Stephen Hough; Andrew Litton: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra - Liszt & Grieg: Piano Concertos

A concerto album from Stephen Hough is always a significant event. For this new recording Stephen travelled to Bergen�Grieg�s home town�to join forces with Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Grieg and Liszt that are set to become landmark recordings of all three concertos.Grieg�s A minor Piano Concerto, with its plethora of great tunes, is one of the most popular of all Romantic works, while Liszt�s two highly original concertos present unique challenges to both pianist and orchestra. These performances are exciting, magisterial and highly coloured, with breathtaking virtuosity harnessed to poetic refinement and finesse�hallmarks of Stephen�s playing that have already helped his concerto recordings to win two Gramophone �Record of the Year� accolades.Stephen Hough and Andrew Litton continue the astonishing success of their collaboration in Rachmaninov�s concertos, Hyperion�s fastest-selling recording. The Bergen players provide freshly idiomatic support in the Grieg and revel in the sumptuous scoring of the Liszt. The results are thrilling, and this deserves a place in any music lover�s collection, no matter how familiar the music.Released to coincide with the twin anniversaries of Liszt�s birth (200 years ago) and Stephen�s own 50th birthday (in November), this recording is an apt celebration of both.