Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Howard Shelley, Tasmin Little, Tim Hugh, Opera North Chorus
Orchestra: Opera North Orchestra
Conductor: Howard Shelley
Number of Discs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Release: 2011
Size: 4.71 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Largo
03. III. Rondo: Allegro scherzando
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
04. I. Allegro moderato
05. II. Andante con moto
06. III. Rondo: Vivace
07. Rondo for Piano & Orchestra in B flat major, WoO 6
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19
08. I. Allegro con brio
09. II. Adagio
10. III. Rondo: Molto allegro
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’
11. I. Allegro
12. II. Adagio un poco mosso
13. III. Rondo: Allegro
14. Beethoven and Mozart: An Obsession? – A talk by Howard Shelly
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
15. I. Allegro con brio
16. II. Largo
17. III. Rondo: Allegro
Piano Concerto in D major, arranged by the composer after the Violin Concerto, Op. 61a
18. I. Allegro, ma non troppo
19. II. Larghetto
20. III. Rondo
21. Fantasia for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra in C minor, Op. 80
Piano Concerto in E flat major, WoO 4 (orchestrated and reconstructed by H. Shelly)
22. I. Allegro moderato
23. II. Larghetto
24. III. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C major, Op. 56
25. I. Allegro
26. II. Largo
27. III. Rondo alla polacca
The piano remained the main instrument of Beethoven throughout his life, and this specially priced 4-CD box set represents his entire and sizeable output for piano and orchestra, starting with the early Piano Concerto in E flat,
WoO 4 – a work of tremendous energy and great technical demands, which Beethoven wrote when he was just twelve years old – and ending with Piano Concerto No. 5, the only one that Beethoven never performed himself in concert, due to his developing deafness.
Howard Shelley was awarded an OBE for services to classical music at the 2009 New Year Honours. He here conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North from the piano. Shelley has recorded extensively for Chandos over the years, and he has combined the role of solo pianist and conductor on numerous occasions, most recently with the Orchestra of Opera North in Piano Concertos by Schumann, Saint-Saëns, and Grieg (CHAN 10509), but also with the London Mozart Players, recording works by Cramer, Hummel, Mendelssohn, and Mozart. All his recordings have received superb reviews.
Beethoven wrote the Triple Concerto on this disc in 1803 during a lull in the composition of his opera Fidelio. Works for violin, cello and piano were fairly common at the time – but combining them with orchestra was, as Beethoven himself observed, something entirely new, and no other concerto of this kind from this period is known today.
In this work, Howard Shelley is joined by the violinist and exclusive Chandos artist Tasmin Little, who won the Critics’ Choice Award at this year’s Classic BRITS, and by the cellist Tim Hugh, of whom The Times said: ‘Mr Hugh is much more than just a Cellist, he is a musician with a compelling insight into the creative urge behind the notes.’