Stephen Hough wins Diapason d'Or de l'Annee Award

15 November 2011

Stephen Hough – who celebrates his 50th birthday next week – has won a Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2011 award for his disc of Chopin’s Waltzes at a ceremony at Maison de Radio France. This Hyperion recording has also received extraordinary critical acclaim since its release last August.

Alain Lompech, reviewing the CD for Diapason, commented: "Never drowning in vague gestures or the irregular triple-time pulse, Stephen Hough chisels a particularly eloquent vocal line. In fact these are the waltzes that we’ve always dreamed of when we forget Lipatti.”

These comments were echoed in the UK press, with an unprecedented level of praise given for the disc through five star reviews from publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC Music Magazine and The Sunday Times.

Following engagements with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Toulouse and Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine this year, in March 2012 Stephen Hough will offer a recital at the Musée du Louvre which will include the French premiere of his own work, Sonata for Piano (broken branches).

Elsewhere, other forthcoming engagements include performances with the MDR Sinfonieorchester, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.