Stephen Hough: What are your opinions of this pianist?

[Oscar]

Hough has been making records for over 30 years now, currently for Hyperion (and an occasional one for Bis of his own compositions), and he has been referred to as an "intellectual virtuoso". I see more notices and talk of his virtuoso rival, Marc-Andre Hamelin (even Garrick Ohlsson), but not so much Hough. Are there any fans here? Just curious as to what you think.

[Oscar]

Allow me to start this discussion by stating that I have been getting acquainted with Walter Klien's Brahms set on VoxBox over the last two days. I cannot believe I had not heard it till now, Brahms fanatic that I am, but that's the way it is sometimes. Opp.76 & 117 are two of the works I keep returning to in this set. This is some straight-forward yet magisterial playing, not ravishing, but full of sensitivity, light & shade, wonderful legato phrasing, patience, and, yes, wisdom. While Klien does not strike me as anything but a musician playing the notes, however artfully that he does, he leaves a completely satisfying impression of individuality and having "lived in" the scores. Has Hough done anything as good as this?

[HT]

> Has Hough done anything as good as this?

In his own personal way, he has. With Hough it's not the question whether he's good or not (he is) but whether you like his style of piano playing - imo. I don't. I've the same problems with Osborne - and other English pianists.

Henk

[Bozo]

>On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 1:37:54 AM UTC-6, Oscar wrote:
> Just curious as to what you think.

Have not heard the Klien you refer.

I usually enjoy Hough , although prefer others in the Saint-Saens , Brahms and Rachmaninoff concertos.

Hough's recordings of solo piano music of York Bowen and Mompou are excellent. As are his recordings of the Sauer 1st Piano Concerto and "Favorite Things " encores.

[Tony]

On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 11:52:44 AM UTC+2, HT wrote:
>
>I've the same problems with Osborne - and other English pianists.
>
> Henk

The British press, followed by their commonwealth colleagues in Australia and Canada, tend to hype British pianists. You get the same behaviour with British footballers -- no perspective until a worldwide view is thrust upon them.

Frankly I find this pianist rather superficial. 'Intellectual virtuoso' is just a polite way of saying the pianist can't play Chopin. The same with Hamelin.

I'm sure there's repertoire that Stephen Hough excels in. It just isn't in classical or romantic period music.

[cooper...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 3:07:24 AM UTC-5, Oscar wrote:
> Allow me to start this discussion by stating that I have been getting acquainted with Walter Klien's Brahms set on VoxBox over the last two days. I cannot believe I had not heard it till now, Brahms fanatic that I am, but that's the way it is sometimes. Opp.76 & 117 are two of the works I keep returning to in this set. This is some straight-forward yet magisterial playing, not ravishing, but full of sensitivity, light & shade, wonderful legato phrasing, patience, and, yes, wisdom. While Klien does not strike me as anything but a musician playing the notes, however artfully that he does, he leaves a completely satisfying impression of individuality and having "lived in" the scores. Has Hough done anything as good as this?

I always think of Klien together with Peter Frankl, both of them Vox stalwarts whose recordings consistently exhibit outstanding taste and musicianship. The recordings that Klien made with his wife Beatriz are a particular delight. (You must have the op. 39 Waltzes in your Brahms set). And the Brendel/Klien recording of Mozart for 2 pianos is desert island stuff. Klien's solo Mozart is almost as good. I remember some reviewers damning him with faint praise by playing on his name ("clean" Mozart--ha ha), but the recordings have stood the test of time, imo.

I don't claim extensive knowledge of Hough's substantial discography, but some recordings that have given me great pleasure are his Hummel concerti and sonatas and his Mendelssohn concerti. FWIW.

AC

[Bozo]

>On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 7:51:12 AM UTC-6, cooper...@gmail.com wrote:
> I always think of Klien together with Peter Frankl, both of them Vox stalwarts whose recordings consistently >exhibit outstanding taste and musicianship.

