Shelley Vishwajeet

Joan Shelley returns with The Spur her fi­rst new album in three years. The twelve song set is a profound meditation on light and darkness, recorded in the spring of 2021 at Earthwave Farm in the Kentucky countryside. James Elkington serves as co-producer (alongside Shelley) and the album features collaborations with Bill Callahan, Meg Baird and the British novelist Max Porter along with Shelley’s musical partner and husband Nathan Salsburg.

Heaven and the Sea isn't quite as dance-oriented as Pete Shelley's first two albums, nor does it have the nervous pop energy that was a hallmark of those records and his work with the Buzzcocks. Instead, it's a layered and textured release, given a polished, mature production which ironically only emphasizes the lack of notable songs. There are a handful of relatively strong cuts on the record, but even they don't match the high points of its two predecessors.

Hyperion’s Record of the Month for June sees the thirty-fifth release in our award-winning Romantic Piano Concerto series, and three première recordings of concertos by Henri Herz.

Herz never tried to be a ‘great’ artist, though he was often judged against such criteria; he was an entertainer. Of course the concerto lends itself perfectly to this role and his eight concertos are full of charm, almost operatic melody and scintillating virtuosity. Needless to say Howard Shelley, who has made such exceptional recordings of the concertos of Hummel and Moscheles, is just the man for the job. If we can accept that music need not be profound to be enjoyed we should join the international music press in welcoming this revival of these works, the pop music of their time.

In a world full of couplings of Schumann and Grieg's Piano Concertos in A minor, this disc offers three distinct advantages. First and most obviously, it offers an additional work, Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto in G minor, which brings the disc's total playing time up 78 minutes. Second, it offers up a soloist who's also the conductor, the multitalented Howard Shelley who directs England's Orchestra of Opera North from the keyboard.

Shelley is outstanding in this music, blending classical and Romantic elements perfectly.
These two concertos are wonderfully infectious. The E major occupies a kind of bridge between Mozart and Chopin, although Mozart's depth and subtlety are in a different vein. Hummel is more of a show-off, and his music almost smiles at you, its charm and sparkle eschewing any pretentiousness. Throughout, Shelley conveys the music's joie de vivre, revelling in the figurative passagework. The Double Concerto may have been inspired by Mozart's Sinfonia concertante, K365; it doesn't have the same harmonic or lyrical variety as the E-major Concerto, but it's a charming work, especially when so persuasively played. Shelley's well-proportioned piano part is perfectly complemented by Hagai Shaham's sweet-toned violin.

The continuation of our survey of Moscheles piano concertos brings us to three works which have never been recorded before. The 1st Concerto, written in 1819, is a very Mozartean affair; though the young composer had become a friend of Beethoven it seems the example of that composer's last three concertos hadn't been followed, instead we have a work full of charm, grace and untroubled lyrical melody.

With this 29th volume in the Romantic Piano Concerto series we commence a cycle of three CDs that we hope will include all eight of Moscheles' piano concertos. It also marks the start of our exploration of concertos from the earlier part of the 19th century, which we have so far rather neglected.

Howard Shelley’s third disc in Hyperion’s traversal of the complete extant piano concertos by Ignaz Moscheles brings us triumphant performances of the fourth and fifth concertos which are complemented by a spirited rendition of the Recollections of Ireland, composed almost by way of thanks for divine deliverance from a storm-tossed crossing of the Irish Sea in 1826.