Howard Shelley – Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 4 (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Howard Shelley – Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 4 (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:11 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Hyperion Records

The Op 35 set of Preludes and Fugues is the most substantial single opus Mendelssohn wrote for solo piano, a mark of his reverence for the mighty Bach. Coupled with the popular fifth book of Songs without Words, we have here a heavyweight fourth volume in Howard Shelley’s compendium.

As Howard Shelley reaches the fourth instalment of his solo Mendelssohn journey, familiar and unfamiliar once again rub shoulders. He brings out the Bachian elements in the Op 35 Preludes and Fugues—notably the twisting subject of the First Fugue or the agitated Third Fugue—with total naturalness, while the Prestissimo staccato of the Third Prelude is exactly that. The Fugue of the Fifth dances with due clarity, contrasting very effectively with the song-without-words Sixth Prelude.

You’d be forgiven for doing a double-take at the start of the Andante cantabile e Presto agitato, which is a first cousin to the familiar Andante and Rondo capriccioso. Shelley makes a strong case for it, finding particular poignancy in the recollection of the theme’s first three notes as a dying echo at the close, while the Presto is supple and airborne. After that, an A major Lied, a lilting and highly personal piece penned while the composer was on honeymoon.

We’re back on more familiar territory in the Fifth Book of Songs Without Words. In the first Song, Shelley finds a middle ground between the recent Kirschnereit and the faster-flowing Barenboim. To my mind the second is a tad slow in Shelley’s hands—at least compared to the high jinks of Barenboim and the airily wondrous Perahia—though the E minor number that follows is particularly absorbing. The popular ‘Gondolier Song’ of the fifth poses the question: how con moto do you want your Andante to be? Shelley and Perianes tend towards the dreamy—here Kirschnereit’s faster tempo seems more apt. And in the famous ‘Spring Song’ that closes the set, Shelley is finely detailed yet others find an even greater sense of carefree rapture. All in all, though, a fascinating recital, warmly recorded and with absorbing notes from Mendelssohn scholar R Larry Todd. –Harriet Smith, Gramophone

Tracklist:
01. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op. 35 No. 1: Prelude: Allegro con fuoco (02:06)
02. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op. 35 No. 1: Fugue: Andante espressivo (05:54)
03. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in D major, Op. 35 No. 2: Prelude: Allegretto (02:43)
04. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in D major, Op. 35 No. 2: Fugue: Tranquillo e sempre legato (03:05)
05. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in B minor, Op. 35 No. 3: Prelude: Prestissimo staccato (01:55)
06. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in B minor, Op. 35 No. 3: Fugue: Allegro con brio (03:30)
07. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in A flat major, Op. 35 No. 4: Prelude: Con moto (03:52)
08. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in A flat major, Op. 35 No. 4: Fugue: Con moto ma sostenuto (05:03)
09. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Op. 35 No. 5: Prelude: Andante lento (03:00)
10. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Op. 35 No. 5: Fugue: Allegro con fuoco (03:48)
11. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in B flat major, Op. 35 No. 6: Prelude: Maestoso moderato (02:50)
12. Howard Shelley – Prelude and Fugue in B flat major, Op. 35 No. 6: Fugue: Allegro con brio (03:36)
13. Howard Shelley – Andante cantabile e Presto agitato WoO6: Andante cantabile (02:36)
14. Howard Shelley – Andante cantabile e Presto agitato WoO6: Presto agitato (05:55)
15. Howard Shelley – Lied in A major (1837) (02:45)
16. Howard Shelley – Lieder ohne Worte, Book V, Op. 62, No 1 in G major: Andante espressivo (02:42)
17. Howard Shelley – Lieder ohne Worte, Book V, Op. 62, No 2 in B flat major: Allegro con fuoco (01:55)
18. Howard Shelley – Lieder ohne Worte, Book V, Op. 62, No 3 in E minor: Andante maestoso (02:31)
19. Howard Shelley – Lieder ohne Worte, Book V, Op. 62, No 4 in G major: Allegro con anima (01:33)
20. Howard Shelley – Lieder ohne Worte, Book V, Op. 62, No 5 in A minor, ‘Venetianisches Gondellied’: Andante con moto (02:57)
21. Howard Shelley – Lieder ohne Worte, Book V, Op. 62, No 6 in A major, ‘Spring Song’: Allegretto grazioso (02:46)

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