He is tender in op. 118/2 and powerful on op. 118/3. Op. 116/4 sings, and op. 117/2 is delicate, with a lovely touch. In several of these works—op. 116/5 and 6, and op. 117/1, for example—Brahms’s voicing is tricky, with the melody embedded in the alto/tenor register; Hough consistently handles this voicing musically and effectively. In op. 117/3 he balances the tonal and metric instabilities well.

Blend imaginative yet learned interpretation, profound sensitivity and poetry, and personal charisma, and you have here one of the finest accounts of Brahms’s late piano works on record, one that stands head and shoulders above most contenders in an ever-growing catalogue...Hough reveals each miniature as a compact piece of theatre, putting an array of timbres and varied accentuation at its service.

every single one of these late works receives an excellent and insightful performance...Stephen Hough ...seems to me to have captured the essence of every piece and his playing evidences great musical integrity and thoughtfulness.

Hough is master of all he surveys here, combining technical elan with deeply satisfying musical insights.

Being Stephen Hough, he is playing with immense sensitivity, weighting phrasings and dynamics just so, never pushing too hard or too soft, always maintaining the intimate tone that Brahms’s private, sad musings need...Thanks to composer and interpreter, this is never just a recital of beautiful music; it also offers precious consolation, telling us that, whatever our personal sorrows, we are never alone. Brahms has been there before.