A Frankl lp of Debussy in my collection, excellent : http://tinyurl.com/zk5hcyc

[Tony]

I'm not interested in Walter Klien, but to those who are I can offer the following rare live recordings from the 1980s, all in decent sound. Email me if you'd like any

Mozart / Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491 / Klien / Pritchard / BBC Symphony Orchestra (1983)
Mozart / Piano Sonata No. 5 K283 / Klien (1983)
Mozart / Adagio in B minor K540, Rondo K485,Gigue K574 / Klien (1983)
Hindemith / Piano Concerto / Klien / Rozhdestvensky / BBC Symphony Orchestra (1980)
Mozart / Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major K280 / Klien (1985)
Mozart / Piano Sonata No. 8 Bani minor K310 plus encores / Klien (1983)
Mozart / Fantasia in C minor, K475 & Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K457 / Klien (1985)
Mozart / Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major K331 "with Turkish March" / Klien (1985)
Mozart / Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major K331 "with Turkish March" / Klien (1983)

[graham]

I owned that when at uni some 50 years ago. I now have his complete
Debussy on Vox cds that may be available through re-sellers. It is
certainly worth tracking down as he is a very fine musician.
Graham

[Bob Harper]

On 1/28/16 5:51 AM, cooper...@gmail.com wrote:
(snip)

> I always think of Klien together with Peter Frankl, both of them Vox
> stalwarts whose recordings consistently exhibit outstanding taste and
> musicianship. The recordings that Klien made with his wife Beatriz
> are a particular delight. (You must have the op. 39 Waltzes in your
> Brahms set). And the Brendel/Klien recording of Mozart for 2 pianos
> is desert island stuff. Klien's solo Mozart is almost as good. I
> remember some reviewers damning him with faint praise by playing on
> his name ("clean" Mozart--ha ha), but the recordings have stood the
> test of time, imo.
>
> I don't claim extensive knowledge of Hough's substantial discography,
> but some recordings that have given me great pleasure are his Hummel
> concerti and sonatas and his Mendelssohn concerti. FWIW.
>
> AC
>

Agreed about the Mozart disc--still the best of that repertoire after
all these years. And the disc of Concertos 17 and 27 he made with
Skrowaczewski/MO is superb.

Bob Harper

[MiNe109]

On 1/28/16 12:11 PM, Bob Harper wrote:

<Klien>

> Agreed about the Mozart disc--still the best of that repertoire after
> all these years. And the disc of Concertos 17 and 27 he made with
> Skrowaczewski/MO is superb.

Here's a reminder that Klien's Mozart solo works and concertos including
Nos. 17 and 27 are collected in two $.99 mp3 boxes on Amazon.

And his Brahms is available for streaming on Prime.

I enjoy Hough in the Sauer Concerto.

Stephen

[Andrew Clarke]

On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 12:49:01 AM UTC+11, Tony wrote:
> On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 11:52:44 AM UTC+2, HT wrote:
> >
> >I've the same problems with Osborne - and other English pianists.
> >
> > Henk
>
> The British press, followed by their commonwealth colleagues in Australia and Canada, tend to hype British pianists. You get the same behaviour with British footballers -- no perspective until a worldwide view is thrust upon them.

I find it difficult to believe that Australian reviewers hype British anything whatsoever.

Meanwhile most footballers in Britain aren't British, at least not in the Premier League.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

"We love the Queen but we hate the British" - Will Anderson on The Gruen Report, ABC Television.

[Tony]

On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 1:48:36 AM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
>
> I find it difficult to believe that Australian reviewers hype British anything whatsoever.

Perhaps it's just a coincidence.

>
> Meanwhile most footballers in Britain aren't British, at least not in the Premier League.

OT: Yes but I meant specifically British players, or actually in this case only English. Look at the transfer fees for English players -- they are well above an already inflated if not in bubble territory market. Though some do very well in a team of mostly foreign players, put them together in their national kit and it never works out.

