the Arioso from the Harpsichord Concerto No. 5, as arranged by Swiss-born Alfred Cortot, and the closing track of Franz Liszt's Réminiscences de La Juive: Fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de l'opéra de Halévy. While the Liszt piece can be reconciled with the rest of the album on the grounds that this is the most practical way a pianist can include any music by Fromental Halévy, an important operatic composer of the early 19th century, the Bach/Cortot transcriptions seem out of left field. While Hough undoubtedly finds Cortot's treatment of these German classics to be refined and characteristically French, the point isn't easily grasped by listeners. Still, Hough's thoughtful interpretations and charming playing make the album work, so the eccentricities of the program become minor issues. Hyperion's reproduction is clean and crisp, so Hough's precise execution is easy to appreciate.

Track Listing

Sample		Title/Composer	Performer	Time	Stream
	1	Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 Johann Sebastian Bach	Stephen Hough	08:40	Amazon
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056
	2	Arioso Johann Sebastian Bach	Stephen Hough	02:33	Amazon
	3	Nocturne No. 6 in D flat major, Op. 63 Gabriel Fauré	Stephen Hough	07:43	Amazon
	4	Improvisation in C sharp minor (No. 5 of Huit Pièces brèves, Op. 84) Gabriel Fauré	Stephen Hough	02:06	Amazon
	5	Impromptu No. 5 in F sharp minor, Op. 102 Gabriel Fauré	Stephen Hough	02:10	Amazon
	6	Barcarolle No. 5 in F sharp minor, Op. 66 Gabriel Fauré	Stephen Hough	05:49	Amazon
	7	Alborada del gracioso (No. 4 of Miroirs) Maurice Ravel	Stephen Hough	06:25	Amazon
	8	Crépuscule (No. 5 of Poème pastoral) Jules Massenet	Stephen Hough	02:00	Amazon
Dix Pièces pittoresques
	9	Mélancolie Emmanuel Chabrier	Stephen Hough	01:51	Amazon
	10	Mélancolie Francis Poulenc	Stephen Hough	05:40	Amazon
	11	Nocturne No. 4 in C minor, "Bal fantôme" Francis Poulenc	Stephen Hough	01:35	Amazon
	12	Improvisation No. 8 in A minor Francis Poulenc	Stephen Hough	01:17	Amazon
Études de concert, Op. 35
	13	No. 2 Automne Cécile Chaminade	Stephen Hough	05:35	Amazon
	14	La chanson de la folle au bord de la mer (No. 8 of 25 Préludes, Op. 31) Charles-Valentin Alkan	Stephen Hough	04:11	Amazon
	15	Clair de lune (No. 3 of Suite bergamasque) Claude Debussy	Stephen Hough	04:55	Amazon
Sylvia
	16	Pizzicati Léo Delibes	Stephen Hough	02:34	Amazon
	17	Réminiscences de "La juive": Fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de l'opéra de Halévy, S. 409a Franz Liszt	Stephen Hough	13:21	Amazon