In 2012 I gave several Christmas concerts with pianist Hugo van Neck. Part of our concert programme was released on my album ‘Golden Christmas Classics’ which is now globally available on all major music streaming platforms.
Looking back at this project and our collaboration I can’t say anything but what an unique experience it was to work with Hugo van Neck. He was an impeccable pianist, who particularly excelled at improvising. Sadly he was a much underrated pianist and never really got where he belonged; amongst the worlds greatest. Hugo was an absolute genius, (not always easy to work with, but who can blame a genius for that?) and it was a great privilege to have worked with him. I learned a great deal from this collaboration and our ‘making music moments’ together. We recorded the album ‘Golden Christmas Classics’ in November 2012 (can’t remember the exact date) – in Hugo’s own small concert hall using his own Grand, starting in the evening and done for somewhere early in the morning, and I am glad that this album is now available for everyone to enjoy. I do hope that even though Hugo is no longer with us, people will appreciate his output (he produced several Piano solo albums, one of which on the Horovitz Grand(!), needless to say it is absolutely worth it to check out!) and his genius, and that this Christmas album too shows what a great pianist he truly was.
