Henley Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Hough

Ian Brown, Conductor
Stephen Hough, Piano

Beethoven: Prometheus: Overture
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4
Holst: The Planets

Stephen Hough is in the world’s top 10 of great pianists, and his appearance with the HSO is a rare treat for both the orchestra and Reading. Stephen has played with most of the major European and American orchestras and plays recitals regularly in major halls and concert series around the world. This concert occurs midway between his extensive tours to Asia and the US where he is playing the complete Beethoven cycle, including return appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco, Montreal, Houston, Vancouver and New Jersey symphonies. Mr Hough has appeared at the BBC Proms 25 times and was made a CBE by HM the Queen in 2014.

The programme opens with Beethoven’s overture to his only ballet score, Prometheus, and is completed in similar mythological vein with Holst’s great work, The Planets, which opens most famously with the shattering impact of “Mars” and concludes in the bewitching stillness of “Neptune”.