1 January 1900
Liverpool Daily Post
Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘A new record from Stephen Hough is always something to look foward to, and A Mozart Album is no exception … altogether an outsanding disc released by Hyperion’ (Liverpool Daily Post)
1 January 1900
San Francisco Chronicle
Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘In this deft tribute to Mozart's genius, splendid pianist Stephen Hough leads with a pair of the composer's own works before segueing into transcriptions, homages and his own Poulenc-inflected 'transformations'. Hough is incapable of an unengaging performance, as he demonstrates right off with an account of the Fantasia in C minor, K475 that pulls back from stormy drama for something more tactfully measured and delicate. An unfinished Liszt fantasia on 'The Marriage of Figaro' music, amended by Busoni, gets a wittily theatrical treatment’ (San Francisco Chronicle)
1 January 1900
American Record Guide
Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘We look forward to Hough's recordings. They are never disappointing, and this one is a classic. With excellent engineering and Harriet Smith's very informative notes, only those who do not value great pianism can afford to miss it’ (American Record Guide)
1 January 1900

Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘Hough's Mozart playing is so fresh, so sensitive to the harmonic twists and the way the prase can simultaneously suggest different feelings … this 2006 Keener and Eadon production from St George's, Bristol, is impeccably presented, with a congenial note by Harriet Smith’ (International Piano)
1 January 1900

Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘Hyperion's imaginative new collection shows this protean artist to be equally at home in the Classical repertoire. Not surprisingly, he offers romantic and highly pianistic Mozart … the result is a trio of performances of splendid variety … the recital ends rousingly with Liszt's Figaro Fantasia. Compared to the other post-Mozartian rarities, of course, this is standard fare—but it sounds freshly minted in this improvisatory reading … notable for his revelatory inner-line clarity even in the most congested textures and for his ability to reveal the underlying gestures in passages, that, even in Gilels' hands, emerge as a mere blur of notes. Excellent Hyperion sound and useful notes by Harriet Smith only add to the virtues of this first-rate release’ (International Record Review)
1 January 1900

Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘A bold and dramatic account of Mozart's K475 C minor Fantasia opens this memorable and imaginatively devised recital. While emphasising the prophetically romantic nature of the music, Stephen Hough takes great care not to overplay its more forceful passages … the final party piece, the Liszt/Busoni Fantasia on themes from The Marriage of Figaro, is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser given an exhilharating performance guaranteed to bring the house down’ (BBC Music Magazine)
1 January 1900
The Observer
Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘A scintillating exploration of Mozartian style in tribute works by other composers. Easily the most attractive is by Stephen Hough himself, who takes three small pieces and reinvents them in the style of Poulenc. The result is a seductive, spicy and totally original addition to the genre, and a nice counterweight to the Liszt-Busoni Figaro fantasia, which the prodigiously talented Hough plays with his trademark intensity’ (The Observer)
1 January 1900
The Times
Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘In a typically well-made progamme, the compelling British pianist springboards of Mozart into a series of tributes. The virtuoisic challenges are handled with liquid clarity and intelligent expression. Mesmerising in the Mozart, the transition to a more modern take comes surprisingly fluently’ (The Times)
1 January 1900

Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘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)
1 January 1900

Mozart: Stephen Hough's Mozart Album
CDA67598 

‘Here's another winning, imaginatively conceived disc from Britain's finest pianist … it is unexpected and delightful programme-building. Prized for his pianism, Hough is also a superb Mozartian. He lends these Fantasias an almost Beethovenian weight and depth of expression … Hough's playing is dazzling throughout’ (The Sunday Times)
1 January 1900

Mozart: String Quartets K575 & 590
CDA66355  Download only 

‘Enlightening performances which almost certainly recreate the actual timbres and textures Mozart envisaged more truly than any other recording available’ (Gramophone)
1 January 1900
The Irish Times
Mozart: String Quintets
CDA67861/3  3CDs 

‘The four quintets are among Mozart's richest chamber works. The Nash Ensemble's survey of all six pieces … is light in touch, with transparency of texture and clarity of part-playing given high priority’ (The Irish Times)
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