Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninov's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" during First Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo
Exactly, this just shows that throwing yourself around the piano is un-necessary He is probably one the best Pianists in the World, and also at everything else he does, if you haven't looked him up please do so. When I played Double Bass for our local Symphony Orchestra in the early 1980's we played this piece and Stephen was the Soloist. He is also playing this on 16th March 2017 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. UK and we have tickets
the part from 15:00 to 18:00 might be one of the most beautiful art pieces i have ever listened/seen/felt. every time I hear that section I am on the brink of tears. Rachmaninoff is a genius.
The entire rhapsody is beautiful, but the section beginning around minute 16:00 is perhaps one of the greatest and most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever written. Pure gold.
This man is a genius! We have seen in him in concert twice, and met him at the end of the last recital - what an exceptionally pleasant man he is. I simply love each of these variations, and to watch Stephen Hough's rendition is amazing - the blur of his fingers over the keys, especially in the variation is astounding! Magnifico!!!
The entire rhapsody is beautiful, but the section beginning around minute 16:00 is perhaps one of the greatest and most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever written. Pure gold.
As I often say about the sublime, it's as if a higher power reached down and touched Rachmaninoff's brain when it came time to compose this variation. Nothing else can aptly how it has captivated the imaginations of legions of music lovers for a century.
A true Renaissance man! Performer, artist, painter, composer, author and more! He is definitely an absolute genius and a pleasure to watch and listen to. He makes it look effortless!
The entire rhapsody is beautiful, but the section beginning around minute 16:00 is perhaps one of the greatest and most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever written. Pure gold.
Probably a coincidence but Dvorak wrote the melody 54 years earlier. Well, not precisely the same melody, but close enough to make you wonder. (Both are in the somewhat obscure key of D flat major). Dvorak put the melody into one of his "Legends", written first for piano and then orchestrated. Curiously, he had the melody played just once... strange for such a beautiful melody. Here is the piano version. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QSGZDkvv0q0.html And here is the orchestra version. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QBjF3YtPTwc.html
Oh my god every cell in my body was alive with excitement during this entire video! Rachmaninov himself would shake this orchestra's every hand if he had been there! Thank you for bringing so much joy to this world with such magnificent music.
+John Richardson Yes, that's the famous 18th Variation. Incredibly beautiful, especially in context: all the preceding gloom, and then a ray of light comes through. I cry too--just about every time I hear it.
Introduction (00:06) ; Thème (00:34) ; Variation II (00:54) ; Var. III (01:14) ; Var. IV (01:40) ; Var. V (02:10) ; Var. VI (02:40) ; Var. VII (03:47) ; Var. VIII (04:59) ; Var. IX (05:35) ; Var. X (06:07) ; Var. XI (07:00) ; Var. XII (08:15) ; Var. XIII (09:38) ; Var. XIV (10:09) ; Var. XV (10:54) ; Var. XVI (11:59) ; Var. XVII (13:42) ; Var. XVIII (15:39) ; Var. XIX (18:27) ; Var. XX (19:01) ; Var. XXI (19:37) ; Var. XXII (20:03) ; Var. XXIII (21:42) ; Var. XXIV (22:33)
This is one of the best interpretations of this concerto I have ever heard. As Martha Argerich once pointed out, one must "lean forward" when hearing music before it is played. In this way, Mr. Hough's music making is so full of musical intelligence, sense of architecture, and vitality. His mental energy is so vibrant. I really enjoyed this performance.
Lebhafte und gut artikulierte Leistung dieses anspruchsvollen und zugleich romantischen Meisterwerks mit klarem Anschlag des Klaviers. Der Solist ist echt genial!
The entire rhapsody is beautiful, but the section beginning around minute 16:00 is perhaps one of the greatest and most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever written. Pure gold.
This is my favorite piece of Classical Music even though it was not written until the 20th Century. For me even with so many other great compositions, which I also love, Sergei Rachmaninov composed the best of all with this exquisite piece. I never tire of listening to it, or to the many great pianists and orchestras interpretations of it, it is just so special.
One Comment, Two questions: Comment 1: The precision and grace Stephen Hough are enviable and a blessing. Rachmaninoff is well served and our lives immeasurably enriched by this performance. Question 1: How did he manage to keep his cool during all the coughing? The poise he showed during "cough-fest" in the 18th variation was nothing less than heroic. Question 2: Were those who couldn't control their coughing eventually shot, dismembered and buried outside the city walls? One hopes so.
Meh. If you attend enough classical performances, you just get used to all the coughing, especially with a large audience like this. It's not always something that can be controlled. Now, if someone's cell phone starts ringing? THAT'S a hanging offense.
Quelle oeuvre splendide, et quelle interprétation !! Hough est l'un des meilleurs dans Rachmaninov, Liszt, Mompou. Une facilité déconcertante et un lyrisme inégalable.
