Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 34 / Rondo brillant, Op. 56 in A major (premiere recording) / Rondo brillant, Op. 98 in B flat major

'This is far and away the best entry yet in Shelley's Hummel cycle.'
American Record Guide

'This forms part of an ongoing cycle of all Hummel's works for piano and orchestra being undertaken by Howard Shelley and the London Mozart Players. And long may it flourish - it is hard to imagine a more sheerly pleasurable listening experience than this.'
International Record Review

'Shelley's playing throughout is dazzling , clean and precise in all the cascades of virtuoso fingerwork, and with beautifully inflected decorative lines in the slower music, reminding us of Hummel's influence on Chopin. And Shelley somehow manages to combine this with purposeful direction of the orchestra - which responds with first-rate playing, notebly from the woodwind.'
BBC Music Magazine

'...this one is every bit as fine as its predecessors, with full, open, well-balanced sound nand sparkling performances... These are rarities well worth sampling, unlikely to be performed or recorded better.'
Gramophone

Howard Shelley continues his survey of Hummel's works for piano and orchestra. This disc features the premiere recordings of the two Rondo brillants.

Howard Shelley has a large and acclaimed discography on Chandos and is acknowledged as a leading exponent of keyboard repertoire from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Chandos has been renowned for its championship of the music of Hummel since its first recording of piano concertos by Hummel received the Gramophone 'best concertos' award in 1987. Last year, its recording of masses by the same composer received Gramophone's 'best choral recording'.

Only the instrumental parts for the two Rondo brillants have survived, so these scores were reconstructed and edited especially for this recording.