Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22

“Grosvenor and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic achieve a fine balance between [the Ravel's] urban bustle and more reflective passages...[Rhapsody in Blue is] less cluttered and more demotic in style, with more of a swing than in some stiffer, stuffier versions.” The Independent, 11th August 2012 ****

“in an age of ready-made virtuosos, his gifts are already distinctive — poetic, romantic, almost old-school in the way he makes phrases teeter on the edge of a pause or when one hand hesitates before the other in laying down a texture...Grosvenor’s rendition of the Rhapsody is definitely European, warmly sensuous rather than American pizzazz.” The Times, 10th August 2012 ***

“reservations pale into Beckmesserish scratchings besides the delights of this disc and especially of Grosvenor's pianism. I can only concur with other critics who hear in his tone and phrasing echoes of a golden age...For me, his playing of the Godowsky version of Saint-Saens's Swan is a high point...A champagne disc - fizz and finesse.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 *****

“His playing belies his youth; this is deliciously individual, mature pianism. The sound is warm, the style impulsive, affectionate. He’s not striving for technical perfection (though you won’t find any fluffs here), more content to draw the listener in and spin a good yarn...Immaculate, characterful orchestral playing from James Judd and the RLPO too” The Arts Desk, 30th September 2012

“he opens [the Saint-Saens] with a rhetorical grandeur before setting the keyboard ablaze with a burst of swaggering, supercharged virtuosity...He has technique to burn and his pungency and force are things to marvel at...Grosvenor's Ravel brims over with individual touches...while in Gershwin his virtuosity is once more exultant rather than brash...Grosvenor's is, at the least, a talent in a thousand.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2012

“…a modern version of Schumann's Piano Concerto that actually sounds like Schumann. Howard Shelley's performance is refreshingly free from empty showmanship or narcissistic 'pianism'. The Grieg and Saint-Saëns concertos are also full of lovely things, especially the slow movement coda for the Grieg - this music can touch without being the slightest bit sentimental or oversweet.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 *****

“Outstanding performances” Classic FM Magazine, February 2012

“What a good idea to add to that favourite among LP couplings Saint-Saëns's most Bachian concerto, No 2. And the pleasure doesn't stop there.
Howard Shelley is one of those musicians who quietly goes about his pianistic (and now conductorly) business without grabbing the limelight except for the odd award, but who is consistently impressive, unfailingly musical and only goes into the studio when he has something to say about a work. That is certainly the case here.
It's a particular delight to hear a reading odf the Schumann as fleet and joyous as this one.
These are intimate performances, an effect no doubt enhanced by the fact that Shelley directs from the piano. Intimate but also sharply characterised.
And when virtuosity is required, Shelley provides it in spades. Take the finale of the Schumann: textures are wonderfully transparent, the dotted rhythms are perky and precise, and there are plenty of striking colours from the orchestra (which throughout the disc proves itself a fine ensemble, with some particularly outstanding wind-players).
Shelley is just as persuasive in the Grieg, coaxing from the orchestra a real sense of narrative, some lovely oboe-playing and allowing the big tunes due space but never over-indulging them.
The concerto's irresistible yearning quality is well caught too, particularly in the central movement, where he is almost a match for Lipatti. Again, tempi are generally fleet, and Shelley pays attention both to the marcato marking of the finale and its folk tinges without overstatement. These are certainly performances to put alongside the classics.
Technically, the Saint-Saëns is an ideal vehicle for Shelley's fingery kind of pianism and he is exceptional in the Allegro scherzando, the movement that out-Mendelssohns Mendelssohn.
Again, the orchestra is utterly focused. The recorded quality here, as elsewhere, is exemplary.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“These are intimate performances, an effect no doubt enhanced by the fact that Shelley directs from the piano. Intimately but also sharply characterised. And when virtuosity is required, Shelley provides it in spades. Technically, the Saint-Saëns is an ideal vehicle for Shelley's fingery kind of pianism and he is exceptional in the Allegro scherzando, the movement that our-Mendelssohns Mendelssohn.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009

“Gilels was a true king of pianists and these recordings only confirm his legendary status. Here is his superlative musicianship, magisterial technique and, above all, unforgettable sonority. His Rachmaninov is among the few truly great performances of this work on disc.” Gramophone Magazine

“If Saint-Saëns's idiom once answered – and maybe still does – to qualities fundamental to the French musical character, it must be said straight away that Hough sounds the complete insider. He commands the range of the big statements, whatever their character, as well as sparkle and panache, a sense of drama and seemingly inexhaustible stamina; and he can charm. Yet perhaps most delightful is the lightness and clarity of his decorative playing.
It's a bonus for the virtuoso passages not to sound hectic or overblown – for Saint-Saëns, virtuosity always had an expressive potential.
There's an air of manufacture about the writing sometimes, certainly, but as Hough knows, there must be nothing mechanical in its delivery.
Sweeping across the keyboard, dipping and soaring through the teaming notes, he flies like a bird. He manages to convey what makes these pieces tick: fine workmanship, fantasy, colour, and the various ways Saint-Saëns was so good at combining piano and orchestra. The orchestra has plenty to do. These scores are textbooks of lean but firm orchestration from which at least one major French composer learned (Ravel, another eclectic, who must have seen the 'old bear' as a kindred spirit). The days are past when the CBSO under Louis Frémaux was considered Britain's 'French' orchestra, but with Sakari Oramo it does splendidly here, playing alertly with its inspiring soloist as he does with it (another plus). The recording balances are fine, with lovely piano sound and plenty of orchestral detail in natural-sounding perspectives.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Marvellous performances of these delightful and ever inventive works from Stephen Hough, full of joy, vigour and sparkle, with Oramo and the CBSO acompanying spiritedly and with the lightest touch...An easy first choice for this repertoire.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Entremont is a pianist of skill and aplomb, fully equal to [these concertos’] technical demands.” Gramophone Magazine, July 1991