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
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Schumann, Greig & Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos
Howard Shelley, Opera North Orchestra
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 2009
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 5 "Hydriotaphia" - Sinfoniette pour cordes - Concerto pour piano n° 2
London Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley, Richard Hickox
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Aug 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: Piano Concerto in E Major & Double Concerto
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players, Hagaï Shaham
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Oct 1, 1998
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: L'Enchantement D'Oberon / Le Retour De Londres / Piano Concerto in A Major
London Mozart Players, Howard Shelley
Keyboard Concertos - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dohnányi: Orchestral Works
Matthias Bamert, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, James Ehnes, Howard Shelley, Clifford Lantaff
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Jun 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour violon n° 2 - Concerto pour harpe - Concerto pour piano n° 2
James Ehnes, Clifford Lantaff, Howard Shelley, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Matthias Bamert
Violin Concertos - Released by Chandos on Sep 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Farrar: Orchestral Music
Alasdair Mitchell, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carwithen: Concerto for Piano and Strings, Bishop Rock, ODTAA & Suffolk Suite
Richard Hickox, London Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carwithen: ODTAA, Piano Concerto, Bishop Rock & Suffolk Suite
Richard Hickox, London Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 1997
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 , Piano Concerto No. 4 & Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Jun 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Felix Mendelssohn: Complete Works for Solo Piano
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Feb 25, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Lyapunov: Symphony No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 2 & Polonaise
Vassily Sinaisky, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Apr 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour piano & orchestre
Howard Shelley, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Jun 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony
Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Shelley, Valerie Hartmann-Claverie
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Aug 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Piano Concerto - Foulds: Dynamic Triptych
Howard Shelley, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Concertos - Released by Lyrita on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: London Symphonies Nos. 93-104
Howard Shelley, Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Feb 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cramer: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 6)
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Jun 28, 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pièces pour orchestre (Volume 3)
BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Howard Shelley, Richard Hickox
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dohnányi: Suite in F-Sharp Minor, Variations on a Nursery Theme & The Veil of Pierrette
Matthias Bamert, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on May 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo