When Stephen Hough arrives in Australia in May, he’ll have five different piano concertos under his fingers: Brahms’ and Mendelssohn’s First, Beethoven’s Third, Grieg’s, and his own, subtitled The World of Yesterday.

Four of those, he’s playing within a week and a half in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms: The Symphonies series. It must be a staggering feat, even for a concert pianist.

Stephen Hough

Stephen Hough. Photo © Jiyang Chen

“Last time I was in Adelaide, I played all five works for Piano and Orchestra by Rachmaninov in four concerts, so actually, this is slightly less pressure!” he tells Limelight.

“But still, there are many different styles and a lot of notes. I’m looking forward very much to the challenge. In fact it’s more the rehearsals that are tiring than the concerts. Once we have everything in place and we all know what we’re going to do, the concerts can take wing.”

Alongside his Adelaide performances (21–31 May) for its Brahms: The Symphony series, Hough also brings the Brahms (16–18 May) and Mendelssohn (4–7 June) to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Brahms to the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (13–14 June). He’s also performing a solo recital...