When he plays Saint-Saëns at this year’s The Last Night of the Proms, it will be the 31st time he has appeared at the world’s greatest classical music festival. But who is Stephen Hough?
Who is Stephen Hough?
Stephen Hough is one of the world’s greatest pianists. Now 62 years old, he has been gracing the world’s concert halls and recording studios for more than four decades.
Famed for his remarkable virtuosity and versatility, his repertoire ranges from Mozart and Hummel to contemporary composers. Some might associate him primarily with Romantic composers such as Rachmaninov and Saint-Saëns, but he prefers not to be pigeon-holed.
And talking of versatility… he is also a composer, published author and accomplished artist.
How old is Stephen Hough?
Hough was born on 22 November 1961 and is currently 62 years old.
Where is Stephen Hough from?
Stephen Hough was born and brought up in Cheshire, England. He studied at Chetham’s School of Music and then at the Royal Northern College of Music, both in nearby Manchester. He then crossed the Atlantic to continue his studies at the Juilliard School in New York City.
When did Stephen Hough become famous?
In 1978, when he was 16 years old, he won the piano final of the first ever BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. Though he lost out to trombonist Michael Hext in the grand final, further success would soon come in the Naumburg Competition in New York the following year.
By the mid-1980s, the now 20-something pianist had already enjoyed his first appearance at the BBC Proms (in 1985) and also began his recording career, performing Hummel piano concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra for Chandos Records in 1987.
What did he play in his first appearance at the BBC Proms?
On 23 July 1985, Hough joined the Hallé Orchestra and conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski for Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
His many return visits to the Royal Albert Hall since then have seen him play concertos by composers including Mozart, Brahms, Bartók and Beethoven. In 2009, his celebration of Tchaikovsky’s works for piano and orchestra saw him appear at the BBC Proms five times in one season, including both the First and Last Night.
What will Stephen Hough be playing at this year’s Last Night of the Proms?
Hough’s appearance at this year’s Last Night will be comparatively brief, as he will be playing just the Andante movement from Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Egyptian’.
Should you want to hear more of him in that work, however, he has recorded the complete work, plus all four of Saint-Saëns’s other piano concertos, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for the Hyperion label.
When asked by BBC Music Magazine to name a favourite Saint-Saëns concerto in June 2023, he replied that, ‘Of the five, I enjoy playing the Fifth the most – it's such a surprise with its exoticism, and then you have that lovely ragtime last movement with the great tune. However, in some ways the greatest of them is the Fourth. There’s something very serious about it, and it has this incredible journey from C minor to C major – and the last movement is so full of joy. But then I also love the Third, the Second and the First!’
Does Stephen Hough perform his own compositions?
Yes he does. He has composed a large number of works for solo piano, which he often plays in recital – interestingly, while he usually plays works by other composers by heart, for his own pieces he prefers to have the score in front of him.
However, he by no means only composes solely for his own instrument. Among the published music listed on his website are works for string quartet, solo voices, choir, guitar, organ and orchestra, among others.
Away from music, what other skills does he possess?
In 2020, his book Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More won the Royal Philharmonic Award for Storytelling, and his debut novel, the unashamedly explicit The Final Retreat, also won acclaim on its publication in 2018. He has also written regular columns for a number of publications. And then there’s his skill with the brush: in 2012, London’s Broadbent Gallery staged ‘Appassionato’, his first ever solo exhibition as a painter.
What honours has Stephen Hough received?
Stephen Hough is, in fact, ‘Sir’ Stephen Hough, having been knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022. Before that, he received a CBE in the New Year’s Honours in 2014 and, in 2018, was made an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
A proud Englishman, then...?
In fact, Stephen Hough has also been an Australian citizen since 2005. His father, who died in 1980, was born in Australia but moved to Britain as a young boy.
