REVIEWS of
CDs
Beethoven:
Für Elise. Complete Bagatelles for piano. ABC Classics
(2008)
Our picture of
Beethoven the miniaturist has suddenly got bigger, thanks to Sydney
musicologist Peter McCallum... Stephanie McCallum reveals them for
what they no doubt were: little scraps from the workbench. While
lacking the structural interest of the Op33, 119 and 126 Bagatelles
(also on this recording), they point to Beethoven's increasing
preoccupation with simplicity. Melody and texture are pared to a
minimum all grandiosity has gone. McCallum's playing is amiable,
unfussed and flowing, with a naturalness that seems at home with
Beethoven's world of the miniature. At the same time, she draws out
powerful interpretative depth where needed, particularly in the Op.
126 Bagatelles. A more interesting disc of Beethoven's piano music
has not appeared in ages.
Graham Strahle. Weekend
Australian. Oct 11, 2008.
Alkan: Douze études
dans les tons mineurs [Twelve Etudes in the Minor Keys], Opus 39 [2
CD set]. ABC Classics 476 5335 (2006)
A
superlative set of the complete Op. 39 études-unsurpassed pianism
and enthusiasm ...RECORDING OF THE
MONTH(March
2007) MusicWeb International
"First, we need to get
the 'Guinness Book of World Records" aspect out of the way. With
this recording Stephanie McCallum becomes the first person in the
world to record the complete Alkan Études Opp. 35 and 39, having
recorded the Op. 35 major-key études in 1995. Secondly, it must be
said that all the descriptors usually applied to Alkan's music:
virtuosic, formidable, super-human - could as easily be applied to
Ms. McCallum's performances on these discs. Thirdly, like Liszt's
Transcendental Études, the Alkan études can be listened to in part,
but yield new emotional and structural values when listened to as a
whole.... Her combination of pianism, enthusiasm and
completeness cannot be topped."
William Kreindler, MusicWeb International, March
2007. Click here to
read the full review.
‘Stephanie
McCallum has once again proved herself as a pianist whose musical
versatility and fearless virtuosity is matched only by her
steely-fingered, powerful technique…This is coruscating
pianism…There is never a sense of virtuosity for its own sake with
McCallum’s playing. Her technique matches that required to make the
music work which is in itself a phenomenal undertaking. The hurdles
to be overcome and the risks to be taken are so immense that I
suspect that is why many pianists don’t even attempt this
repertoire.
This is a
CD that no lover of piano music should ever be without.’ –
Mike Smith in 2MBS fineMUSIC magazine Jan.2006.
"This
release is one of those that really deserves to be called by that
hackneyed phrase - a landmark...McCallum walks into this repertoire
in the company of giants like Hamelin and Smith and reveals herself
at every turn their equal." - John Weretka in MCA Music Forum
magazine. Aug-Oct, 2007.
‘’…elle laisse toujours
la musique s’épanouir, chanter, elle possède un talent étonnant
pour relever un détail, un contrechant, sans jamais souffrir la
ligne générale. Ce qui fait que même les pièces qui tournent plus
facilement à l’exploit vide, telles Comme le Vent ou
l’Ouverture, sont ici gorgées de musique…Stephanie sait
magistralement renouveler l’approche de cette fresque inégalée, ce
qui prouve assez sa richesse – qui en doute encore? – et l’immense
talent de l’interprète.” – Francois Luguenot. Bulletin de
la Societe Alkan No.68 July
2006.
Liszt:
from the Years of Pilgrimage. ABC Classics 476 124-8
(2003)
“...the soloist
expertly harnesses the full power and range of Liszt’s keyboard
with ardour and commitment. In the final work of the recital
McCallum brings a marvellous sense of rhythm and phrasing together
with brilliant and spirited playing in the Tarantella from Venezia
e Napoli. ...A glowing Liszt recital expertly recorded. I will
return to this release very soon.” Michael Cookson Musicweb
International review May 2004
Click
here to see the full
review
"...much
to marvel at in these lucid and sensitive compositions which drew
their inspiration from his travels. This disc maintains the
perfection we have come to expect from Stephanie McCallum's
recordings."- Anthony CLARKE. The Bulletin. 21 January,
2004.
"...The
centrepiece is the imposing After Reading Dante. Here McCallum
plays with sensitivity and impressive velocity..."-Martin BALL The
Weekend Australian. 17-18 January, 2004.
The
Liszt Album. ABC Classics 472 763-2 (2003)
"It's
only March but I'm ready to take a punt on The Liszt Album
as recording of the year...The tremendous B minor sonata grips from
the first. McCallum gives such a strong sense of knowing
the vicissitudes of the journey ahead that one surrenders
gratefully..."-Deborah JONES. The Weekend Australian. 22-23 March,
2003.
"This
recording includes one of the most ambitious solo works of the 19th
century, the Liszt Sonata in B minor, S178. Australian pianist
Stephanie McCallum plays the piece without recourse to overblown
dramatics, but with particularly finely judged tempo fluctuations.
This is, at heart, a reflective account, yet the tempos are
anything but slow. Rather, McCallum magically delays all those
moments of transition, lingering there examining their beauty,
before launching into another passage of bravura pianism. This
performance gets better on each hearing..."-Andrew FORD. 24 Hours
magazine. June, 2003.
"...Stephanie McCallum
is one of Australia's foremost pianists, and this disc continues
the thread of ravishing beauty heard on her last ABC album of
French music, Perfume..."-Anthony CLARKE. The Bulletin, 13 May,
2003
Perfume-
the exquisite piano music of France. ABC Classics 461 798-2
(2001)
"...Stephanie McCallum
is a rarity amongst musicians. Relishing in contrapuntal
complexities and tonal colour...she brings distinction to
everything she touches....a kaleidoscopic recital full of diversity
in terms of instrumental colour, technique and style...Perfume
showcases one of Australia's finest pianists..." -Brett
ALLEN-BAYES. DB magazine (Adelaide) 2001.
