Sunday, January 14, 2007 at 4 pm
Program
Variations Serieuses, Op. 54, Felix Mendelssohn
Fantasio Variations (1946), Ben Weber
Sonata in C minor, Op. 111, Ludwig van Beethoven
Invitation to the Dance, Carl Maria von Weber
Waltzes (to be announced), Fredric Chopin
Valse Nonchalente, Camille Saint-Saens
Feuille d’Album, Emmanuel Chabrier
La plus que lente, Claude Debussy
Few pianists of Stephen Hough’s generation have made the impact on the music world that he has since winning the Naumberg International Piano Competition in 1983. A composer and music scholar as well as pianist, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001. His interpretations of standard piano repertory have become legendary; and he has also become well known as a champion of neglected works of the 19th century.
On January 14th, Mr. Hough will perform a benefit recital for the Candlelight Concert series at the Wilton Congregational Church. Among works on the program are the Variations Serieuses of Mendelssohn, Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor, Op. 111, selected Chopin Waltzes, and works of Chabrier and Debussy.
Mr. Hough’s reputation as a concert artist is almost without peer. In the 2006-07 concert season alone, he returns to the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras and the San Francisco, St. Louis, Montreal, Atlanta, Vancouver and Indianapolis symphonies; makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic; and appears in recital in London, Toronto, Denver, Portland OR, Santa Barbara and at Lincoln Center. He regularly performs at such festivals as Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, Edinburgh and the BBC Proms.
Hough is a Hyperion recording artist; and many of his over 40 CDs have won international prizes. Concertos by Rachmaninoff, Saint-Sens, Hummel, Scharwenka and Sauer, Mompou’s solo piano music, and two Liszt recitals have won multiple awards, among them Gramophone Magazine’s Record of the Year (in 1996 and 2003), the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or, and several Grammy nominations. His 2005 ‘live’ recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos with the Dallas Symphony and Andrew Litton was the fastest selling recording in the history of Hyperion Records.
The Sunday afternoon performance will take place at 4:00 p.m. at the Wilton Congregational Church, just north of Wilton center on Route 33. Tickets may be purchased at the door ? hour before the concert for $25 (Seniors pay $20, students $10.) A reception in honor of the artist and the Candlelight series will follow the concert. For more information on this recital or on the series, phone 203-762-3401, or 203-762-5019.