This is my absolute favorite piece and I have seen many different performances, Steven’s is the best one I have heard. The build up and attention to the most beautiful nuances of the middle section delivers all that I need to hear. ❤
Absolutely magnificent execution of Rachmaninov's brilliant and ingenious variations on a Theme of Paganini. Stephen Hough delivers a flawless, precise and technically perfect performance, something many other pianists only can dream of. He's in 100% control of nuances and touch, velocity, its pure and craftsmanship at it's best, bravo!! That he doesn't twist his face into a mocking of a Dali painting is a blessing, but may be hard for uneducated people to understand, hence they interpret it as a flaw. Stephen Hough plays with utmost musicality without the drama.
Well I'm certainly uneducated as I've only just started to learn the piano, but I never took it to be flaw! I simply assumed he'd got himself into the 'zone' to be able to concentrate on his spectacular performance and as such was probably oblivious to the audience anyway.
Well I'm certainly uneducated as I've only just started to learn the piano, but I never took it to be flaw! I simply assumed he'd got himself into the 'zone' to be able to concentrate on his spectacular performance and as such was probably oblivious to the audience anyway.
Laura Batterham: Whenever I hear this Var.XVIII it takes me back to Imperial Russia during the reign and life of the last Tsar/Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra, their son Grand Duke/Tsarevich Alexis, and their four daughters/Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. God bless their memory!!!!
AMAZING recording and mix! I heard this piece million times, but now, it's the first time to hear some details. Bravo for the technicians! Amazing performance of Stephen Hough, somewhat unique interpretation. Lucid like always. :)
We saw Stephen Hough perform this at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh many years ago. Truly a mesmerising experience. It's always him I come back to for Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini.
Listeners will usually assume the last variation is the most difficult, but it's actually the penultimate variation with the octave-and-a-half jumps followed by the see-saw alternating 7ths/octaves/9ths. That variation is a beast unless you have giant Liszt hands (which I don't). Everything else has been possible after some woodshedding. I love watching Mr. Hough take the final glissando and there is a micro-second where he stops the gliss and hits the A octave from straight above. It's just not feasible to gliss INTO the A save for the times where you just get lucky and land it!
This piece reaches out to everyone, even the furthest of laymen. I've always thought that this piece, which was one of Rachmaninoff's last major ones, eloquently describes the journey of someone from an older tradition confronting the confusion of the new. Going back and forth, sometimes pining for the old, sometimes celebrating the new, sometimes just plain confused, again and again and again, we finally arrive at a crazy, wild optimism. Who doesn't find this relevant to our modern age?
The entire rhapsody is beautiful, but the section beginning around minute 16:00 is perhaps one of the greatest and most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever written. Pure gold.
The entire rhapsody is beautiful, but the section beginning around minute 16:00 is perhaps one of the greatest and most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever written. Pure gold.
Россия выпустила одних из лучших музыкантов в мире. Несмотря на свою внешнюю политику, я аплодирую русским музыкантам, в том числе Ростроповичу, Шостаковичу и многим другим.
"Mi música es el producto de mi temperamento. En consecuencia, es la música rusa. Tchaikovsky y Rimsky-Korsakov me influenciaron fuertemente. Sin embargo, nunca he imitado a nadie. Trato, al escribir mi música, por no decir simple y directamente lo que está en mi corazón. Si hay amor, ni amargura, o tristeza, o la religión, entonces estos estados de ánimo se convierten en parte de mi música. En consecuencia, la música se convierte en hermoso, o amargo, o triste, o religioso. " ~ Rachmaninoff "Rachmaninoff escribió la banda sonora de este concierto para piano en 1934. Él alcanzó tres décadas de fama como virtuoso del piano. Rachmaninoff también fue un célebre concierto para piano ointérprete, no sólo de sus propias obras, sino también de la música de piano de Beethoven y Chopin. Rachmaninoff realiza como la mitad del teclado de asociaciones considerando, incluyendo este concierto para piano, con violinistas distinguidos, el principal de ellos Fritz Kreisler. (De Wikipedia)
Stephen Hough, a man truly gifted and talented even to the extent of showing this off with an outfit fit for only supreme leader Kim Jong Un. But seriously it's at least 2x glorious as Kimmy J :)
Why is it that as so often the case with performances of the legendary Proms, people in the audience have to cough during those very moments, like for instance in the Eighteen Variation played here so beautifully by this wonderful pianist, that would make their afflictions glaringly obvious to all and sundry.
It would be incredibly hard to be ready for the next couple of chords after the glissando at 23:31. No way is this his 24th appearance at the Proms! That's gotta be a coincedence... Here's another one: Stephen Hough and Sakari Oramo's names together have almost 24 letters. And another: the concerto itself takes about 24 minutes to perform. Finally, the name of the concerto -- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini -- count the letters.
This is a great rendition, but the way that pianist looks--shouldn't he be playing this before an audience of shadowy minions as the timer on his Doomsday Weapon ticks down to global annihilation?
He does look a bit as if he should be stroking a white fluffy cat. I'd love to know what anti-perspirant he uses. He finishes still looking as cool as a cucumber whereas I'd be sweating like a pig after five minutes of that sort of effort!
Whenever I hear this 18th Variation it takes me back to Imperial Russia during the life and reign of the last Tsar/Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra, their son Grand Duke/Tsarevich Alexis, and their four daughters/Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. God Bless their memory!!!!!!
