Reclaiming a genius: chamber orchestra London Mozart Players and pianist Howard Shelley put the spotlight on Hummel in a concert of Classical masterpieces.

Mozart has been called the greatest of composers, with Beethoven seen as his musical and spiritual successor. During his lifetime, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a contemporary of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, also garnered praise and respect comparable to the masters. Yet today, Hummel is seen as the support act.

At this concert, all three composers are presented with equal billing. Mozart’s ebullient and glorious Symphony No.34 in C opens the concert, contrasting with the precision and muscular strength of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. Hummel’s elegant Piano Concerto No.6 in F sits comfortably between the symphonies, its unceasingly melodic and virtuoso piano writing demonstrating why Hummel’s reputation should be reestablished in the Classical repertoire.

Pianist, conductor and recording artist Howard Shelley, a champion of the underrated Hummel, has enjoyed a long association with the London Mozart Players. Witness their intuitive partnership as they perform these masterpieces, and judge Hummel’s genius for yourself.