Man of Sorrows (with works by Schoenberg, Berg & Webern)

'Bewitching, otherworldly and playful music … If ever a composer wanted to share a sheer joy in sound, it's Tsontakis … The Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays like a dream and Stephen Hough brings an Apollonian sense of beauty and control to the proceedings' (Metro)

'[Man of Sorrows} Brilliantly written for the keyboard and scintillatingly orchestrated … The piece is superly played and recorded, patently sincere and easily assimilable' (BBC Music Magazine)

'As usual for Hyperion, the sound quality is nothing short of superb. Man of Sorrows was recorded live, and the recording team did an excellent job of balancing Stephen Hough's piano with the orchestra. On the solo pieces, the piano occupies a firm position in the soundstage and offers reference quality sound. Highly recommended' (Audiophile Audition, USA)

George Tsontakis is a giant of the American contemporary music scene and the recent winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer award and the Charles Ives Living. Hough's recording of his Ghost Variations for Hyperion (CDA67005) was nominated for a Grammy. Man of Sorrows was written for Stephen Hough and was premiered in 2005. This recording is taken from the world premiere. The work demonstrates Tsontakis' muscular, expressive musical language, influenced by Beethoven and Messiaen. Inspired by medieval Byzantine icons of Christ, the Man of Sorrows, the six-movement work explores in sound the composer's response to the suffering and passion of Jesus as represented in these serene religious artworks. Hough himself has also written and spoken extensively on the relationship between religion and music and performs the work with extraordinary sympathy and understanding.

George Tsontakis writes of his work: 'By the time I began composing Man of Sorrows, I knew several things about it: that it would be cast in a religious dynamic and complexity, that Beethoven's 33 'Diabelli' Variations would play a part, that it would not be so much a 'concerto' as a tone poem for piano and orchestra with an abstract narrative, that it would be large-scale and that it would be dedicated to Stephen Hough, in essence and in spirit.'

This disc also includes iconic works from the Second Viennese School and a further piano work by Tsontakis.