Stephen Hough - Hummel: Piano Sonatas (2003)

Hummel was a favorite pupil of Mozart and a serious rival to Beethoven both as pianist and composer. Overrated in his day, he is unjustly forgotten in ours. Hough has already proven his Hummel credentials with a ground-breaking recording of two Piano Concertos on Chandos in their extremely difficult original versions. Hummel's Sonatas may not compare with Beethoven's in their concision or profundity, but they are still fascinating, prototypes of the coming Romantic era and full of imagination and invention. This music has all been recorded before, but never with the kind of panache Hough brings to it. Some of the passages in fast movements sound as though two pianists are playing them, but it's all Hough, proving what the MacArthur Foundation said about him when they awared him one of their "genius grants." If you don't know Hummel at all, the Concertos may be an even better introduction to his music, but this is also a highly impressive sample of his best work. -- Leslie Gerber