The Romantic Piano Concerto 63 - Godard - Hyperion: CDA68043 - CD or download

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As far as the pianism goes, Godard was evidently fully aware of the new vistas of technique and colour opened up by Liszt...The performances by the indefatigable Howard Shelley and the Tasmanian... — Gramophone Magazine, September 2014 More…

Release Date: 30th Jun 2014
Catalogue No: CDA68043
Label: Hyperion
Series: The Romantic Piano Concerto
Length: 70 minutes

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Godard, B: Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 31

Work length29:51

$4.40

$6.00

$8.20

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Howard Shelley

I. Andante – Allegro vivace

Track length9:47

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II. Scherzo: Allegretto non troppo

Track length4:37

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III. Andante quasi adagio

Track length8:29

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IV. Allegro ma non troppo (Vivace)

Track length6:58

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Godard, B: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 148

Work length28:33

$4.40

$6.00

$8.20

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Howard Shelley

I. Con moto – Allegro – Moderato

Track length9:35

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II. Andante –

Track length7:16

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III. Scherzo: Allegretto

Track length3:10

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IV. Andante maestoso – Moderato

Track length8:32

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Godard, B: Introduction et Allegro pour piano et orchestre, Op. 49

Work length11:39

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Howard Shelley

I. Lento

Track length5:20

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$2.05

II. Allegro

Track length6:19

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Howard Shelley directs the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra from the piano in this latest volume of The Romantic Piano Concerto series. As ever, they perform unknown music with consummate style and deep understanding, making the best possible case for the works. We have reached Volume 63 and the works of French composer Benjamin Godard, a figure who is almost totally forgotten today. He is described by Jeremy Nicholas in his booklet note as ‘a composer who combines the sentimental melodic appeal of Massenet with the fecundity and technical facility of Saint-Saëns’.

Among Godard’s oeuvre, well over seventy opus numbers are devoted to works for solo piano, ranging from Les contes de Perrault, Op 6, to Valse No 15, Op 153. His Hommage à Chopin can be found on Hyperion CDA67803, performed by Jonathan Plowright. Much of the enormous amount of music he produced followed in the tradition of Mendelssohn and Schumann (his admiration for the latter inspired a string quartet arrangement of Kinderszenen in 1876). With the emergence of more innovative composers, Godard’s conservative idiom meant his reputation faded before his early death in Cannes on 10 January 1895. However, in the three works presented here his writing for the piano exceeds the technical range of his two idols, and is often reminiscent of the bravura demands found in the concertos of Liszt and Rubinstein.

Reviews

September 2014

As far as the pianism goes, Godard was evidently fully aware of the new vistas of technique and colour opened up by Liszt...The performances by the indefatigable Howard Shelley and the Tasmanian orchestra cannot be faulted.

10th July 2014

Godard distrusted Wagnerism, and his two piano concertos constrain Romantic sensibilities within the classical form...The disc is a tour de force for Howard Shelley, who, in addition to coping with Godard's often vertiginous piano writing, directs all three performances from the keyboard, which is no mean feat.

The Romantic Piano Concerto 63 - Godard

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