[Andrew Clarke]

On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 9:13:48 PM UTC+11, Tony wrote:
> On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 1:48:36 AM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
> >
> > I find it difficult to believe that Australian reviewers hype British anything whatsoever.
>
> Perhaps it's just a coincidence.

As a matter of interest, which Australian reviews of classical music do you mean?

> > Meanwhile most footballers in Britain aren't British, at least not in the Premier League.
>
> OT: Yes but I meant specifically British players, or actually in this case only English. Look at the transfer fees for English players -- they are well above an already inflated if not in bubble territory market. Though some do very well in a team of mostly foreign players, put them together in their national kit and it never works out.

Because they aren't used to playing with each other, and because Premier League matches are where the money is, and because all the adulation they get from the sleb journalists has given them king size egos? All of this is frequently discussed by sports journalist in the UK press.

The condition of Scots Association Football is a sad one: even the Scots themselves will argue that there are only two Scots teams worthy of international football. Sadly, the same can be said of north east England, except there are no teams of international standard there at all these days.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

[Robert Marshall]

On Thu, Jan 28 2016, Tony <ezo...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 11:52:44 AM UTC+2, HT wrote:
>>
>>I've the same problems with Osborne - and other English pianists.
>>
>> Henk
>
> The British press, followed by their commonwealth colleagues in
> Australia and Canada, tend to hype British pianists. You get the same
> behaviour with British footballers -- no perspective until a worldwide
> view is thrust upon them.
>

ISTR seeing a review of Hough's French album where the UK reviewer
(Roger Nichols?) said that Hough's Fauré playing wasn't worth listening
to - dodgy pedalling and pulling around of the tempo

Robert
--
Robert Marshall twitter: @rajm

[Tony]

On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 2:26:46 PM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
>
> As a matter of interest, which Australian reviews of classical music do you mean?

Of course I don't keep a collection, and even if I did, it's not as if that's any sort of proof. I have an opinion from quotes with attributions that I've read online. Probably from a small sample. Just with the UK press being more prominent and having a bigger voice in these matters, they lead the hype. Think of the Lindsay Quartet phenomenon.

Of course nothing is total, as Robert mentioned with the negative review.

> Because they aren't used to playing with each other...

Sure they are. Nearly all if not all English players in the national team play in the PL.

>All of this is frequently discussed by sports journalist in the UK press.

Players are criticised, but more often hyped. Usually one at a time is made the national scapegoat.

[Andrew Clarke]

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 3:23:56 AM UTC+11, Tony wrote:
> On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 2:26:46 PM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
> >
> > As a matter of interest, which Australian reviews of classical music do you mean?
>
> Of course I don't keep a collection, and even if I did, it's not as if that's any sort of proof. I have an opinion from quotes with attributions that I've read online. Probably from a small sample.

Partial quotations can be very misleading. But you must have some idea where these Australian quotes came from. It's not as if this country has all that many classical reviewers.

And it's not as if this country feels any kind of loyalty to the Mother Country: far from it.

>Just with the UK press being more prominent and having a bigger voice in these matters, they lead the hype. Think of the Lindsay Quartet phenomenon.

Do you really believe that an educated audience anywhere in the English speaking world would go to Lindsays concerts and buy Lindsays recordings purely on the basis of press reviews? Would they keep on going and buying if that ensemble were plainly incompetent?

There is of course the possibility that the British refuse to go to performances given by non-Britons, but you only have to look at the programmes for the Proms to realise that that theory is obvious nonsense. British orchestras all seem to be conducted by Russians and Finns.

> > Because they aren't used to playing with each other...
>
> Sure they are. Nearly all if not all English players in the national team play in the PL.

In which case they are more likely to be used to playing *against* each other. It's quite possible for a Premier League match to be played by 22 foreigners coached by two more foreigners.

