Stephen Hough is coming to St. Louis to play the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Here is a three part interview done with him a couple of years ago in which he discusses playing Tchaikovsky.
He points out that Tchaikovsky is physically tiring for the pianist – all of those big chords. But he also sees an innocence in Tchaikovsky and thinks it is important to balance the two sides of Tchaikovsky.
In part 3 he discusses working with conductors, including prior performances with David Robertson. He won’t be playing with Robertson in St. Louis. Ward Stare, the SLSO’s Resident Conductor, will be on the podium.
