The 18th-century practice of a soloist directing concertos from the keyboard was revived as far back as the 1930s by the great Swiss pianist, Edwin Fischer. In the 1960s and 1970s it became almost a fashion in recorded cycles of the Mozart piano concertos, including those from Geza Anda, Daniel Barenboim and Murray Perahia. In recent years, the English pianist Howard Shelley (left) has been one of the many players to adopt the practice. At the National Concert Hall on Friday, he can be heard in the dual role, not in a work from the 18th century, but in Mendelssohn's flamboyantly 19th-century G minor Piano Concerto. It's part of an all-Mendelssohn, teatime (6.30pm) concert with the NSO, which will also feature excerpts from Mendelssohn's magical incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and the sunny Italian Symphony.
