Döhler & Dreyschock: Piano Concertos

The Romantic Piano Concerto series reaches Volume 61, and continues to probe into the obscurest depths of the nineteenth-century piano world. Döhler’s Piano Concerto in A major and Dreyschock’s Salut à Vienne are both first recordings. The two composer-pianists were contemporaries, both child prodigies and both hugely admired in their day. Today their names are not even faintly familiar to concert-goers.

Döhler’s Concerto is pure entertainment: a lavishly ornamented virtuoso confection that requires a high-wire act from the soloist from start to finish. Dreyschock’s Morceau de concert, Op 27, is dedicated to the Philharmonic Society of London. It opens with a Beethovenian declamation—and indeed throughout the piece there are allusions to several Beethoven works, notably the ‘Appassionata’ Sonata. Salut à Vienne is a lighthearted but highly effective showpiece.

These all-but-forgotten works live again through the stylish artistry and technical brilliance of Howard Shelley, who is both soloist and conductor of his long-term collaborators, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

CDA67950  56 minutes 5 seconds
‘These works offer a fascinating backdrop to the greatest masterpieces of the age. And you couldn't imagine a finer advocate than Howard Shelley, who is not only palpably committed to the cause (enthu ...
‘Played like this with virtuoso panache and total conviction, these pieces sound like neglected masterworks’ (BBC Music Magazine)
‘Howard Shelley, joyously familiar to collectors of this series, negotiates the coruscating arabesques, trills, repeated notes, thirds and what not with great aplomb, synchronising the orchestral acco ...