Active in every genre other than opera, Carl Czerny is largely remembered for the numerous piano studies he wrote as pedagogical aids. Howard Shelley's advocacy of his three overlooked virtuoso works for piano and orchestra is a welcome reminder of this composer's greater appeal. Alongside the Piano Concerto in A minor Op.214 are two premiere recordings of his Piano Concerto in F major Op.28 and Rondo Brillant in B flat major Op.233.

Though lesser-known today, composers Alfred Hill and George Boyle enjoyed distinguished careers, both in their native Australia and abroad. Hill was known as the 'grand old man' of Australian musical life in his time. His Piano Concerto in A minor and Piano Sonata in A major are effectively the same work, the one being an orchestral expansion of the other. In addition to his work as a composer, Boyle took on students in New York that included such luminaries as Copland and Barber. The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol.69 features his Piano Concerto in D minor. All works are performed here by Piers Lane and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra led by Johannes Fritzsch.

The first recording of Moritz Moszkowski’s long-lost—and eagerly awaited—early Piano Concerto makes for a particularly important addition to the Romantic Piano Concerto series. The coupling is another rarity (and recorded premiere): the Russian Rhapsody by Adolf Schulz-Evler.

Franz Liszt was without doubt one of the greatest (if not The Greatest) pianists of all time, as well as an innovating and visionary composer, in one word…a Genius!

Henri Herz was a phenomenon in 1830s Paris and 1840s America, but today his music is mostly forgotten. He wrote eight piano concertos, one of which was lost. Concertos 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 appear across two previous volumes of the Romantic Piano Concertos series. Here, Howard Shelley and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra put on their finest dancing shoes to complete the cycle with Piano Concerto No. 2 (the one with which Herz conquered America in 1846) and three extended fantasies.

Sarah Chang is certainly an exceptional player; her finely produced tone is characteristically sweet, yet she varies it most imaginatively — in the Concerto's slow movement, for instance, where she follows the changing shades of emotion in the most detailed way. The first movement may have been recorded with more strongly expressed feeling (by Boris Belkin), its finale with more mercurial displays of virtuosity (Xue-Wei), but overall Chang is the equal of any, with relaxed technical command and real feeling for the music. The accompaniment is well balanced and cleanly recorded, with distinguished solo contributions from woodwind and horns.

Sony Classical's Great Performances Series has scored yet another winner with its coupling of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1 and the First Cello Concerto. Previously released individually, the close proximity in the recording dates of these two works (1959 and 1960) makes them a natural choice for a pairing. Continuing in the Philadelphia Orchestra tradition, the performance of the Symphony No. 1 follows the 1928 United States premiere of the work, given by the same orchestra and conducted by Ormandy's predecessor, Leopold Stokowski. Inherited from him is the notably lush sound of Philadelphia's lower strings, which capture the essence of Shostakovich's weighty harmonies.

The combination of Neville Marriner and his always sterling evocation of excellence from the Academy of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields offers the perfect accompaniment and support for Malcolm's playing. The late George Malcolm was a brilliantly gifted organist even though his real specialty had always been harpsichord. He always seems to find the lightest most delightful playing to fit the idea of the piece.

With a "bonus" eighth track of the Rondo alla Zingarese-Presto from Brahms' First Piano Quartet filling out this CD to a near maximal 75 minutes and 55 seconds, this disc is a steal. The Double Concerto by Brahms is an energetic and riveting yet enigmatic addition to the concerto repertoire. With a combination of solo instruments not widely used since the Baroque era due to their contrasting sounds, this work presents some unique challenges in finding the proper balance between orchestra, solo violin, and solo cello.

Murray Perahia's account of the Grieg Concerto is utterly absorbing. The playing is brilliant, but the pianist's approach–more Chopinesque than Lisztian–keeps that brilliance at the service of larger expressive goals. The result is a performance aglow with understated intensity, one in which the prevalent feeling is often melancholy, at times even bleak. Sir Colin Davis draws a wonderfully refined accompaniment from the Bavarian orchestra in this live reading of the score. The recording, from Munich's Philharmonic Hall, is excellent and effectively captures the beautiful tone Perahia coaxes from his piano.

C.P.E. Bach eclipsed his legendary father s fame to become the mid-18th century s leading German composer. This wide-ranging collection of symphonies, concertos and vocal works by the great forerunner of Haydn and Mozart is performed by authoritative interpreters including Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert. The evident delight of the musicians in this music makes for rewarding listening … Impressive and fascinating.

After establishing his name with THE complete Paganini violin concertos on DG in the early 1970s Accardo migrated freely between record companies. His Collins coupling of the Elgar and Walton concertos remains a highlight for me and is now reissued on the budget Regis label. The sojourn with Philips also bore healthy fruit.

Whilst Handel was renowned in his lifetime as a virtuoso organist, his art was based on improvisation. He left no developed oeuvre of keyboard pieces which would give us an idea of his full capabilities as an organist. His organ concertos are actually theatre pieces, developed by Handel to support his oratorio performances. Handel brought in an organ to act as continuo in the choruses and developed the idea of an organ concerto as a way of adding extra novelty. At the oratorios, the audience could not rely on novelty and virtuoso display from the latest Italian singers so Handel’s performances on the organ were a sort of substitute.

I have many versions of this great concerto. My first ever exposure to this work was a recording by Witold Malcuzynski that I have now acquired on CD. Since the 1960s I have collected recordings by many great pianists including Bronfman, Glemser, Ashkenazy, Janis, Gilels, Vasary, Horowitz, Lympany, Gieseking, Helfgott, de Larrocha, Rachmaninoff, Wild, Kapell, Bolet, Argerich, Malcuzynski - and just when I thought I'd heard all the Rach 3 had to say, along comes this sublime recording by the late great Lazar Berman. The playing is clear, romantic, musically intelligent, exciting and enjoyable and satisfying in every way.

French oboist Francois Leleux presents a stunning recording of works by Richard Strauss, including his oboe concerto, one of the finest written for the instrument, and two chamber works, which he performs with his own ensemble, the Paris Bastille Ensemble. Joining Leleux on the concerto recording is the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding, one of our greatest young conductors.