Biography (read more)
Isaac Ignaz Moscheles was born in Prague on 23 May 1794 into an affluent German-speaking Jewish merchant family. His father played the guitar and wanted a musician among his children; the piano lessons were meant for Moscheles’s sister and passed to him when she refused them. At the Prague Conservatory his teacher Bedřich Diviš Weber tried to steer him away from the then-revolutionary Beethoven toward Bach, Mozart and Clementi. After his father’s death he settled in Vienna in 1808, studied counterpoint with Albrechtsberger and composition with Salieri, and changed his name from Isaac to Ignaz. He married Charlotte Emden, a Hamburg banker’s daughter and cousin of Heinrich Heine, in a synagogue in 1825; after settling in England he joined the Church of England, and he and his wife were baptised in 1832. He died on 10 March 1870.
He was among the leading virtuosos in Vienna during the Congress of 1814–15, where he wrote the Alexander Variations, Op. 32, for piano and orchestra and played it across Europe; Hummel, Kalkbrenner, Cramer, Herz and Weber were his rivals through the 1820s. Beethoven was impressed enough to entrust him with the piano score of Fidelio for Artaria, and returned the finished manuscript — which Moscheles had signed off “Finished with God’s help” — with the added line “O Man, help thyself!”. He was based in London for many years before moving to Leipzig, where he joined Mendelssohn, his friend and former pupil, as professor of piano at the Conservatory; his teaching there shaped a generation, among them three of the childhood teachers of Charles Villiers Stanford.
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Repertoire
Moscheles: Anticipations of Scotland “A Grand Fantasia”, Op. 75: I. Introduction. Adagio ma non…— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Anticipations of Scotland “A Grand Fantasia”, Op. 75: II. Kelvin Grove. Andantino…— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Anticipations of Scotland “A Grand Fantasia”, Op. 75: III. Auld Robin Gray. Adagio…— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Anticipations of Scotland “A Grand Fantasia”, Op. 75: IV. Lord Moira’s Strathspey….— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Anticipations of Scotland “A Grand Fantasia”, Op. 75: V. Finale. Allegro vivace— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Recollections of Ireland, Op. 69: I. Fantasia. Allegro moderato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Recollections of Ireland, Op. 69: II. The Groves of Blarney. Andante sostenuto…— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Recollections of Ireland, Op. 69: III. Garry Owen. Allegro— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Recollections of Ireland, Op. 69: IV. St Patrick’s Day— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 90 “Fantastique”: I. Allegro con spirito— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 90 “Fantastique”: II. Andante espressivo— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 90 “Fantastique”: III. Allegro agitato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 90 “Fantastique”: IV. Vivace— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Cello Sonata in E Major, Op. 121: I. Allegro espressivo e appassionato— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Moscheles: Cello Sonata in E Major, Op. 121: II. Scherzo “ballabile”. Allegretto quasi allegro— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Moscheles: Cello Sonata in E Major, Op. 121: III. Ballade “in böhmische Weise”. Andantino— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Moscheles: Cello Sonata in E Major, Op. 121: IV. Allegro vivace, ma non troppo— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 4 in E Major, Op. 64: I. Allegro maestoso— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 4 in E Major, Op. 64: II. Adagio— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 4 in E Major, Op. 64: III. Rondo. Allegretto – Tempo di marcia— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 5 in C Major, Op. 87: I. Allegro moderato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 5 in C Major, Op. 87: II. Adagio non troppo— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 5 in C Major, Op. 87: III. Allegro vivace— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Major, Op. 45: I. Allegro maestoso— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Major, Op. 45: II. Adagio— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Major, Op. 45: III. Rondo. Allegro vivace— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 93 “Pathétique”: I. [Untitled]— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 93 “Pathétique”: II. Allegro agitato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 93 “Pathétique”: III. Allegro con brio— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 56: I. Allegro moderato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 56: II. Adagio— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 56: III. Allegretto, tempo di polacca— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 58: I. Allegro moderato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 58: II. Adagio— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley
Moscheles: Piano Concerto No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 58: III. Allegro agitato— Howard Shelley
Performed by Howard Shelley