Hobson Plays Chopin

at

SIUE's Dunham Hall Theater

All performances are in Dunham Hall Theater, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, at 7:30 p.m.

Admission: $7 adults, $6 students and seniors per recital ($60 adults, $45 students and seniors for the complete series)

For information, contact the SIUE Music Department at 618-650-3900

(from St. Louis toll-free, 888-328-5168, Ext. 3900) or

email Dr. Allan B. Ho at

aho@siue.edu

IAN HOBSON

Ian Hobson is a musician of tremendous versatility, who has earned an international reputation as a pianist, conductor, and teacher. Born in Wolverhampton, England, he began studying the piano at five and at sixteen won an open scholarship to Magdalene College, Cambridge. The following year, he became the youngest recipient of the Recital Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music. He earned a BA at Cambridge University in only two years, completed two MA’s and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Yale University by age twenty-six, and became a full professor at the University of Illinois at age thirty. Hobson’s international career was launched in 1981 when he won the Leeds International Piano Competition; he had previously garnered First Prize in the Kosciuszko Foundation's Chopin Competition and Silver Medals at both the Artur Rubinstein and Vienna-Beethoven competitions. His teachers have included Sidney Harrison, Ward Davenny, Claude Frank, and Menahem Pressler.

Hobson's programs consistently demonstrate a repertoire that spans the centuries and demands an extraordinary command of styles and scholarly vision, in addition to great keyboard prowess. His recordings and recital performances encompass a cross section of works from mammoth to miniature: a series of works from "The London Piano School," Beethoven's Thirty-two Piano Sonatas, all of Brahms's Variations for Piano, as well as Rachmaninoff's Seventeen Etudes-Tableaux and Twenty-four Preludes, Chopin-Godowsky's Etudes, Bach's Goldberg Variations, and contemporary works written for him by Ridout, Lees, Liptak, and Gardner. An ingenious programmer, Hobson commemorated the 200th anniversary of Franz Schubert's birth in a unique recital at New York's 92nd Street Y during the '97-98 season. Entitled "Homage to Schubert," the program comprised Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales, the great Sonata in G major, D.894 by Schubert himself, and Leopold Godowsky's complete arrangements for piano of works by Schubert.

In recent seasons, Hobson has appeared at Alice Tully Hall and the "Mostly Mozart Festival" in New York, performed the Chopin and Moscheles concertos at the Bard Music Festival, and presented recitals in the USA, England, and Europe, featuring diverse works such as Chopin's complete piano music, Beethoven's complete sonatas, excerpts from Gershwin's Song Book, Schumann's major piano works, Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, Prokofiev's Seventh Sonata, Rachmaninoff's Second Sonata, and all twelve of Liszt's phenomenally difficult Grandes études (1839, which the composer later simplified as the Transcendental études of 1851). He performed the Piano Concerto of Henry Holden Huss at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers Orchestra and the Piano Concerto of Clara Schumann on "Great Performers at Lincoln Center." He also performed and recorded Paderewski's Piano Concerto and Fantaisie polonaise with the Sinfonia Varsovia conducted by Jerzy Maksymiuk, and the Huss Concerto and Ernest Schelling Suite fantastique with Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Other major ensembles with which Hobson has performed include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, ORD-Vienna, Das Orchester der Beethovenhalle, Israel Sinfonietta, New Zealand Symphony, and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Houston.

Increasingly, Hobson is in demand as a conductor, particularly for performances in which he doubles as piano soloist. He made his debut with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra as conductor and soloist in October 1997. He has also led the English Chamber Orchestra, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, the Fresno Philharmonic, the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, the Tallahassee Symphony, and the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra of Israel, as well as his own Sinfonia da Camera -- a chamber orchestra he formed in 1984 that quickly gained international recognition through its recordings.

