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Stephen Hough

Stephen Hough, concert pianist, is interviewed by Kirsty Young for Desert Island Discs.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the concert pianist and composer Stephen Hough.

He discovered he liked playing the piano when he went to visit his aunt's house and could pick out more than one hundred nursery rhymes on her piano. After much pestering, his parents bought him a cheap second hand piano from an antique shop. He went on to become one of the youngest students at the Royal Northern College of Music before winning a scholarship to The Juilliard School in New York.

His career began in 1983 after winning the Naumberg Piano Competition. He divides his time between New York and London and performs all over the world. He also has a prolific recording career and has won many awards for his discs.

Producer: Sarah Taylor.

Available now

37 minutes

Last on

Fri 14 Oct 2016 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopin

    PrΓ©lude No. 17 in A flat

    Performer: Alfred Cortot.
    • Chopin: 24 PrΓ©ludes Op. 28.
    • The Piano Library.

  • Fritz Kreisler

    Liebesleid

    Performer: Sergey Rachmaninov.
    • Rachmaninoff Complete Recordings.
    • RCA.

  • Led Zeppelin

    Stairway to Heaven

    • Led Zeppelin IV.
    • Atlantic.

  • CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE

    • Edward Elgar

      Proficiscere, anima Christiana (Go Forth) from The Dream of Gernontius

      Performer: Kim Borg. Performer: HallΓ© Choir. Performer: Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus. Performer: Ambrosian Singers. Performer: HallΓ©.
      • The Dream of Gerontius/Sea Pictures.
      • EMI.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Mass in B minor, BWV 232: Kyrie eleison

    Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232.
    • SDG.

  • Alban Berg

    Lyric Suite for String Quartet, 3rd Movement

    Performer: Juilliard String Quartet.
    • Julliard String Quartet plays Berg Β– Carter - Schuman.
    • Testament.

  • Sir Stephen Hough

    Sonata for cello and piano left hand 'Les adieux': 3rd Movement, Adagio sereno

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Mendelssohn, Grieg & Hough: Cello Sonatas.
    • Hyperion.

  • Eric Coates

    Bird Songs at Eventide

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough. Performer: Robert White.
    • Bird Songs at Eventide.
    • Hyperion.

  • BOOK CHOICE

    A bilingual edition of Prousts's Γ€ la recherche du temps perdu

  • LUXURY ITEM

    A panama hat from Optimo in Chicago

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Stephen Hough
Producer Sarah Taylor

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 Oct 2016 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 14 Oct 2016 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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