>
> >All of this is frequently discussed by sports journalist in the UK press.
>
> Players are criticised, but more often hyped. Usually one at a time is made the national scapegoat.

Well, I read The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph online daily, and I have to say that the football pages are almost always about imported players. But of course, there's the much-criticised Wayne Rooney ...

Hype, of course, is international. You'd think that the former Australian rugby league player who's moved across to American football was the greatest star in gridiron history if you believed what the Australian press printed about him. The same goes for Lleyton Hewett, who must be the unluckiest tennis player alive to have lost so many matches after such valiant performances.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

[Mike Painter]

On Wed, 27 Jan 2016 23:37:49 -0800, Oscar wrote
(in article <d334bdaf-b0d8-4042...@googlegroups.com>):

I just heard him tonight perform Saint-Saëns PC no.5 with the San Francisco
Symphony. It was OK, not overwhelming.

I like his selection of pieces on various CDs that I have -- the French
Album, New Piano Album, Liszt Piano Works, and some of the Hyperion Romantic
Piano Concertos. But again, his playing isn't mind-blowing or anything, but
they're all enjoyable.


Mike

[Tony]

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 5:41:24 AM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
>
>Partial quotations can be very misleading. But you must have some idea where these Australian quotes came from.

It's true, but no I don't remember. Why must I?

>
> Do you really believe that an educated audience anywhere in the English speaking world would go to Lindsays concerts and buy Lindsays recordings purely on the basis of press reviews?

Of course. The world has countless stories of such behaviour.

>
>Would they keep on going and buying if that ensemble were plainly incompetent?

Yes of course. I heard the Lindsays and they played out of tune and were woeful. The audience loved it. The press loved it. Emperor -- clothes.

>
>It's quite possible for a Premier League match to be played by 22 foreigners coached by two more foreigners.

It's possible, but due to the home-grown rule I don't think it happens often. No doubt the PL heavily relies on foreign talent, yet it still somehow maintains what I understand as an English manner of high intensity, hard tackling and not the best defending.

[Bozo]

>On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 9:41:24 PM UTC-6, Andrew Clarke wrote:
> The same goes for Lleyton Hewett, who must be the unluckiest tennis player >alive to have lost so many matches after such valiant performances.

And some really long matches at the very warm Aussie Open. And then did his marriage to the Dutch tennis star Klijsters ( spelling ?) dissolve,too, unlucky at love ?

[Gerard]

"Bozo" wrote in message
news:87483072-39d5-4d48...@googlegroups.com...

================

Wrong again.
Clijsters is Belgian. Not Dutch.

[AB]

I heard Hough in recital at Julliard a number of years ago. He played a Bowen sonata IIRC and other music. I was very disappointed for a number of reasons.

AB

[Bozo]

>On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 10:03:34 AM UTC-6, Gerard wrote:
>Wrong again.
> Clijsters is Belgian. Not Dutch.

Actually Flemish, so we're both wrong.

[Andrew Clarke]

She's Belgian. The Flemings still haven't seceded although a lot of them want to.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

[graham]

Angela Hewitt is similar.
Graham

[Bozo]

>On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 3:11:25 PM UTC-6, Andrew Clarke wrote:
> She's Belgian. The Flemings still haven't seceded although a lot of them want >to.

I lived 6 months in Brugge ( Bruges ) in 1970. My very poor , very limited French was tolerated briefly only because I was American. The locals then preferred to speak English with me ( at which most were better than I given the English tourist trade ). I did learn the Flemish word for " corkscrew " , however, " corktrekke :" or the like ?

[Andrew Clarke]

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 10:21:33 PM UTC+11, Tony wrote:
> On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 5:41:24 AM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
> >
> >Partial quotations can be very misleading. But you must have some idea where these Australian quotes came from.
>
> It's true, but no I don't remember. Why must I?

