Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67565

Sonata in F sharp major, Rubio Ed. No 90

composer

Stephen Hough (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: October 2005
St George's, Brandon Hill, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: November 2006
Total duration: 5 minutes 23 seconds

Cover artwork: Gazpacho (2004). Anthony Mastromatteo (b?)
Reproduced by kind permission of the artist / Private Collection
 

Reviews

‘Hough is one of Britian's best-kept cultural secrets; a pianist of such sophistication he will, I suspect, by the end of his career be able to be mentioned in the same breath as the few great British pianists of the past, such as Clifford Curzon and Solomon. Hough is a connoisseur, not merely a virtuoso. The 17 pieces on this beautifully recorded CD have all been carefully chosen to reflect the achievements of the Spanish nationalist school of Albéniz and Granados, the finest French exponents of the Spanish style, Ravel and Debussy, and a splendidly evocative encore, On Falla, by Hough himself. Irresistible … Stephen Hough's delicious Spanish Album, a real connoisseur's choice’ (The Mail on Sunday)

‘I cannot imagine many piano lovers failing to fall for this delectable and all-too-brief collection of impressions, portraits and postcards. If you are not drawn to the imaginative programme of the familiar, the brand new and the entirely unknown, then the elegant, eloquent playing of this master pianist will surely seduce you … we are treated to some of the loveliest pianissimos and and delicate shadings you'll hear, familiar from Hough's earlier Piano Albums and similar in his complete empathy with this kind of repertoire … Hough's own On Falla has an authentic ring that should provide him with a blistering encore for years to come … the piano sound (Andrew Keener and Simon Eadon) is as you would expect from Hyperion's dream team’ (Gramophone)

‘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)

‘Stephen Hough is among the most intellectual of contemporary pianists; but he's also among the most playful and tonally poetic keyboard artists … the unashamedly romantic reading of the Soler Sonata that opens the programme sets up the perspective: extremely flexible tempos, all-embracing colours, an exceptional range of articulation, and a subtle observation of polyphony that leads to characterized conversations among the music's competing voices … Hough's own On Falla brings the collection to a whimsically brilliant close … an ear-caressing release’ (International Record Review)

‘The sparkle and sensitivity of Stephen Hough's playing is lavished on a typically imaginative cross-section of music inspired by Spain … the perfect Christmas present’ (The Times)

‘A ravishing display of light-fingered, insouciant virtuosity’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Like a good book that makes you laugh out loud and want to read it again, a CD of piano solos that brings a smile of appreciation to your lips is a great find. Pianist Stephen Hough brings his sublime musicality to this marvellous collection of Spanish piano works’ (The Herald)

‘Everything on this rewarding disc suggests that Hough intuitively feels the idiom in his bones’ (Pianist)

‘This is truly one of the loveliest piano compilations around and deserves every recommendation’ (Classical.net)

«Stephen Hough joue la Sonate en fa dièse mineur de Soler avec un délié, une vivacité qui la fait sonner comme si elle était jouée à la pointe sèche … c'est admirable» (Diapason, France)

«L'étendue du répertoire de Stephen Hough, dont témoigne sa vaste discographie, ne fait pas obstacle chez lui à une connaissance approfondie de ces œuvres et de leur couleur particulière … voilà une travail intelligent, qui débouche sur un jeu coloré et sensible et nous apporte un plaisir sans mélange. Ce voyage musical, avec ses épisodes de réflexion et d'autres où le divertissement prend la première place, ne lasse jamais grâce à sa diversité» (Le Monde de la Musique, France)

„Stephen Hough possède une technique pianistique qui sied à merveille à ces pièces courtes qu'il fait scintiller avec charme et verve pour régaler ses auditeurs“ (Pizzicato, Luxembourg)
Antonio Soler, like so many leaders of the Spanish artistic community, was from Catalonia, an area where the boundaries between France and Spain blur to produce a distinctive language, voice and culture. As a self-confessed disciple of Scarlatti, Soler wrote many sonatas, chiefly in binary form, and these, together with an audacious treatise, were considered so outlandish that he became known as ‘a devil dressed as a monk’ (Soler had taken holy orders at an early age). In the F sharp major Sonata convention is indeed turned topsy-turvy with one witty and characterful surprise after another. Alternately melancholy and exuberant the Sonata achieves a typically Spanish whimsy and volatility.

from notes by Bryce Morrison © 2006

Comme bien des chefs de file de la communauté artistique espagnole, Antonio Soler était originaire de Catalogne, une région où la frontière franco–espagnole s’estompe pour faire entendre une langue, une culture et une voix à part. Disciple de Scarlatti, comme il l’avoua lui-même, Soler écrivit nombre de sonates, surtout de forme binaire, et un audacieux traité, tous jugés si bizarres qu’ils lui valurent le surnom de «diable habillé en moine» (il était entré très jeune dans les ordres). De fait, la Sonata en fa dièse majeur bouleverse les conventions et enchaîne les surprises pleines d’esprit, de caractère. Tour à tour mélancolique et exubérante, cette pièce atteint à une fantaisie, à une inconstance typiquement espagnoles.

extrait des notes rédigées par Bryce Morrison © 2006
Français: Hypérion

Antonio Soler, wie so viele Führer der künstlerischen Gemeinde Spaniens, stammte aus Katalonien, einem Gebiet, in dem sich die Grenze zwischen Frankreich und Spanien verwischt, um eine eigene ausgeprägte Sprache, Stimme und Kultur zu entwickeln. Soler, Schüler von Scarlatti, wie er zugibt, schrieb viele Sonaten, meist in zweiteiliger Form, und diese zusammen mit einem gewagten Traktat wurden als so absonderlich betrachtet, dass er als ein „als Mönch verkleideter Teufel“ bekannt wurde (Soler hatte schon in frühem Alter die Priesterweihe erhalten). In der Fis-Dur-Sonate wird die Konvention mit einer originellen und charaktervollen Überraschung nach der anderen tatsächlich auf den Kopf gestellt. Abwechselnd melancholisch und überschwänglich erhält die Sonate eine typisch spanische Launigkeit und Lebhaftigkeit.

aus dem Begleittext von Bryce Morrison © 2006
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...