Leon McCawley www.leonmccawley.com was 1st Prize
winner in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and 2nd Prize
winner at the Leeds International Piano Competition, both in 1993. He studied
with Heather Slade-Lipkin at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester before
continuing his studies with Eleanor Sokoloff at the Curtis Institute of Music,
Philadelphia, USA. He also worked closely with Nina Milkina in London. Leon
McCawley is currently professor of piano at London's Royal College of Music.
McCawley’s successful career as a concerto soloist has seen
him perform with many of the leading British orchestras including the Academy
of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic,
Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham
Symphony and Royal Northern Sinfonia. He has performed several times at BBC
Proms. Abroad he has worked with orchestras such as the Adelaide Symphony,
Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Minnesota
Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, RTÉ Concert and
National Symphony Orchestras, St. Petersburg Symphony and Vienna Symphony,
working with conductors such as Mark Elder, Daniele Gatti, Andrew Litton, Kurt
Masur, Gianandrea Noseda, Sakari Oramo and Simon Rattle.
In April 2011 he performed the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas
over one weekend at King’s Place, London with other notable recitals in past
seasons including the London Piano Series at Wigmore Hall, the International
Piano Series at London’s Southbank Centre, Philharmonie and Konzerthaus in
Berlin, Frick Collection and Lincoln Center New York, Hong Kong Arts Festival,
Prague Rudolfinum and the Phillips Collection, Washington DC.
McCawley’s discography includes Barber Piano Music (EMI
Classics); Schumann Piano Music (Avie Records) selected as Editor's Choice in
Gramophone; The Complete Piano Works of Hans Gal (Avie), also a Gramophone
Editor's Choice; The Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas (Avie) awarded a Diapason
d'Or; Chopin Piano Music (Somm Recordings); a new recording of Barber Piano
Music (Somm), awarded Critic's Choice in Gramophone in November 2011;
Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with Royal Philharmonic and City of London Choir
conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton (Naxos); Brahms Piano Music (Somm), selected
as Classic FM CD of the Week in July 2012; and Schumann Piano Music (Somm).
Leon McCawley’s fifth
disc for Somm Recordings www.somm-recordings.com
of
Rachmaninov’s Complete Preludes has just been released.
 |
| SOMMCD 0143 |
McCawley opens his new disc with Rachmaninov’s most famous
prelude, the Prelude No. 2 in C sharp minor,
Op. 3 from 5 Morceaux de fantasie (1892). After drawing our immediate
attention in the opening bars, he brings a beautifully poised performance with
great care of tempi and is not afraid to let go with some truly wonderful
playing in the fast, rhythmic, virtuosic passages bringing a fine sense of
scale.
With the Preludes,
Op.23, all but one of which were
composed in 1903, McCawley brings a lovely sense of forward pushing tension to No. 1 in F sharp minor, a subtle racketing
up of the drama together with the loveliest of quieter, poetic moments. The
stormy Prelude No. 2 in B flat major brings some particularly fine, beautifully
phrased and articulated playing as well as a meltingly lovely central section. McCawley’s
touch is particularly silken towards the coda with a fine subtle rhythmic
spring to the music.
He gives us a
nicely sprung Prelude No. 3 in D minor played with moments of
fine restraint with some beautifully shaped passages before an exquisitely
drawn No. 4 in D major with so many
shades of subtle colouring as McCawley slowly reveals Rachmaninov’s lovely
theme. His phrasing and gentle, subtle rubato are very fine with, towards the
end, another meltingly beautiful moment exquisitely played.
McCawley’s fine rhythmic playing is to the fore in No. 5 in G minor (1901) with moments of
fine bravura whilst revealing the many subtleties, particularly in the second
subject, beautifully and sensitivity done with a lovely restraint. There is a
beautifully expansive No. 6 in E flat major
which has an intimate quality, as though the composer is speaking quietly to an
intimate gathering; quite lovely.
McCawley’s ability to reveal the gentle subtleties in
Rachmaninov’s music can be heard in No. 7
in C minor, again beautifully coloured and phrased with this pianist’s
lovely subtle rubato and a finely controlled climax centrally. No. 8 in A flat major receives a
sparkling, crisp and rhythmically bubbling performance, beautifully articulated
with this pianist’s ability to suddenly reveal some of this composer’s most beautifully
turned phrases.
This pianist finds so much in the odd little Prelude No. 9 in E flat minor allowing it to have a natural flow right
through the climax to its fine coda. McCawley’s performance of the Prelude No. 10 in G flat major makes a glorious conclusion to this set,
again finely phrased, with a natural ebb and flow picking up on so many lovely
subtle moments.
Rachmaninov’s Preludes,
Op.32 date from 1910. Leon McCawley finds all the subtle mood changes of
the Prelude No. 1 in C major whilst
bringing a lively gentle rhythmic quality to No. 2 in B flat major with
more fine subtleties, rising through some fine passages before a lovely coda.
McCawley’s superb control of dynamics brings much to No. 3 in E major, bringing a joy and
occasionally a hint of Russian bells. No.
4 in E minor is beautifully phrased allowing the music to breathe with
carefully wrought dynamics as well as a lovely reflective passage where
McCawley finds so much poetry and imagination. There is a terrific climax
before the fine coda. This pianist’s lovely delicate touch brings fine rippling
phrases to No. 5 in G major again with
such poetic sensibility, quite exquisite, before the simple little coda.
There is a wonderfully controlled Prelude No. 6 in F minor
before a beautifully judged Prelude No. 7 in F major where McCawley reveals
the lovely little rhythmic pulse that runs through this piece, with so many
fine subtleties. Prelude No. 8 in A minor
brings some phenomenally fine playing of great intricacy and fluency, once
again beautifully controlled and phrased.
Prelude No. 9 in A major
has a lovely expansive flow, very fine rubato and a fine poetic vision, another
exquisite performance whilst No. 10 in B
minor, one of Rachmaninov’s loveliest preludes, is beautifully presented
with superb phrasing, and a real poetic vision. It rises full of authority and
stature before falling back to lead gently through moments of subtly nuanced
emotion with McCawley’s timing perfectly judged, particularly in those little
pauses.
There is more fine playing in the Prelude No. 11 in B major, wonderfully paced, bringing out all of
Rachmaninov’s fleeting melodic invention. No.
12 in G sharp minor has such a light shimmering touch, finely controlled
with exquisite rubato and a delightful coda whereas the final Prelude, No. 13 in D flat major, opens with a melancholy eloquence with McCawley’s
perfectly judged tempo, subtly allowing Rachmaninov’s little theme to take off,
rising to an especially fine, broad, dynamic passage before leading through the
most lovely of phrases to a very fine coda.
Leon McCawley is a real poet of the keyboard in these performances
that are alive to Rachmaninov’s wonderful melodic invention. He receives an excellent recording made at
Champs Hill, Pulborough, West Sussex, England with a fine sense of space and
detail. There are particularly good booklet notes from Robert Matthew-Walker.
Anyone wishing to acquire a recording of Rachmaninov
complete preludes is spoilt for choice with so many fine recordings available.
Anyone choosing this new release can be sure that it is amongst the finest.
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