Stephen Hough playing Chopin Nocturne in F-sharp Major. Opt 15 No 2 at Hotel Bristol Vienna

The filming took place at Hotel Bristol, Vienna. Located across the road from the Vienna State Opera, since its opening in 1892 Hotel Bristol has welcomed distinguished musical guests including Richard Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninov, Giacomo Puccini and George Gershwin who wrote ‘An American in Paris’ there. It was the hotel of choice for Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein when they conducted at the Vienna State Opera. The current décor is a seamless Art Nouveau fusion of fin de siècle antiques and the state-of-the-art technology. Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer. He was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year’s Honours 2014. His recording of the complete Chopin Nocturnes was released by Hyperion Records in November 2021.