Listening to these fluent, expressive performances, it’s difficult to see how even Cramer—one of the great virtuosos of his day—could have matched the effortless mastery so characteristic of Howard Shelley’s pianism.
Piano Concerto No 4 in C major Op 38[29’16]
1 Allegro con brio[12’01]
2 Romance: Affettuoso[7’18]
3 Rondo: Allegro[9’57]
Piano Concerto No 5 in C minor Op 48[31’36]
4 Allegro maestoso[14’31]
5 Larghetto[8’00]
6 Rondo à l’Hongroise: Scherzando[9’05]