Piano Works: Hough

This recording received the 1998 Gramophone magazine award for "Best Instrumental Recording."
Federico Mompou could best be described as a Spanish Satie minus the hilarity. His individual pieces and suites of pieces all tend to be short and relatively uncomplicated. As a result, for this enchanting music to make its full effect it is heavily dependent on the ability of the pianist to fully characterize each tiny piece.
Drawing on music from throughout Mompou's career, British pianist Stephen Hough accepts the challenge and provides well over an hour of musical magic for those susceptible to the composer's exotic charms. This disc won a 1998 Gramophone Award and listening to these performances makes it obvious why.
REVIEWS:
American Record Guide (11-12/97, p.159) - "...I was thoroughly enthralled by Hough's reading; he is a pianist's pianist, to be sure....He has selected a broad sample of Mompou's world of hushed intimacies and private ecstasies, in a kind of prismatic filter that allows the listener to consider the music from innumerable perspectives..."