STEPHEN HOUGH MASTERCLASS Franz Liszt Spanish and 12th Hungarian Rhapsodies
A Stephen Hough masterclass is such a treat. On the one hand he demonstrates everything he talks about, and so beautifully. On the other, one never gets the feeling that he is saying, you must play it this way, even though his playing makes so convincing a case for it. He is also very articulate with the result that he enables the student to understand through his words and deeds exactly what he is trying to convey.
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of his teaching style is his ability to mimic the interpretive process leaving the student with the impression that they have together come up with the way to play a passage. Not so much a "play it this way" as a "Let's try it this way and see what happens."
In this masterclass at the Royal Academy of Music, Stephen Hough works with very advanced students on Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody and twelfth Hungarian Rhapsody. It is enlightening to hear a passage played seemingly perfectly by the student, and then hear Hough turn it into sheer genius. The student's ability to take his suggestions and make them very much her own is, I think, indicative of the master's skill as a teacher.
Stephen Hough Masterclass Liszt Spanish Rhapsody and Hungarian Rhapsody 12
Here is my new book, a murder mystery with a musical polemic
