Ulstermen celebrate the fall of the Berlin Weill.

A teenage Clara Wieck shows her peers just how it’s done.

Featuring Ute Lemper, requiems, Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims, ZOFO's new Pictures at an Exhibition, the Bolshoi Ballet and the AWO's Alexander Briger.

Piano concertos rescued from obscurity shine in Shelley’s hands.

Howard Shelley’s relationship with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra goes way back. The British performer has recorded about 13 albums with the TSO, and returns for Czerny’s Piano Concertos released on Hyperion. As usual, Shelley adopts equally the roles of conductor and pianist. The Concerto in F Major, Op. 28 that launches the album hints at quaintness, interspersed with thick orchestral power. And this is all before we hear Shelley press the keys, entering after an agreeable three minutes. His performance is majestic – yet there’s a humbleness and reliability, and that marks the essence of Shelley. The Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 214 gets off to a cunning start. The first movement has the mighty ending of a finale, then settles into a somewhat peaceful Adagio con moto. The Rondo Brillant in B Flat is a standout, showcasing Shelley’s virtuosity across the instrument’s range. Two concertos are recorded here for the first time. A child prodigy who grew up to perform Beethoven’s concertos, Czerny’s own are buried among his countless studies; along with chamber music, masses, symphonies, and more. When it comes down to it, Czerny’s works on this album are fairly unremarkable – but that doesn’t deem them…

This release is consistent with Hyperion’s reputation for creating warm, engaging records matched with exceptional sound. On this fourth volume, Howard Shelley tackles the Opus 35 set of Preludes and Fugues, Mendelssohn’s most substantial opus for solo piano, and pairs it with the popular fifth book of Songs Without Words. Shelley makes a strong case for these Bach-influenced studies. One listen leaves you in no doubt of his musicianship in an album executed with pristine attention to detail – his dexterity is especially on trial in the faster movements. Of particular note is the Prelude in B Minor, while the unpublished  Andante Cantabile and Presto Agitato are something else. Shelley plays with quicksilver speed and agility, but never seems to over-pump the gas. He maintains a reserved, agile, darting sound that dances up and down the keyboard with ease. In the exquisite fifth book of Songs without Words, a lesser pianist might milk phrases or revel in their sentimentality, a tendency that Shelley avoids perfectly. Instead, he marries an understanding of these wonderful Romantic phrases with the clarity that one would expect in Bach. The closing Spring Song is elegant and full of colour. This fine new recording demonstrates why…