Because your claim that Canucks and Aussies are all part of a British conspiracy to foist inferior British musicians onto an unsuspecting world is so extraordinarily bizarre that I wondered what could possibly persuade anybody to believe it. Even Dave the Dude doesn't go to quite such extravagant lengths.

> > Do you really believe that an educated audience anywhere in the English speaking world would go to Lindsays concerts and buy Lindsays recordings purely on the basis of press reviews?
>
> Of course. The world has countless stories of such behaviour.

Well, we all know music lovers who spend thousands on hyper-expensive sound systems with posh-sounding names to enhance their sense of their own status. Same with cars and bikes (Jaguar, Harley Davidson). But classical music??

>
> >
> >Would they keep on going and buying if that ensemble were plainly incompetent?
>
> Yes of course. I heard the Lindsays and they played out of tune and were woeful. The audience loved it. The press loved it. Emperor -- clothes.

Wow! So not only the audience but the press were all victims/perpetrators of this conspiracy. Were yours the only ears present that could detect their horrid intonation?

Well back in the early 1970s I went to a concert given by the Amadeus Quartet (in Perth, WA) and was considerably underwhelmed. Emperor -- Clothes.

They were actually at the tail end of a lengthy tour, and signs of fatigue were evident. I suppose I could have believed myself the victim of an Anglo-German confidence trick,however ...

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

[Oscar]

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 9:07:08 PM, Andrew Clarke wrote:
>
> Well, we all know music lovers who spend thousands on hyper-expensive sound systems with
> posh-sounding names to enhance their sense of their own status. Same with cars and bikes
> (Jaguar, Harley Davidson). But classical music??

I have a Meridian F80, co-branded with Ferrari http://tinyurl.com/jfbnq5z And I play the rarest Hermann Abendroth and Guila Bustabo CD's on it.

[Gerard]

"Bozo" wrote in message
news:55ebc2de-be28-4b15...@googlegroups.com...

=======================

BS. Flemish people are Belgian.
Clijsters is not Dutch.

[Aage Johansen]

On 31.01.2016 06:07, Andrew Clarke wrote:
> ...

> Well, we all know music lovers who spend thousands on hyper-expensive sound systems
> with posh-sounding names to enhance their sense of their own status. Same with cars
> and bikes (Jaguar, Harley Davidson). But classical music??

Oh, that was why I bought the Jaguar? Dang!

--
Aage J.

[Terry]

And she was very briefly engaged (not married) to Hewett.

Otherwise, you're correct.

[Tony]

On Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 7:07:08 AM UTC+2, Andrew Clarke wrote:
>
> Because your claim that Canucks and Aussies are all part of a British conspiracy to foist inferior British musicians onto an unsuspecting world is so extraordinarily bizarre that I wondered what could possibly persuade anybody to believe it. Even Dave the Dude doesn't go to quite such extravagant lengths.

Spin discs, not my words.

>
> Wow! So not only the audience but the press were all victims/perpetrators of this conspiracy. Were yours the only ears present that could detect their horrid intonation?

No my mate noticed it as well. We were the youngest there, and it was in the last couple of years of their career. No doubt 20 years earlier they were better.

Well, that's all. At least Stephen Hough explores some darkened corners of the piano repertoire.

[Andrew Clarke]

On Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 10:28:59 PM UTC+11, Aage Johansen wrote:

> Oh, that was why I bought the Jaguar? Dang!

Since Tata bought Jaguar-Landrover the Jags have, I believe, become a car worth buying. But before that ...

Example: windscreen wiper motors positioned under a windscreen that leaked.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra
Honda owner.

[Bob Harper]

I remember reading many years ago--probably in either Car and Driver or
Road and Track--that British cars seemed to have been built on the
assumption that there were mechanics every few miles who worked for a
shilling an hour (I told you it was many years ago!).

As for the improvements in design and reliability, I'd say they date
from the company's acquisition by Ford, though I've no doubt that
they've improved further since the purchase by Tata, but then most cars
are an order of magnitude better than they were when I first became
interested in them in the late '50s and '60s.

