Classical CD Reviews
IGNAZ MOSCHELES: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 in E Major & 5 in C Major; Recollections of Ireland (Hyperion)
No. 36 in the Romantic Piano Concertos series
Published on June 03, 2005
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IGNAZ MOSCHELES: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 in E Major & 5 in C
Major; Recollections of Ireland - Howard Shelley, piano &
conductor/Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra - Hyperion CDA67430, 72:04 ****:
The indefatigable Romantic Piano Concertos series at Hyperion rolls along, and this is amazingly No. 36 in the series! It’s the third venture into the Moscheles repertory by Shelley, who has already recorded for Hyperion Nos.1, 2, 3, 6 & 7. Moscheles, who hailed from Prague, was one of several pianist-composers were musical celebrities of the first part of the 19th century. His music and performances were both technically brilliant and masterly in expression. He also had a nice personality and was well-liked - something not always found in pianist or violinistic prima donnas. Like Chopin, he wrote mainly for the piano - works that he could himself perform, but he also created some symphonies and chamber music.
Moscheles’ Fourth Concerto shows Mozart and Beethoven as strong influences, yet the work has many forward-looking attributes that are thought to have inspired Chopin in his E Minor Concerto composed seven years later. The closing portion of the first movement startlingly reminds one of Schumann’s much later Piano Concerto. The Concerto No. 5 is part of the composer’s later period. it did not achieve the popularity of his earlier concertos because it was more exploratory and less immediate.The Adagio movement is especially nice, approaching the best of Beethoven or Mendelssohn. The Irish Recollections commemorated a difficult crossing of the channel from Britain to Ireland. The work quotes some Irish folk songs. Performed and recorded in Tasmania, the Australian players are fully on an equal with their UK counterparts. Hyperion’s sonic standards are always high in both their 44.1 CDs and SACDs. They would like to include Moscheles’ Concerto No. 8 in the next volume but can’t find it anywhere. They have made a plea to anyone who might know of the manuscript.
- John Sunier
The indefatigable Romantic Piano Concertos series at Hyperion rolls along, and this is amazingly No. 36 in the series! It’s the third venture into the Moscheles repertory by Shelley, who has already recorded for Hyperion Nos.1, 2, 3, 6 & 7. Moscheles, who hailed from Prague, was one of several pianist-composers were musical celebrities of the first part of the 19th century. His music and performances were both technically brilliant and masterly in expression. He also had a nice personality and was well-liked - something not always found in pianist or violinistic prima donnas. Like Chopin, he wrote mainly for the piano - works that he could himself perform, but he also created some symphonies and chamber music.
Moscheles’ Fourth Concerto shows Mozart and Beethoven as strong influences, yet the work has many forward-looking attributes that are thought to have inspired Chopin in his E Minor Concerto composed seven years later. The closing portion of the first movement startlingly reminds one of Schumann’s much later Piano Concerto. The Concerto No. 5 is part of the composer’s later period. it did not achieve the popularity of his earlier concertos because it was more exploratory and less immediate.The Adagio movement is especially nice, approaching the best of Beethoven or Mendelssohn. The Irish Recollections commemorated a difficult crossing of the channel from Britain to Ireland. The work quotes some Irish folk songs. Performed and recorded in Tasmania, the Australian players are fully on an equal with their UK counterparts. Hyperion’s sonic standards are always high in both their 44.1 CDs and SACDs. They would like to include Moscheles’ Concerto No. 8 in the next volume but can’t find it anywhere. They have made a plea to anyone who might know of the manuscript.
- John Sunier
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