FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 5 Howard Shelley [ Hyperion / CD - released 14/May/2021 ] Howard Shelley continues to overturn the conventional wisdom about Mendelssohn's unjustly neglected piano music, again demonstrating convincingly its claims on our attention. |
GEORG BENDA
Benda: Piano Concertos Howard Shelley (piano/conductor) / London Mozart Players [ Hyperion The Classical Piano Concerto Vol 8 / CD - released 1/Oct/2021 ] 'It's almost a commonplace to remark upon Shelley's unstinting advocacy of all‑but-forgotten and sometimes rather inconsequential music. That's to do Benda a disservice, however … where these works really score … is in the slow movements' Gramophone |
MENDELSSOHN
The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 4 Howard Shelley (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 31/Dec/2015 ] The Op 35 set of Preludes and Fugues is the most substantial single opus Mendelssohn wrote for solo piano, a mark of his reverence for the mighty Bach. |
HENRI HERZ
Herz: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 74 / Grande fantaisie militaire sur La fille du régiment, Op. 163 / etc Howard Shelley (piano and conductor) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 66 / CD - released 25/Jul/2015 ] "Shelley by turns charms and dazzles…unless your doctor has prescribed some strict froth-free diet (and how tedious would that be) I can heartily recommend a dose of Herz." Gramophone |
HENRI HERZ
Piano Concerto Nos. 1, 7, & 8 Howard Shelley (piano and conductor) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 35 / CD - released 13/Jul/2004 ] 'Shelley and the Tasmanians are persuasive advocates for these three piano concertos: this is charming, tuneful music, deftly orchestrated by a man who obviously knew his Chopin, Rossini and, in the nocturne-like slow moverments, John Field' - The... |
SIR WILLIAM STERNDALE BENNETT
Sterndale Bennett: Piano Concertos Nos 1-3 Howard Shelley (piano) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Mar/2018 ] The 'air-spun brilliance and stylistic elegance' which Gramophone so admired in Howard Shelley's previous recording of Sterndale Bennett is in abundant evidence in this new release of the first three piano concertos. |
CLARA SCHUMANN
Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto & works by Hiller, Herz & Kalkbrenner Howard Shelley (piano & conductor) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 78 / CD - released 29/Mar/2019 ] "All told, another worthy entry in Hyperion's valuable Romantic Piano Concerto series." ClassicsToday |
THOMAS TELLEFSEN / FRIEDRICH KALKBRENNER
Tellefsen & Kalkbrenner: Piano Concertos Howard Shelley (piano), Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra [ Hyperion / CD - released 16/Feb/2024 ] A fascinating new name bursts into our Romantic Piano series with the two concertos by Thomas Tellefsen, here coupled with an extended concert piece by series stalwart Friedrich Kalkbrenner. All three works here enjoy Howard Shelley's trademark... |
CIPRIANI POTTER
Potter: Piano Concertos Nos 2 & 4 Howard Shelley (piano & conductor), Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra [ Hyperion The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 72 / CD - released 28/Jul/2017 ] "Add to that his simultaneous and complete control of his fine Tasmanian players, I cannot think of another musician who is Shelley's equal in this dual role" Gramophone Magazine, August 2017 |
JOHANN PETER PIXIS / SIGISMOND THALBERG
Pixis/Thalberg: Piano Concertos Howard Shelley (piano) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley (conductor) [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 58 / CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] 'Howard Shelley gives us fine performances. There's exquisite filigree in the Pixis, while the Thalberg has swagger and panache' (The Guardian) |
JULIUS BENEDICT
Benedict: Piano Concertos (with Walter Macfarren - Concertstuck in E minor) Howard Shelley (piano) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra / Howard Shelley (conductor) [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto Vo 48 / CD - released 20/Jun/2009 ] With Volume 48 of our groundbreaking Romantic Piano Concerto series we reach very uncharted territory indeed. Sir Julius Benedict has been all but forgotten today but he is yet another composer who gives the lie to the idea that Britain was 'a land... |
STEPHAN ELMAS
Elmas: Piano Concertos Howard Shelley (piano), Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra / Howard Shelley [ Hyperion Great Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 82 / CD - released 8/Jan/2021 ] If the warmly Romantic bloom on these concertos suggests the spirit of an earlier generation-both works date from the 1880s-the music of Stéphan Elmas retains its own distinctive voice, a voice heard to best advantage in Howard Shelley's persuasive... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Complete Songs, Vol. 6 (Incls 'Lieder und Gersänge', Op. 32) Ian Bostridge (tenor) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion Brahms Song Edition / CD - released 25/Jul/2015 ] "Bostridge's fans have no need to hesitate either, and the virtues of his distinctive Lieder-singing art are very much in evidence." Gramophone |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Cello Sonatas Steven Isserlis (cello), Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 31/Oct/2005 ] "In 1984 Steven Isserlis made excellent recordings for Hyperion of the Brahms sonatas with Peter Evans; this time he's added some substantial extra items - the two Suk pieces, wonderfully played, are particularly welcome. The new recording is fuller... |
MAX BRUCH
Bruch: Violin Concerto No 2 & other works Jack Liebec (violin) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Martyn Brabbins, conductor [ Hyperion / CD - released 18/Jan/2017 ] "There's much to admire in Jack Liebeck's patrician account of Bruch's D Minor Violin Concerto. His playing is virtually flawless in its technical ease, scintillating articulateness and purity of tone." Gramophone |
HANDEL
English Arias James Bowman (counter Tenor), Susan Gritton (soprano) The King'S Consort / Robert King [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 8/Dec/2007 ] 'This beautiful collection of songs and duets from Handel oratorios finds the 52-year-old English countertenor in quite amazing form ... His voice remains phenomenally agile. Unmissable' (The Sunday Times) |
FRASER-SIMSON
The Maid of the Mountains (Complete Operetta) Janis Kelly, Christopher Maltman, Michael George, Richard Suart / New London Orchestra / Ronald Corp [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 1/Nov/2006 ] "piloted with style and affection by ronald Corp, Hyperion's light music guru. Wicked!" (BBC Music) |
ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Mass in D minor & Te Deum Joan Rodgers (soprano), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (alto), Keith Lewis (tenor) / Croydon Singers & Croydon Orchestra, Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 10/Mar/2010 ] "Highest honours must go to the outstanding 140-voice chorus who sing with earth-shattering conviction, utmost clarity of diction and enviable precision of ensemble and intonation." BBC Music Magazine |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: Complete Hyperion Schubert Edition: The Final Year John Mark Ainsley, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Michael Schade (tenors) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion Schubert Edition Vol 37 / CD - released 20/Sep/2000 ] The final volume in the Schubert Hyperion series |
GERALD FINZI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Finzie: Dies Natalis / Intimations of Immortality John Mark Ainsley (tenor) / Corydon Singers / Corydon Orchestra / Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 10/Feb/2015 ] Gerald Finzi likened the creative artist to a 'coral reef insect, building his reef out of the transitory world around him and making a solid structure to last long after his own fragile and uncertain life'. 'Fragile' and 'uncertain' are the key... |