Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Piano Concerto in E major No.4, Op.110, 'Les Adieux', Hans Kann

Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Piano Concerto in E major, “Les Adieux”, No.4, Op.110, Hans Kann (piano), Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Heribert Beissel‎ ‎(conductor) Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 – 17 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. Hummel was born in Pressburg, Kingdom of Hungary, then a part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy (now Bratislava in Slovakia). Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hummel was a child prodigy. Hummel was taught and housed by Mozart for two years free of charge and made his first concert appearance at the age of nine at one of Mozart's concerts. Johann Nepomuk Hummel enjoyed immense fame during his lifetime, and critics of the day termed him the equal of Ludwig van Beethoven perhaps even more gifted. Carl Czerny, Friedrich Silcher, Ferdinand Hiller, Sigismond Thalberg, and Adolf von Henselt were among Hummel's most prominent students. He also briefly gave some lessons to Felix Mendelssohn. But by the 1830s, musical tastes had begun to change, and Hummel's reputation suffered somewhat in Germany and Austria. The Austrian pianist and composer's musical legacy was eclipsed, however, by the romantic composers who immediately followed, and his works were largely forgotten a century later.