Ian Hobson is a much sought-after judge for both national and international competitions. He was invited at the specific request of Van Cliburn to participate as a juror for both the preliminary and final rounds of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997. The following year, he served as a juror, performed as a recitalist, and conducted the final round of the Artur Rubinstein Competition in Poland. He has since been a juror for the Chopin Competition in Florida (March 2000) and the International Pianoforte Competition Cologne (Foundation Tomassoni) in Germany (September 2001).

Click here to see Ian Hobson's Discography

IAN HOBSON, pianist
Press Quotes

"...one of the finest pianists of his generation."--American Record Guide

"...awe-inspiring piano virtuosity....a brilliant evening of piano fireworks."--The Post and Courier (Charleston)

"Ian Hobson in Hobson's Choice [Arabesque 6639] shows a finesse and virtuosity that rank him as one of the great pianists of our time....He exhibits a clarity, naturalness, and nobility suggestive of Gieseking and Rubinstein and a controlled technique, temperament, and tone reminiscent of Lhévinne."--Clavier

"...he is an intelligent, cultivated pianist and a fine musician who doesn't rely on gimmickry to make his points. His technical resources are imposing and always at the service of the music..."--American Record Guide

"The [Rachmaninoff] Preludes reveal Hobson as a majestic master; he imbues these tone poems with variety and textural clarity. Throughout he welds his gargantuan technique, bronze tone, and elegant phrasing with consummate taste, producing performances of world-class stature."--Clavier

"...he is an outstanding Beethoven player. He has the musicality of Gieseking, the depth of Schnabel, and the technical solidity of Richter....Hobson's performances are masterful from beginning to end."--Clavier

"...as sheer piano playing the palm must go to Hobson, whose elegant phrasing, remarkable ear for color, and miraculous ability to evenly sustain the most difficult runs--each like a string of pearls--are simply a joy to hear."--American Record Guide

"His virtuosity and vitality...are expected, but there is also true sentiment and expression, and no glibness; a lightness of touch that would have pleased Haydn, and careful attention to minor yet important details many pianists ignore: appropriate pedaling and suitable ornamentation."--Digital Audio

"Performances by Ian Hobson are a sheer delight. He throws off pianistic pyrotechnics with ease."--Gramophone

"Mr. Hobson plays all the music with clear textures, strong outlines and splendidly accurate fingers."--The New York Times

"[Ian Hobson] performs with a technical dash and lyric sensitivity that induces us to keep listening."--The Chicago Tribune

"Hobson has become a master with an elegant straightforward style. A fast learner with huge Rachmaninoff-like hands, he tosses off entire sets of pieces as child's play. His traversal of Rachmaninoff's 17 Etudes-tableaux, works of great diversity, depth, and grandeur little known to the public, is miraculous. The myriad notes and gargantuan chords with their interwoven melodies hold no terror for him."--Clavier

"His keyboard mastery is simply there--poised and irrefutable."--The New York Times

"A Beethoven pianist to place among the best."--Fanfare

"Few pianists in the world can approach Hobson's absolute security and control."--Los Angeles Times

"It's hard to overstate the pleasures of British pianist Ian Hobson's playing. His tone is sure and colorful, but he's not a weeper. He plays fast passages with elán, but he never seems out to merely impress. And his emotional palette sounds keenly attuned to the nuances of the score: large sounds are conveyed without brutal side effects, and softer sounds are rarely sticky-sentimental. Hobson maintains a subtle balance between big sounds and crystal clear articulation that makes you hear new things even in the most familiar..."--CD Review

"Hobson played them magically, without artifice, but with all the art that one could wish. His fidelity to the text as much to the spirit of the music is what makes him a great musician."--The Chronicle, Great Britain

"His early technical brilliance has been tempered with such fastidious taste that he may be the youngest candidate ever for the title of a pianist’s pianist."--Washington Times

"An admirable, exceptionally able pianist, one in whose playing love of the instrument, understanding of the music, and an ample technique unite."--The New Yorker