Bob Harper
Volvo owner

[graham]

> Volvo owner The Ford or Chinese variety?

My neighbour has an XK140, an XK150, an XKE and an Austin Healey 3000,
all beatifully restored. He bought his wife one of those Ford Jaguars
and reckoned it was a piece of junk.
Graham

[Bob Harper]

Beautiful cars all. I am appropriately envious. As for his experience,
what can I say? It's certainly possible, but is/was it the norm? From
what little I've read, probably not. Still, I think the original XKE
2-seater (though not the 2+2!) is one of the most beautiful automobiles
ever built. And the others you mention aren't bad, either :)

Bob Harper

[Aage Johansen]

On 01.02.2016 19:24, graham wrote:
>> ...

>
> My neighbour has an XK140, an XK150, an XKE and an Austin Healey 3000,
> all beatifully restored. He bought his wife one of those Ford Jaguars
> and reckoned it was a piece of junk.
> Graham
>

The quality has had its downs... The British Leyland period was a low.
I saw a picture/description of an XK120 in the 50'ies. I was about ten
years old, and liked what I saw. Now, 60 years on, I figured it was
time to act if I should ever realize the dream. So, a slightly used
2011 model XJ Portfolio was acquired last year.


--
Aage J.
ps
Andrew Clarke wrote: "...to enhance their sense of their own status."
Well, it certainly gets its share of stares !

[Frank Berger]

On 2/1/2016 12:28 PM, Bob Harper wrote:
> On 1/31/16 2:35 PM, Andrew Clarke wrote:
>> On Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 10:28:59 PM UTC+11, Aage
>> Johansen wrote:
>>
>>> Oh, that was why I bought the Jaguar? Dang!
>>
>> Since Tata bought Jaguar-Landrover the Jags have, I
>> believe, become a car worth buying. But before that
>> ...
>>
>> Example: windscreen wiper motors positioned under a
>> windscreen that leaked.
>>
>> Andrew Clarke Canberra Honda owner.
>>
>
> I remember reading many years ago--probably in either Car
> and Driver or Road and Track--that British cars seemed
> to have been built on the assumption that there were
> mechanics every few miles who worked for a shilling an
> hour (I told you it was many years ago!).
>

50 years ago or so, my mother worked for a print shop. The
owner decided to purchase a very expensive 4 color British
press (a Crabtree ) which he was advised not to do because
of the frequency of break-downs and the lack of Crabtree
mechanics in the U.S. Eventually he had to bring over a
specialist from the UK and give him a full time job to keep
the press going. That episode was a major factor in the
eventual bankruptcy of the firm.

[Frank Berger]

When I was a teen, my dream car was the XKE. The summer
after I graduated from high school, I worked as a bellhop at
a local hotel. One Sunday a fellow checks in driving an XKE.
The manager asked me to park it in the garage, something I
had never done. Wouldn't you know I scraped the right side
of the car on a concrete pillar in the garage. I didn't
look at the damage, didn't say anything to anyone and the
guy checked out the next day apparently without noticing the
damage. Just one of many things in my life I'm not proud of.

[hownhe...@yahoo.co.uk]

Does Stephen Hough drive a Ford ? Does Walter Klien listen to Bbrahms op118/3 in his Mercedes? Could we compare Hough's driving to Klien's listening ability?

Howard.

