[ Hyperion / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Saturday 20 September 2008
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
'This is a most attractive and sparkling account on Clement's final sonatas and brings to a satisfying conclusion Howard Shelley's survey of Clementi… the sound captured on the recording more than lives up to expectations' (International Record Review)
'Each volume has shown remarkable variety from Clement's fervid imagination … For all the temptation to compare Clementi with his more familiar contemporaries, a clear and distinctive voice appears through this overview of the complete sonatas. Shelley's technical security allows him to project a sense of ease and spontaneity … The complete set proves a benchmark which I doubt will be moved for a very long time' (BBC Music Magazine)
'This must be one of the most handsome of all recent homages to a lesser-known composer, with nothing about the performances, recording quality or presentation falling short of first-class … Shelley is a perfect advocate for this music, the limpidness of his playing being allied to utter sensitivity of dynamic and phrasing … A heartening achievement on all counts' (Gramophone)
'This is a most attractive and sparkling account on Clement's final sonatas and brings to a satisfying conclusion Howard Shelley's survey of Clementi… the sound captured on the recording more than lives up to expectations' (International Record Review)
Howard Shelley's series of Clementi's Piano Sonatas has received the highest critical acclaim and reawoken interest in this important body of piano music. Today, the composer has been overshadowed by his great rivals; but, as this unique series has shown, the best of his sonatas can equal Mozart and Haydn and were clearly a huge influence on the young Beethoven.
This sixth and final volume contains some of the most complex, virtuosic and large-scale works that Clementi wrote for the keyboard, written for performance in London concert halls, by the great pianists of the day, for a fashionable and discerning audience.
Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 40, No. 1
Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 40, No. 2
Piano Sonata In D major, Op. 40, No. 3
Sonata in A major Op. 50 No. 1
Sonata in D minor, Op. 50 No. 2
Sonata in G minor, Op. 50 No. 3