Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Piano Concerto WoO 24a; etc. (Howard Shelley)

Information

Composer: Johann Nepomuk Hummel

1. Oberons Zauberhorn, fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op. 116
2. Le retour à Londres, rondo brillant for piano & orchestra in F major, Op. 127: Introduction. Largo -
3. Le retour à Londres, rondo brillant for piano & orchestra in F major, Op. 127: Allegretto vivace
4. Piano Concerto in A major, WoO 24a, S. 5: I. Allegro moderato
5. Piano Concerto in A major, WoO 24a, S. 5: II. Romanza. Adagio
6. Piano Concerto in A major, WoO 24a, S. 5: III. Rondo
7. Variations on "O du lieber Augustin" for orchestra in C major, WoO 2, S. 47

London Mozart Players
Howard Shelley, piano (1-6) & conductor

Date: 2006
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010374

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Review

Sparkle rather than substance but Shelley makes the music memorable

Howard Shelley adds to his formidable list of recordings of long-neglected Hummel works, three of them concertante pieces for piano which he directs from the keyboard. The earliest is the A major Piano Concerto, written when the composer was still in his teens, around 1798. Though Mozart’s influence dominates, there are signs Hummel was aware of the growing influence of his contemporary in Vienna, the young Beethoven. The structure is conventional, with an extensive orchestral tutti introducing the first movement, and with the piano instantly lightening the bold main theme with elaborate decorations typical of Hummel, designed to show off his keyboard virtuosity.

Shelley’s gifts of agility and articulation mean he can make such decorative writing a delight. Even if you might dismiss much of this as mere note-spinning, Shelley’s sparkling playing is winning. The slow movement is a lyrical Romanze, leading to a charming rondo-finale with a lightly skipping main theme and one serious episode in the middle.

The other two concertante works were written much later, in 1830-31 when Hummel was planning concert tours of Britain and France. Oberons Zauberhorn (on disc given its published title L’enchantment d’Oberon) pays an indirect tribute to Weber, who had died in London only three years before. It not only echoes Weber’s one-movement Konzertstück but relates to his opera, if with few direct quotations. This is unashamedly designed for immediate appeal, with a march in lightly dotted rhythm leading to a storm episode, far less imaginative than Beethoven’s in the Pastoral Symphony, but still effective. Le retour à Londres of 1831 was designed as a tribute to the British capital on the first of his ‘grand farewell tours’. If anything this is even lighter and more carefree than the Oberon work and Shelley again is ideal.

As a tailpiece, the orchestral set of variations and coda on the corny, tinkling little German folksong O du lieber Augustin: its three-in-a-bar Ländler rhythms are liable to stick in the mind for hours, helped by Hummel’s colourful switches of instrumentation and Shelley’s persuasive conducting. As ever in this Chandos series, the first-rate recording is clear and vivid, warm and full.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.allmusic.com/album/hummel-piano-concerto-in-a-mw0001863281
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hummel-Concerto-LEnchantment-dOberon-Londres/dp/B000EFTEBW

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Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 – 17 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist, whose music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. Hummel was taught and housed by Mozart for two years, and later studied with Albrechtsberger, Haydn and Salieri. His main oeuvre is for the piano, on which instrument he was one of the great virtuosi of his day. Later 19th century pianistic technique was influenced by Hummel, through his instruction of Carl Czerny who later taught Liszt. Hummel's influence can also be seen in the early works of Chopin and Schumann.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Nepomuk_Hummel

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Howard Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. As pianist he has performed, broadcast and recorded around the world with leading orchestras and conductors. He made many recordings for Chandos, Hyperion and EMI, including Rachmaninov's complete piano music and concertos. As a conductor, he has held positions of Associate and Principal Guest Conductor with the London Mozart Players in a close relationship of over twenty years. He has appeared regularly on television and on the soundtrack of several films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Shelley

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