Concertos classiques pour piano

Description

After its collection of Romantic Concertos, Hyperion embarks on a series of Classical Concertos, under the direction of Howard Shelley, a great specialist in Clementi. The only Concerto by the Italian composer -raised in London- that has survived is an exuberant work that recalls Haydn’s style, not only in the construction of the movements, but also in the very Viennese Contredanse that closes the score. The two Concertos from the pen of Mozart’s son are more imposing, and for good reason: in the meantime Beethoven had revolutionized the genre. The first is the work of an 18-year-old young man, strongly marked by his father’s aesthetic, although the soloist here has a dominant role in the dialogue with the orchestra. The second, written with a concert tour in mind, proves even more virtuosic. The first movement piles up the difficulties, but one is struck by a very beautiful (and too short) pre-Romantic slow movement as well as a frenzied finale in the manner of a Rossinian comic-opera aria. Like his father, Mozart’s son knew how to appropriate very diverse styles. Well versed in the works of this period, Howard Shelley is certainly an ideal guide in this little-known repertoire. (Thomas Herreng).