[graham]

When I finished my thesis I started looking for jobs and one salary
criterion was the time it would take to buy one, even though with my
6'4" frame, I might need a shoehorn to get in.
Then I got married.........
Graham

[graham]

Didn't Delius write "Thread Drift"?
Graham

[Bob Harper]

"The man who hath wife and children hath given hostages to Fortune."
--Francis Bacon

[Tony]

With an attitude like that no wonder he was gay :)

[dk]

I'd bet they are not driven very often. States side
most surviving classical Jags have had their engines
replaced with 5.7L Chevy engines so they can get to
Safeway more than once a year.

dk

[Frank Berger]

Y

Unrelated aside: I've owned Mazda Miata's since 1996.
There's (or was) an outfit called Monster Miata that will put a
Mustang V-8 into a Miata, upgrading the suspension,
brakes,etc as necessary). Years ago you could get the basic
Miata for around 20K, and for another 20K you could have
this totally unique rocket of a vehicle that could take just
about anything if you had a mind to race. It was just a
fantasy.

[dk]

He may be reading r.m.c.r.!

dk

[dk]

On Sunday, February 7, 2016 at 1:29:47 PM UTC-8, Frank Berger wrote:
> Y
> On 2/7/2016 4:04 PM, dk wrote:
> > On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 10:24:33 AM UTC-8, graham
> > wrote:
> >> On 01/02/2016 10:28 AM, Bob Harper wrote:
> >>
> >> My neighbour has an XK140, an XK150, an XKE and an
> >> Austin Healey 3000, all beatifully restored.
> >
> > I'd bet they are not driven very often. States side most
> > surviving classical Jags have had their engines replaced
> > with 5.7L Chevy engines so they can get to Safeway more
> > than once a year.
>

> Unrelated aside: I've owned Mazda Miata's since 1996.
> There's (or was) an outfit called Monster Miata that will put a
> Mustang V-8 into a Miata, upgrading the suspension,
> brakes,etc as necessary). Years ago you could get the basic
> Miata for around 20K, and for another 20K you could have
> this totally unique rocket of a vehicle that could take just
> about anything if you had a mind to race. It was just a
> fantasy.

The most tweakable/hotroddable cars on the planet are the
1997-2001 Audi A4 (B5 chassis). The engines are so grossly
overdesigned that they can be tweaked to over 1,000 bhp and
insane amounts of torque with moderate investments. Like all
German cars they tend to be finicky, but they are very reliable
if they are repaired frequently ;-)

dk

[dk]

On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 5:49:01 AM UTC-8, Tony wrote:
> On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 11:52:44 AM UTC+2, HT wrote:
> Frankly I find this pianist rather superficial. 'Intellectual
> virtuoso' is just a polite way of saying the pianist can't
> play Chopin. The same with Hamelin.
>
> I'm sure there's repertoire that Stephen Hough excels in.
> It just isn't in classical or romantic period music.

His Mendelssohn piano concerti are good.

dk

[dk]

On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 5:51:12 AM UTC-8, cooper...@gmail.com wrote:
> And the Brendel/Klien recording of Mozart for
> 2 pianos is desert island stuff.

You mean they should be both exiled
to the same desert island? Preferably
with record company co-located there.

dk

[Bozo]

>On Sunday, February 7, 2016 at 6:09:50 PM UTC-6, dk wrote:
> His Mendelssohn piano concerti are good.

As is his Sauer # 1 on Hyperion.

[Ricardo Jimenez]

On Sun, 7 Feb 2016 16:09:47 -0800 (PST), dk <dan....@gmail.com>

wrote:

>On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 5:49:01 AM UTC-8, Tony wrote:
>> On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 11:52:44 AM UTC+2, HT wrote:
>> Frankly I find this pianist rather superficial. 'Intellectual
>> virtuoso' is just a polite way of saying the pianist can't
>> play Chopin. The same with Hamelin.
>>
>> I'm sure there's repertoire that Stephen Hough excels in.
>> It just isn't in classical or romantic period music.
>
>His Mendelssohn piano concerti are good.
>
>dk

I've had his Hummel a and b minor concertos disk for, who knows?, 25
years perhaps. I got from the Musical Heritage Society and I would
call it desert island stuff.

[Frank Berger]

I'll deserve what happens.

