The Romantic Piano Concerto 45 - Ferdinand Hiller
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley (piano/conductor) The Romantic Piano Concerto series continues to bring undiscovered works to the listening public, performed by the
greatest piano virtuosos of today. The composer Hiller was admired by Schumann, who described him as the exemplar
of ‘how to combine orchestra and piano in brilliant fashion’. One of the most imposing musical personalities of the
nineteenth century, close friends with the likes of Rossini, Liszt, Berlioz and particularly Mendelssohn, Hiller was
nevertheless largely forgotten less than twenty years after his death as musical fashion changed. The Second Concerto is
a genuine forgotten masterpiece, and Hyperion has been looking for the right opportunity to record it for many years.
The First and Third concertos are both first recordings, and indeed the Third was never published. A combination of the
appealing and the unknown makes this a classic RPC disc. Howard Shelley is a veteran of the Romantic Piano Concerto
series. He conducts the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra here from the piano. "Hyperion’s crusade to dust
off long-forgotten classics
has resulted in some real
gems, quite a few of
them, it seems, played by
Howard Shelley. This latest
is no disappointment.
Hiller, a big noise in the
19th century, sets his
soloist cruel challenges
and Shelley meets them
and then some. In the
Second Concerto, in
particular, he fields both a
bravura display of pianistic
skill and great delicacy." - Gramophone Magazine “Once more, one has to take off one's hat to Howard Shelley for leading such exuberant performances while simultaneously tackling demanding keyboard writing with amazing agility, innate elegance and complete stylistic empathy.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2008 “This must rate as one of the more successful of Hyperion's prodigal disinterments of Romantic Piano Concertos. Howard Shelley's brilliant and stylish playing … gives full value to the lyrical elements.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 ***** |
Gramophone Magazine
