As a pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven held his listeners spellbound. That鈥檚 quite a common response to hearing Stephen Hough play, too. Profound insight meets jaw-dropping artistry whenever Hough plays the piano, and it鈥檚 hard to imagine a more compelling interpreter of Beethoven鈥檚 darkest piano concerto.

And that鈥檚 just the first half. Then we鈥檙e off to the sunlit meadows and storm-swept vistas of Gustav Mahler鈥檚 epic First Symphony. Mahler wrote bigger symphonies; darker ones too. But he never wrote anything fresher or more passionate. This is the sound of young artist with big dreams and an even bigger imagination: a stirring climax to an evening brimming with poetry, drama and the sheer joy of creation.