Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra/Howard Shelley (piano)Hyperion CDA 67843 ***

Frédéric Kalkbrenner (1785- 1849) was born in Germany and received his formative musical education in Paris. He mingled with Haydn, Hummel, Clementi and Beethoven in Vienna and spent 10 years in England, where he established his reputation as one of the great pianists of the age. He was back in Paris when Chopin, a great admirer ("If Paganini is perfection, Kalkbrenner is his equal"), arrived there, and dedicated his First Concerto to Kalkbrenner. As a composer Kalkbrenner espoused classical ideals, but the virtuoso in him always seems to have had the whip hand. The three works here include echoes of Beethoven, premonitions of Chopin and some flavours of Field (though without the Irishman's originality), all bundled in florid, sometimes vacuous packaging, which Howard Shelley shapes with neat and tasteful expertise. url.ie/4qdb