Cramer: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 2, 7 & 8 London Mozart Players & Howard Shelley

• Sam Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 16:
• 1 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 16: I. Allegro non tanto 12:34
• 2 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 16: II. Andante cantabile 06:00
• 3 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 16: III. Rondo. Allegretto 06:18
• Piano Concerto No. 7, Op. 56:
• 4 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 7, Op. 56: I. Allegro con spirito 14:13
• 5 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 7, Op. 56: II. Larghetto 04:39
• 6 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 7, Op. 56: III. Rondo. Vivo 06:53
• Piano Concerto No. 8, Op. 70:
• 7 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 8, Op. 70: I. Moderato assai 07:33
• 8 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 8, Op. 70: II. Larghetto 08:55
• 9 Cramer: Piano Concerto No. 8, Op. 70: III. Rondo a L'Espagnola 10:12
• Total Runtime 01:17:17

Info for Cramer: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 2, 7 & 8

This is another inexcusably neglected composer. I just can't believe how few people have recorded his works. These pieces are easily on a par with Beethoven's early piano concertos and Shelley plays them with masterful perfection. The reference to Beethoven is in regards to quality, and is not meant to imply that they are imitative or derivative. They stand on their own. I would dearly love to see more of Cramer's works recorded. I hope there are pianists out there listening. All my praise to those few record labels who dare to take us into new territory. Strongly recommended.

"…it would be hard to imagine a more colourful, sympathetic advocate than Howard Shelley. He despatches Cramers keyboard pyrotechnics with an ideal blend of elegance and devil-may-care brilliance…" (BBC Music Magazine)

"These amiable works cry out for the most scintillating pianism. Which is just what they get from Howard Shelley who throws off cascades of octaves and double thirds with glittering panache, and brings real vocal eloquence to the lyrical melodies." (The Telegraph)

"In all three works, Howard Shelley's pianism is alert and subtly lyrical, bringing out the many technical demands with fluency, clarity, and with an absorbing feeling for agogic accent. These are fully realised interpretations that deceptively suggest a lifetime of performance experience." (Fanfare)

London Mozart Players
Howard Shelley, director, piano

Howard Sehelly
As pianist, conductor and recording artist Howard Shelley has enjoyed a distinguished career since his highly acclaimed London debut in 1971, performing regularly with renowned orchestras at major venues around the world. He has been closely associated with the music of Rachmaninov and has performed and recorded complete and award-winning cycles of that composer’s solo piano works, concertos and songs. In the last five years he has performed complete cycles of the piano concertos of both Mozart and Beethoven in London with the London Mozart Players. Most of his current work is in the combined role of conductor and soloist. This is reflected also in his discography which now exceeds 160 CDs, all highly praised. He has appeared in several television documentaries, including ‘Mother Goose’, a documentary on Ravel which won a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals Awards.

As conductor he has worked with all the major London orchestras and many other orchestras in the UK and abroad including the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, City of Mexico Philharmonic, Munich Symphony, St Gallen Symphony and Nuremberg Symphony. He has toured to Australia for over thirty consecutive years, and performs now as both conductor and soloist with the Melbourne Symphony, Adelaide Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra – with the latter he has recorded seventeen volumes (and rising) for Hyperion’s Romantic Piano series. His long association with the London Mozart Players has been recognised by the title of Conductor Laureate. In 1994 HRH The Prince of Wales conferred on him an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Music and in 2009 he was awarded an OBE for services to classical music.

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