November 2011 sees the release of a boxed set on Chandos Records of Beethoven's Complete works for Piano and orchestra (the five Concertos, the Early Piano Concerto in E flat Wo04, the Violin Concerto in the piano transcription, Triple Concerto and Choral Fantasia - all conducted from the keyboard with the Orchestra of Opera North.

Busy recording Beethoven in Leeds and Spohr in Lugano during the summer, Howard still found time for some exciting Festival concerts with the English Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of Opera North, a concert in Buckingham Palace and, last, but not least… the marriage of his son Alexander Shelley, Principal Conductor of the Nürnberger Symphoniker.

FURTHER NEW CD RELEASES

For the Frederick Chopin Institute's record label Howard has recorded, with Warsaw's Sinfonia Varsovia, concertos by two Polish composers - contemporaries of Chopin: Ignacy Feliks DOBRZYNSKI and Franciszek LESSEL.
NIFCCD 101

With a 7th and final volume of Clementi (Capriccios and Variations) Howard has recorded 14 CDs of Clementi in a mere four years, "A fascinating journey through 50 years of Clementi's development, from the Classical scale of 1771 to work of almost Beethovenian proportions" (Gramophone). BBC Music Magazine gives the recording 5 stars for both performance and recording.
Hyperion CDA67850

International Record Review "Outstanding" award for piano concertos of TAUBERT and ROSENHAIN.

"Shelley directs from the keyboard and, frankly, I don't know how he does it: some of the tempos in the outer movements of these works are pretty hair-raising, with the pianist kept hard at it - but the orchestra is with its highly gifted player/director all the way, and ensemble is first rate … Enormously impressive - here is very good music, superbly played by these outstanding musicians."
Hyperion CDA67765

PENDING RELEASE:

• SPOHR Symphonies 7 & 9 (fifth and final volume of the complete symphonies / Orchestra of Italian Switzerland
 

• KALKBRENNER Piano Concertos 2 & 3
 

• PIXIS/THALBERG Piano Concertos / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

2011/12 Concert highlights from another busy season:

• BBC Philharmonic, Manchester: Rachmaninov Paganini Variations / Sinaisky



• Live BBC relay from Belfast with Ulster Orchestra and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor



• Ulster Orchestra main season concert as conductor/soloist



• All-Mozart concert to mark the 220th anniversary of Mozart with Sinfonieorchester St Gallen



• 9th annual return to Naples Philharmonic, Florida



• Concerts in London with London Mozart Players



• Return to Würzburg Mozartfest with London Mozart Players for the Festival's Gala concert



• 5th consecutive year at Warsaw's "Chopin and his Europe" Festival with Concerto Köln.



• Month long project in Australia with concerts and two recordings for Hyperion Records.



• Complete Beethoven piano Concerto cycle in Italy with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto:
  · November 2011 Concertos 2 & 4 and Symphony No 8
  · May 2012 : Concerto 5, Early Piano Concerto and Symphony No 7 (Concertos 1 & 3, Symphony 4 were performed in season 2010/11)



• Opening concert of Sintra Festival 2012 with Orquestra Gulbenkian