Howard Shelley
A fixture of the Hyperion label's Romantic Piano Concerto series, pianist Howard Shelley has also specialized in the music of Rachmaninov and in British music of the 20th century. He often conducts from the keyboard.
Shelley was born on March 3, 1950, in London. His early skills were prodigious; he made his debut at the age of ten on BBC television and graduated from the Royal College of Music in London at 21. In 1972, he made his debut at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, and he has been a frequent presence both there and on BBC broadcast outlets. Shelley's focus on Rachmaninov was most pronounced in the 1980s. He began a complete series of recordings of that composer's solo piano works on the Hyperion label in 1982, and the following year, he performed them all in a marathon over several days at Wigmore Hall in London. Shelley recorded Rachmaninov's four piano concertos for Chandos in 1989 & 1990. By that time, he had already begun conducting, both from the keyboard and, in non-keyboard works, from the podium. He was associate conductor and then principal guest conductor of the London Mozart Players in the early '90s. He also made guest appearances with top British orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. Later, Shelley performed a complete cycle of Beethoven's concertos with the BBC Philharmonic.
Shelley has recorded prolifically for Hyperion and Chandos, often issuing several albums in the course of a single year. He has recorded many works by post-Classical composers such as Johann Baptist Cramer and Muzio Clementi. That specialization grew into a major series of recordings for Hyperion under the auspices of its series "The Romantic Piano Concerto," which aimed at a large-scale excavation of forgotten 19th century works. On these recordings, Shelley often conducted the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra from the keyboard. By 2022, the series had reached its 81st volume, with Shelley performing and conducting works by composer Alois (Aloys) Schmitt. A second Hyperion series, "The Classical Piano Concerto," launched in 2014 with Shelley again as pianist/conductor; by 2021, there were eight volumes, including one of works by Georg Benda that appeared that year. Shelley also embarked on a complete cycle of Mendelssohn's solo piano music, and his work appeared on a recording of Chopin's piano-and-orchestra music issued by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw.
Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2009, Shelley is married to pianist Hilary Macnamara, with whom he has performed in duo piano music. The couple has a son, Alexander Shelley, who is a conductor, and Howard Shelley has performed under his baton.
© James Manheim /TiVo
-
Alwyn: Symphony No. 1 & Piano Concerto No. 1
Richard Hickox, London Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1993
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music 1
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 24 Feb 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Complete Solo Piano Music
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Mar 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: Piano Concerto in A, O du lieber Augustin, L'Enchantment d'Oberon & Le Retour à Londres
London Mozart Players, Howard Shelley
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Mar 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Concertos for Piano and Orchestra
Howard Shelley, Orchestra of Opera North, Tasmin Little, Tim Hugh, Chorus Of Opera North
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Czerny: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 71)
Howard Shelley, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 28 Apr 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9 & Piano Concerto in C Major
Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kalkbrenner: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 56)
Howard Shelley, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 24 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dussek: Piano Concertos Op. 1/3, 29 & 70 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 1)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 27 Jul 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Spohr: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana, Howard Shelley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peter Dickinson: Three Concertos
Howard Shelley, Chloë Hanslip, Jennifer Bate
Concertos - Released by Heritage Records on 13 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
F.X. Mozart & Clementi: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 3)
Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Howard Shelley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 29 Jul 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Spohr & Onslow: Piano Sonatas & Other Works
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 31 Aug 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Spohr: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6
Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana, Howard Shelley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Feb 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spohr: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana, Howard Shelley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spohr: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 10
Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana, Howard Shelley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 28 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Piano Music
Solo Piano - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Krommer: Oboe Concertos
Sarah Francis, London Mozart Players, Howard Shelley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Feb 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Berkeley Edition, Vol. 5
Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Celia Craig, Steven Burnard, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Mar 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nikisch: Concert for piano and orchestra
Alternative & Indie - Released by Edition Sedina on 24 Apr 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: Piano Concerto in C & 2 Rondo Brillants
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Jun 2004
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo