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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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 6
London Mozart Players, Howard Shelley
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 okt. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delius: Piano Concerto, Paris, Spring Idyll & Brigg Fair
Sir Andrew Davis, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 okt. 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Aloys Schmitt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 etc. (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 84)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 1 jul. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
TIPPETT: Piano Concerto / Fantasia on a Theme of Handel / Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Howard Shelley, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox
Concerten voor klavier - Released by Chandos on 1 jun. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Korngold: Military March, Cello Concerto, Symphonic Serenade & Piano Concerto
Matthias Bamert, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Dixon, Howard Shelley
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 nov. 1996
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 & Piano Concerto No. 17
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 jun. 1992
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: Concertos
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: Potpourri, Adagio and Rondo alla Polacca, Variations & Violin Concerto in G Major
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players, James Ehnes
Kamermuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 aug. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benda: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 8)
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 1 okt. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kozeluch: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 5 & 6 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 4)
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 30 dec. 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Howells: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 & Penguinski
Richard Hickox, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 nov. 2000
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Herz: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Other Works (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 66)
Howard Shelley, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 31 jul. 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cramer: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 3 & 6 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 7)
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 25 sep. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sterndale Bennett: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 74)
Howard Shelley, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 2 mrt. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Malcolm Williamson: The Complete Piano Concertos
Piers Lane, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 3 mrt. 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Alwyn: Symphony No. 5, Piano Concerto No. 2 & Sinfonietta
Richard Hickox, London Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 aug. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music 3
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 29 mrt. 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Casadesus: Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 5 & Symphony No. 7
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 nov. 2004
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kalkbrenner: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 41)
Howard Shelley, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 1 sep. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cramer: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 2, 7 & 8
London Mozart Players, Howard Shelley
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 2002
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Potter: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 72)
Howard Shelley, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Hyperion on 28 jul. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo