Schoenberg! A name to strike fear into so many alleged music-lovers, turning them off from what they don’t know they’re missing.
This was certainly the case in Malvern, the capital of Elgarshire, last Thursday, when one of the world’s most renowned pianists (as well as composer, columnist and blogger), Stephen Hough, launched a fascinating programme with that composer’s Six Little Piano Pieces into an auditorium barely a third full.
These delightful miniatures were delivered with the delicacy we would look for in readings of Grieg, or even Sinding, subtly coloured, discreetly pedalled on a wonderfully responsive Yamaha instrument. They looked back to the dreamy soundworld of late Brahms, whose Op.116 Fantasias ended the first half, textures gorgeously balanced, with Hough’s left hand richly underscoring the activity above.
Framed between these two well-linked offerings were rarities by Richard Strauss (Traumerei, and indeed a homage to Schumann), Wagner (Albumblatt, more self-promotion than personal gift) and Bruckner, his Erinnerung a really strong piece which encapsulates his vast sound-world in miniature. Hough’s accounts were loving and respectful.
Then came the biggies, Chopin’s four Ballades. How do you combine the lyrical with the heroic? Hough certainly showed how, not least in the astonishing G minor, his fabulously secure octave unisons delivering the central melody to overwhelming effect.
Security, yes - but also a few wrong notes here and there, but who cares? Only lesser pianists are immaculate typists.
Those at the top of their game risk everything as they strive towards communication of what the composer actually intended.
