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Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Herbert Howells - Piano Concertos (Howard Shelley)


Information

Composer: Herbert Howells
  • (01) Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 4
  • (04) Piano Concerto No. 2 in C major, Op. 39
  • (07) Penguinski

Howard Shelley, piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox, conductor

Date: 2000
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209874

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Review

Three Howells rarities, each showing a different side to his musical personality, performed with gusto and well recorded

An astonishing revelation, especially to anyone who still thinks of Herbert Howells as a nostalgic English rhapsodist, more at home in an organ loft than a concert hall. The First Piano Concerto is very early (1914 – Howells was 22); it has not been performed for many years because its last few bars are missing (John Rutter has provided them). It reveals the young Howells as more Russian than English – the dazzlingly flamboyant keyboard writing is strongly reminiscent of Rachmaninov – and with hardly a trace of English reserve as he brandishes theme after theme, intensifying many of them to heights of impassioned eloquence. And yet in this quite uncharacteristic student work there are a few hints of his later reticence, one being the very opening, where double-basses, then horn, then low woodwind hesitantly suggest a splendid theme which only then arrives, sweeping nobly in the strings. One or two lyrical paragraphs also suggest the ‘real’ Herbert Howells. But who, the Second Piano Concerto demands, was he? This work was abused at its premiere (one critic shouted ‘Thank God that’s over!’) and Howells, deeply wounded, withdrew it immediately. Indeed, although it’s a lot closer to ‘real’ Howells in its rhapsodic lyricism, there’s another quality (labelled in the score ‘hard and bright’) which is angular, sometimes dissonant, tough and determined.

Surely we shall get closer to the real Howells, favourite pupil and lifelong admirer of the arch-conservative Stanford, in Penguinski, from its title an obvious satire on Stravinsky? But in fact the sidelong glances at him are admiring and affectionate, and the robust humour is Howells’ own. There is more to him than we had imagined, this disc entertainingly demonstrates, and his stature is increased, not diminished, by the realisation that he was once an exuberant romantic, that his ears were sharp and that he had a sense of humour. Enthusiastic, virtuoso, very slightly rough-cornered performances and a sumptuously rich recording.

-- Michael Oliver, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2001/Jan01/Howells_Concertos.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/feb09/Howells_concertos_CHAN9874.htm
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/c/cha09874a.php
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Howells-Piano-Concertos-Penguinski-Herbert/dp/B000053HK2

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Herbert Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher. Howells studied at the Royal College of Music, where his teachers included Charles Villiers Stanford, Hubert Parry and Charles Wood. In 1920 he joined the staff of the RCM, and remained there until 1979. From the late 1930s, after the death of his son because of polio, Howells turned increasingly to choral and organ music. Though not an orthodox Christian, Howells was chiefly identified with the composition of religious music. His most famous works includes Hymnus ParadisiStabat Mater and Requiem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Howells

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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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3 comments:

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  3. grazie. due concerti da rivalutare.
    S.

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