It is perhaps fitting that a concert presented in memory of Dr Steven Kinston should be performed by Stephen Hough, who was named by The Economist in 2009 as 1 of 20 living polymaths.
Dr Kinston was not only a distinguished concert pianist and ABC soloist, but was also a medic and dental practitioner. He founded the Brisbane branch of Musica Viva after arriving here as a Jewish refugee in 1938, and became a significant contributor to Brisbane’s cultural and artistic life.
Stephen Hough is a pianist, a composer, and a writer of note. His careful and intellectually rigorous thinking was evident in the thoughtful selection of pieces for this concert, and its underlying theme of darkness moving towards the light. This darkness was epitomised by the programme’s opening piece, Schubert’s piano sonata No.14, with its deeply unsettling, halting quality reflecting Schubert’s mental state on learning of his diagnosis of syphilis, from which he would die just a few years later.
A note of despair winds through Franck’s Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, and although there is movement within the work towards nostalgic reflection and hope, the underlying painful clarity and sense of lamentation never quite dissipate – rather, there is a gradual sense of acceptance and a form of noble redemption.
Hough’s deft handling of the varied musical textures within the first half of programme amply demonstrated the great emotional depth within these compositions. At times during the Franck, it was hard to believe that such multi-layered fullness of sound was coming from just one performer and instrument.
Photos from Stephen Hough's Musica Viva performance
After the interval, Hough moved on to one of his own compositions, the Piano Sonata III, Trinitas. Written in the challenging twelve-tone technique, Hough’s experiment with this most mathematical of compositional methods manages to stay within the confines of twelve-tone dogma, whilst also providing a surprising degree of accessibility and harmony. This truly striking piece variously brought to mind the melody of rain on rooftops and icicles tinkling, with lilting high notes reminiscent of birdsong by a rippling stream. It was simultaneously both intricate and deceptively simple, with a climax that was positively mesmerising!
From this point we emerged into the full light of Liszt’s virtuosic genius, via the occasionally introspective Forgotten Waltzes; dance pieces written with a certain wistful nostalgia from the perspective of a mature man perhaps reflecting upon his youthful dancing days. The ‘Transcendental Studies’ that followed the waltzes are in fact a revision of an earlier set of studies (Douze Grande Etudes), originally published in 1837, and which are generally deemed to be impossible to play! Nothwithstanding this revision, these pieces remain highly complex, and require a great deal of technical prowess. Hough’s handling of these challenging pieces demonstrated his exceptional abilities to the full.
In sharp contrast to the challenging content of the formal programme, the encores of a Chopin Nocturne, ‘Matilda’s Rhumba’ (Hough) and Elgar’s ‘Salut d’Amour’ were almost frivolous, revealing Hough’s mischievous side, and the audience emerged to attend the post-concert Q&A with broad smiles and light hearts.
Franz Schubert – Piano Sonato no 14, D784 (1823)
César Franck – Prelude, Chorale and Fugue (1884)
Stephen Hough – Piano Sonata III Trinitas (2015)
Franz Liszt – Valses oubliées (Forgotten Waltzes), S215 (1881-84)
Franz Liszt – Études d’exécution transcendante (Transcendental Studies), S139 (1852)
