CZERNY : Piano Concerto In F Major · Piano Concerto In A Major · Rondo Brilliant (Howard Shelley • Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) (2017) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 71 | FLAC (tracks), lossless

The sheer volume of works by the Czech-Austrian composer Carl Czerny has made appreciation difficult, and most pianists know him only through his School of Velocity piano exercises, still in common use. Howard Shelley here turns to Czerny in his magisterial series of Romantic piano concertos, which reaches its 71st volume with this release. The highlight is probably the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 214 (sample the first movement), where Shelley nails the brilliant passagework at the top of the keyboard. This kind of thing is what kept pianists playing Czerny throughout the first half of the 19th century, even as more progressive composers came on the scene, and Shelley's performance is entirely idiomatic. The expansive Piano Concerto in F major, Op. 28, was designated in the 1830s as an arrangement of a guitar concerto by Mauro Giuliani, a fact mentioned in Hyperion's online notes for the album, but not in its printed booklet. It's not certain who the original author was, but the unusually variegated first movement sounds more like Giuliani than Czerny. There is a concluding Rondo brillant, Op. 233, with an adagio introduction, that has a slam-bang finale that's pure Czerny. Throughout these works (other than the Op. 28), there is a tendency toward square phrase structures that make you long for some kind of disruption, but Shelley makes you realize why Czerny was so successful. Part of his success is due to his conducting the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra from the keyboard; the musicians hang together nicely in some high-speed tempi. Recommended for those interested in the Beethoven orbit and the period immediately after. James Manheim
Tracklist :
Piano Concerto In F Major Op. 28    (27:04)
Composed By – Carl Czerny

Piano Concerto In A Minor Op. 214    (31:11)
Composed By – Carl Czerny

Rondo Brilliant In B Flat Major Op. 233    (14:54)
Composed By – Carl Czerny
Credits :
Conductor, Piano – Howard Shelley
Leader – Emma McGrath
Orchestra – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

CARL CZERNY - Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 (2008) 2CD / Mp3

Martin Jones is known for recording the complete piano works of composers, however, Carl Czerny is one composer that it might take a pianist decades to find, let alone record, all of his works for the instrument. Jones has undertaken Czerny's 11 sonatas in this series for Nimbus, with a few smaller pieces to fill out each volume. Czerny categorized his hundreds of piano pieces into serious works, brilliant pieces for concerts, easy pieces for students, and exercises. It is the latter for which he is remembered today, particularly the School of Velocity, Op. 299. This series should change that view and show that Czerny was not only a personal link between Beethoven (his teacher) and Liszt (his student), but also a compositional and stylistic link between the two. Jones starts squarely in the middle of the 11 with four "sonatas" that are hardly traditional in terms of their form. Nos. 8 and 9 were published as "Grandes Fantasies en forme de Sonate," and while their heroic sound is suggestive of Beethoven's music, it also brings to mind Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy. The Sonata No. 5, Op. 76, does not even have a single movement in the sonata-allegro form. These are at once expansions on Beethoven's four-movement form and a foreshadowing of Liszt's own break with traditional: his single-movement, multi-sectioned B minor Sonata. Liszt's virtuosity is also evoked in the flashier and more dramatic moments of Czerny's Allegros and Prestos. It makes you wonder just what more Czerny put into his "brilliant" pieces for concerts if these are some of his "serious" works. These sonatas also demonstrate that Czerny was well educated in music history and theory. The fugue finale of Sonata No. 9 and the chorale variations in Sonata No. 6 refer to forms of the Baroque. The scherzo of No. 8 is like a Rossini tidbit, and that of Sonata No. 5 is like a Schubert dance. The Nocturne, Op. 647, that fills out disc 1, is dated much later than the sonatas, but its somewhat dense texture relates it more to the sonatas than to a Chopin nocturne even though it's obviously Czerny's attempt at something more lyrical and gracefully ornamented. With this first volume, Jones easily presents Czerny as much more well-rounded and important composer than anyone who's struggled with his etudes might ever suspect. by Patsy Morita  

CARL CZERNY - Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2 (2010) 2CD / Mp3

Martin Jones's second volume of the piano sonatas of Carl Czerny covers the beginning and end of Czerny's work in the genre, and on the whole the music is more understated than what's in Jones's first volume. This one opens with Czerny's last sonata, No. 11, which dates from 1843, more than 20 years later than the Sonata No. 1 (1820), which is also on the first disc here. The sonata has more lyrical ideas present than in the middle sonatas, but still has its Beethovenian moments and some drama. An interesting feature of the first movement is the frequent use of octaves in the right hand, and there is a definite 19th century, salon- or music box-appropriate flavor at times. That flavor is also found in the Character Etude, Op. 755/1, and in the almost John Field-like delicacy of the Chanson sans Paroles, Op. 795/1, both of which date from around the same time as the Sonata No. 11. The Sonatas Nos. 1 and No. 2 have five movements each. The first four seem to follow a traditional sonata structure, with the fifth being a fugue tacked on as an afterword. No. 1 is definitely by Czerny, the student of Beethoven, while No. 2 is written more concisely and, in terms of expression, more conservatively. The Sonatina that follows is expectedly of smaller proportions and less theatrical than the sonatas. The Sonata No. 7, one of the "grande fantasies" like No. 8 and No. 9 (on Vol. 1), is also a more modest work, not as "grande" as its siblings. With less dense textures and fewer passages of brilliant pianism, the sonatas in this volume give the listener a chance to appreciate Czerny as a more rounded composer and enjoy the music without getting too caught up in rousing heroism or impressive virtuosic feats. So far, Jones has again made the case for another underrated composer, presenting these sonatas with appropriate flair and finesse. by Patsy Morita 

CARL CZERNY - Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3 (2011) 2CD / Mp3