“Sterndale Bennett's Fourth Piano Concerto of 1838… Written at 22…it is by no means all Mendelssohian in its style, having a sombre, rather Schumannesque first movement, an expressive Barcarolle for slow movement and a scintillating finale thrown off with patent enjoyment by Howard Shelley in this excellent recording. The short-lived Francis Edwards Bache, a star pupil of Bennett's died aged 24... the E major Piano Concerto of 1856... has a nonchalant vigour and bravura, formal shapeliness and a bright, attractive personality of its own.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 *****
“Howard Shelley … gives us an air-spun brilliance and stylistic elegance very much his own. Most refined of virtuosos, he has been admirably presented and recorded” Gramophone Magazine
“…neither composer could wish for a more persuasive advocate than Howard Shelley who, in his customary role as soloist and conductor, gives us an air-spun brilliance and stylistic elegance very much his own. Most refined of virtuosos, he has been admirably presented and recorded.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2007
Penguin Guide