[graham]

He drives them during the summer months. I always know when Spring has
arrived when I hear him tuning the Webers.
Graham

[JohnGavin]

I think he excels in smaller pieces - 3 CDs of golden age pieces, York Bowen solo piano, English miniatures, Mompou. His debut CD was Prokofiev Sonata #6, Scriabin #9, and a small group of Lyapunov Etudes. I thought back then that the Sonatas were not very good, but the Etudes were excellent. Many Hyperion CDs and years later, my impression still holds. His best work is in smaller pieces.

[AB]

I heard him play Bowen in recital. very uninspiring performance.
AB

[Terry]

...But who plays it better? That's what I'd like to know.

[Bozo]

>On Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 9:58:32 PM UTC-6, Terry wrote:
>...But who plays it better? That's what I'd like to know.

FWW, I liked Hough's Bowen cd. Danny Driver also has excellent recordings of the complete solo piano sonatas and piano concertos ,although I am not a fan of all those works. Dutton Records has a cd of his Violin Concerto, a work I do like, and cd's of some of his chamber works and other sonatas I 've not heard.

[hownhe...@yahoo.co.uk]

Mr.Hough often plays the piano with great charm. He often resemles Cherkassky, Arthur Loesser , Hofmann and dear old Albert Semprini.

I heard Mr.Hough give a recital a few years ago in Liverpool [UK].As an encore he played his arrangement of a waltz by Delibes. A quiet sigh of contentment rippled through the audience,


Howard in Wales.

[dk]

On Sunday, February 7, 2016 at 5:58:24 PM UTC-8, Ricardo Jimenez wrote:
> On Sun, 7 Feb 2016 16:09:47 -0800 (PST), dk <dan....@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 5:49:01 AM UTC-8, Tony wrote:
> >> On Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 11:52:44 AM UTC+2, HT wrote:
> >> Frankly I find this pianist rather superficial. 'Intellectual
> >> virtuoso' is just a polite way of saying the pianist can't
> >> play Chopin. The same with Hamelin.
> >>
> >> I'm sure there's repertoire that Stephen Hough excels in.
> >> It just isn't in classical or romantic period music.
> >
> >His Mendelssohn piano concerti are good.
>

> I've had his Hummel a and b minor concertos
> disk for, who knows?, 25 years perhaps. I got
> from the Musical Heritage Society and I would
> call it desert island stuff.

I wouldn't share my desert island with Hummel! ;-)
Didn't I mention I don't like czernycation and
czernycators?

dk

[dk]

On Sunday, February 7, 2016 at 6:40:13 PM UTC-8, graham wrote:
> On 07/02/2016 2:04 PM, dk wrote:
> > On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 10:24:33 AM UTC-8, graham wrote:
> >> On 01/02/2016 10:28 AM, Bob Harper wrote:
> >>
> >> My neighbour has an XK140, an XK150, an XKE and
> >> an Austin Healey 3000, all beatifully restored.
> >
> > I'd bet they are not driven very often. States side
> > most surviving classical Jags have had their engines
> > replaced with 5.7L Chevy engines so they can get to
> > Safeway more than once a year.
> >

> He drives them during the summer months. I
> always know when Spring has arrived when I
> hear him tuning the Webers.
> Graham

Bruckner makes more powerful blowers!

dk

[O]

In article <796ff47d-1147-4881...@googlegroups.com>, dk

We're going to set up a blind listening test for you between a mystery
guest pianist playing Czerny and a Singer Sewing machine. No peeking!

-Owen

P.S. That does bring to mind the nice reviews Kuerti got for his
Czerny! I have those discs somewhere, time to re-listen.

-O

[Bozo]

<dan....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wouldn't share my desert island with Hummel! ;-)
> > Didn't I mention I don't like czernycation and
> > czernycators?

Brings back wonderful memories of hearing Horowitz play this Clementi in Iowa City in 1976 ; amazing ; "Clementi's Waldstein" :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oonKpfetN-M