Howard Shelley
How he manages to play with such conviction and apparent ease while conducting from the keyboard with such precision and sensitivity is one of the musical marvels of the age
Gramophone
I cannot think of another musician who is Shelley’s equal in this dual role
Gramophone
He is an artist of electric vitality and cultured exuberance
Fanfare, USA
Shelley is a superb musician: not only does he play with great taste and insight but his conducting is impeccable
BBC Music Magazine
Dazzling, but controlled, virtuosity was as much a mark of this excellent reading as the great emotional depth and richness of Shelley’s playing
Daily Telegraph
Shelley has a beautiful and limpid touch, capable of shading and coloring the music in remarkable ways
Seattle Times, USA
he is just as brilliant on the podium as he is at the keyboard from which he directs the orchestra
Main-Echo, Wiesbaden, Germany
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Concert reviews
‘Howard Shelley performed as a pianist and conductor with the Nuremberg Symphony. With double success.
Shelley’s reputation as an exceptional pianist finds an impeccable confirmation here. But also the conductor Shelley knows how to convince. The fact that he showed his mastery on the podium after the break with Dvorak’s 6th Symphony turned out to be a double stroke of luck.’
‘Howard Shelley gastierte bei den Nürnberger Symphonikern als Pianist und Dirigent. Mit doppeltem Erfolg.
Shelleys Ruf als Ausnahmepianist findet hier eine makellose Bestästigung. Aber auch der Dirigent Shelley versteht zu überzeugen. Dass er seine Könnerschaft am Notenpult nach der Pause mit Antonon Dvoraks 6. Symphonie zeigte, erwies sich als doppelter Glücksfall,
Conductor/soloist with Nuremberg Symphony, Germany
Nürnberger Zeitung, 11 Feb 2019
‘He conducts and plays without any mannerisms. His interpretations reflect a profound musicality, a beautiful tone and a delicate feeling for the style of the works … Shelley’s masterful virtuosity and deeply felt poetic interpretation made this an experience never to be forgotten’.
Cape Philharmonic, Cape Town, South Africa
Die Burger, Cape Town, 5 November 2016
‘The second half featured the Eroica itself, during which Shelley directed the Ulster Orchestra in one of the best performances of its season. The innate beauty and drama of the second movement and the energy and musicianship of the finale were paramount in this sublime and revolutionary Beethoven masterpiece’.
Conductor/soloist with the Ulster Orchestra
Belfast Telegraph, May 2013
‘No praise can be high enough to describe the masterful playing of this pianist. Such sympathetic music-making, with every gesture as conductor, every individual phrase and detail as pianist seeming to be mutually inspired, was simply spectacular’.
Fur das meisterhafte Spiel des Pianisten kann kein Lob hoch genug sien. Ein so kongeniales Musizieren nämlich, bei dem jeder Wink des Dirigenten, jede einzeine Phrase und Pointe des Pianisten sich gegenseitig inspierierten, das war einsame Spitze’.
Würzburg Mozartfest, Germany, with London Mozart Players
Fränkische Nachrichten, 02 July 2012
‘The evening was defined by the excellent Howard Shelley who moved between the podium and the piano with virtuosity and amazing two-fold talent’..
‘Dennoch wurde dieser Abend geprägt von dem smarten Howard Shelley, der mit seiner fantasichen Doppelbegabung virtuos zwischen Pult und Piano hin- und herpendelte’.
Conductor/soloist with English Chamber Orchestra, Bregenz, Austria
Voralberger Nachrichen, 15 Nov 2010
‘Shelley was, simply, dazzling. Brilliant. Electrifying. The orchestra was inspired, utterly in sync with the pianist throughout the entire concert’.
Naples Philharmonic, USA
www.naplesnews.com, 31 October 2006
‘What distinguishes Howard Shelley is that he discreetly and prudently understands how to create a very natural atmosphere for musical enjoyment. The pleasure that the Camerata musicians have with him is written on their faces and can be heard in the music.’
‘Was Howard Shelley auszeichnet ist, dass er es umsichtig und unaufdringlich versteht, eine Atmosphäre grosser Selbstverständlichkeit und musikantischer Lust zu initieren. Daas Vergnügen, das die Camerat-Musiker mit ihm haben, lässt sich an den Gesichtern ablesen, und erst recht in der Musik’,
Camerata Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Kronen Zeitung, 26 October 2004
‘here in Wiesbaden [Shelley] has proved that he is just as brilliant on the podium as he is at the keyboard from which he directs the orchestra.’
‘und in Wiesbaden zeigte er, dass er wirklich gleich tüchtig ist am Dirigentenpult und am Flügel, von dem aus er das Orchester leitet.’
Rheingau Musik Festival, Germany, with London Mozart Players
Main-Echo, Wiesbaden, 6 Aug 2002
‘Howard Shelley led the orchestra in spirited and highly subtle performances while he played two Mozart piano concertos with a relaxed elegance and an ear-opening delicacy.’
Conductor/soloist with Seattle Symphony, Washington, USA
Seattle Times, USA, 05 May 2001
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Biography
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.