Howard Shelley & The Tasmanian Symphony - Czerny: Piano Concertos (2017) [Hi-Res]

Active in every genre other than opera, Czerny is now remembered largely for the numerous piano studies he wrote as pedagogical aids. Which makes Howard Shelleys advocacy of the three virtuoso works for piano and orchestra recorded here, two of them for the first time, all the more welcome: this is music which cannot fail to appeal.

4* Czerny charms…the concertos are so immaculately performed. --BBC Music Magazine, Apr'17

The deft touches of orchestration in the opening tutti - be they a timpani line or a solo oboe phrase - and these are duly enjoyed; when the piano finally arrives it bounces in with great effervescence. The sheer energy and fecundity of ideas are irresistible. --Gramophone, May'17

His brilliant technique and musicianship, bearing in mind that he is usually conducting from the keyboard, finally allows the listener the fullest appreciation of what it was that made such composer-pianists famous in their own time and allows the music to speak for itself./// Shelley excels in all departments. He plays with informed authority and class, taking time to shape and place events, his fingerwork and trills glistening at every turn. Responding to the spirit of the page, he conducts with vitality and a rhythmically coiled tension, coaxing the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra to give beyond their best (they are an outstanding ensemble). Ben Connellan ensures a clean production and Veronika Vincze engineers a full-bodied and spacious sound to complete an invigorating release./// Shelley excels in all departments. He plays with informed authority and class, taking time to shape and place events, his fingerwork and trills glistening at every turn. Responding to the spirit of the page, he conducts with vitality and a rhythmically coiled tension, coaxing the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra to give beyond their best (they are an outstanding ensemble). Ben Connellan ensures a clean production and Veronika Vincze engineers a full-bodied and spacious sound to complete an invigorating release./// --MusicWeb International, May'17/// Classical Source, June'17// The Classical Source, June'17