REVIEW: Royal Northern Sinfonia and Stephen Hough, The Glasshouse
Brahms and Beethoven double thrills
Not so long ago, I seem to recall, there was widespread anxiety that classical music was in terminal decline – along with the audiences that had sustained it.
Maybe that anxiety still exists but there was no sign of it at The Glasshouse on Friday night where it seemed reports of its demise, rather like the reported ‘death’ of Mark Twain, were greatly exaggerated.
Maybe there’s been a resurgence. There was plenty to back that theory here – and on the day The Glasshouse’s 2026-27 classical season, full of adventurous highlights, was announced.
A large and excited audience, mostly mature in years but by no means exclusively so, had gathered to see a concert featuring Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
The former brought concert pianist Stephen Hough back to a venue he clearly loves.
He said as much after a sparkling rendition of the Brahms piece, remarking to the audience after the applause had died down: “You have a lovely hall… but you already know that.”
Royal Northern Sinfonia, part hidden behind that massive grand piano, proved hospitable hosts, alert to every nuance of a piece that opens dramatically, thunderously even – a wake-up call – before settling into more tranquil mode.
An explanation for the moodiness was offered in the programme notes, Brahms having started writing the piece in his early twenties shortly after mentor Robert Schumann had attempted to drown himself in the Rhine.
Schumann’s mental health was to deteriorate rapidly, leaving Brahms to support his wife, Clara, for whom he had strong feelings.
All this is history but the music lives on and you can layer on whatever meaning suits – or even none at all, preferring to luxuriate in the performance.
Hough got swiftly down to business, a straight-backed, undemonstrative figure at the keyboard, the only hint of visible flamboyance being his purple jacket contrasting with the orchestral black.
He didn’t strike me as a character giving to gushing, so his appreciation – along with his smiling words and his encore – seemed heartfelt.
He’ll be back next season, performing in The Glasshouse’s anniversary celebration of Beethoven’s piano concertos.
It was Beethoven who entertained after Friday’s interval, Royal Northern Sinfonia (now unredacted, the piano having been wheeled away) letting rip with his Seventh Symphony.
Dinis Sousa, lithe as a cat on the podium, elicited a performance that was crisp and occasionally fast and furious. For the full 30-40 minutes I felt I held my breath. I think everyone did.
When the baton fell for the last time, you could almost sense the collective intake of breath and an audience jumping in its seat. It was as if we’d been taken for a ride in a brilliant machine. Magnificent stuff.
And it’s good to known there’s plenty more where that came from. Check out forthcoming concerts and what the next season holds in store from The Glasshouse website.