"...outstanding
recording...Stephanie McCallum's pianism is imbued with poetic
suggestion, eloquent rhythms, luminous sonorities, wit and
intelligence..."
-Sarah
GRUNSTEIN. MCA Music Forum August/September 2001.
"...eloquent music
played with grace and elegance, and not a trace
of sentimentality..."-Deborah JONES. The Weekend Australian.
5-6 May, 2001.
Weber:
The Complete Piano Sonatas and Other Works [2 CD set]. ABC Classics
462 763-2 (1998)
"Stephanie McCallum
plays them with immense technical brilliance, great sensitivity to
their potential for varied colour (and touch) and unflagging spirit
. . . the lightning speeds of the final
movements of No. 1 in C (Weber called L'infatigable)
and No. 4 in E minor (La Tarantella) leaves the
listener breathless (though not this pianist!).-John CARMODY
Sun Herald 31 March, 1999
" . . .
a stunning release . . . in every sense a
triumph . . . an extraordinary demonstration
of Romantic pianism . . . The implicit
message of this recording is that here is the music of an
underrated and misunderstood genius. After hearing McCallum's
sympathetic, unashamedly Romantic interpretation of the generous
selection, it's hard not to agree." -Martin BUZACOTT 24
Hours May 1999
Alkan
and Magnard. Tall Poppies - TP 081 (1996)
"It would
be hard to imagine anyone doing better justice to this music than
Ms McCallum. She is a big-boned player with a cracker-jack
technique and a penetrating intelligence. She plays with a gripping
intensity that won't quit, but she also knows where to let the
music breathe." -American Record Guide July
1998
"I found
myself spellbound -- it's not too strong an expression -- by this
music, disappointed when it stopped and moved by its eloquence."
-Andrew FORD
24 Hours September 1996
Alkan,
Twelve Studies in all the Major Keys, Opus 35. Tall Poppies - TP
055 (1994)
" . . .
a formidable and insightful pianist, who gives us a very good idea
of what the music is all about, ie. transcendental technique at the
service of ecstatic yet utterly disciplined vision.
. . . Vibrant splendour that seems to presage
Rachmaninov, Scriabin and late Faure in a single transcendent
amalgam. Music like this, as well served as this, should be
self-recommending." -Calum MacDONALD London Hi-Fi News and
Record Review April 1995
"Rarely
do I find a record so irresistible that I listen to it over and
over . . . This is such a record
. . . I can't imagine a lover of romantic
piano music not going for this. Stephanie McCallum is a thoroughly
convincing champion of this music . . . Not
only are her fingers up to the quite formidable technical task, but
she has the right temperament. Her playing has real character and
elan." - American Hi Fi May/June 1995
"McCallum
has a formidable pianistic armoury . . . a
most impressive recital."
--Jeremy NICHOLAS Classic CD London, September
1995
"Le
pianiste australienne interprète ces études avec un feu,
un enthousiasme et un sen du cantabile . . .
L'Allegro barbaro est le plus sauvage de la discographie..Quelle
fête
du piano et quel style juste!" -François LUGUENOT
Bulletin de la SociétéAlkan No.
29
Notations. Tall Poppies
- TP 037 (1994)
"McCallum
is an incredible advocate. Her transparency and dynamic energy fit
the idiom of this music like a glove and the sound is impeccable."
-American Hi Fi May/June 1995
" . . .
always characterised by brilliant, steely finger technique and an
unswerving and intelligent dedication to the music
. . . Anyone who plays Alkan and Xenakis with
equal mastery deserves all the accolades we can throw her way.
Brava!" - Andrew FORD
24 Hours September 1996
Alkan's
Concerto for Solo Piano. Chants Opus 70 [first recording of
the Chants] 2MBS - MBS 24CD (1992)
" . . .
a remarkable performance. There can't be many pianists who can play
this diabolically difficult music as well as Stephanie McCallum.
She negotiates, projects, and shapes the concerto, especially its
fabulous first movement (twenty-eight minutes), into a thrilling
experience . . . an outstanding rendition of
a work as overwhelming as any piano music ever written. Over and
over this pianist brings out details which make it more amazing
than ever, while her total approach is convincing throughout the
121 pages and nearly fifty minutes of this unique, utterly
stupefying music." -Paul RAPOPORT Fanfare. USA.
November 1992 .
"The
quality of McCallum's playing and her effective transmission of
music to which she has a passionate allegiance make this disc
noteworthy in any company." -Roger COVELL Sydney Morning Herald 8
September 1992
REVIEWS of Live Concerts
“If there
were a piano section in the Commonwealth games, Stephanie McCallum
would win hands down….she performed from memory what is certainly
one of the most demanding works for solo piano:Charles-Valentin
Alkan’s Concerto for solo piano. It is the supreme work of Romantic
virtuosity by this cult composer…McCallum’s prodigious technique
and musicianship were awe-inspiring as she took on a task that
would push almost any other pianist to the outermost limits of
possibility.” – Stephen WHITTINGTON. Adelaide Advertiser. 13
March, 2006.
“…truly
beautiful and exacting performances of Liszt…the attention to
technical details throughout this generous and exacting recital
were spellbinding…I suggest that McCallum is the Alkan pianist of
our age.” – Brett ALLEN-BAYES. DB Magazine. March/April
2006.
“…Hers was a
titanic performance from memory (57 minutes), full of contrasts in
every way, totally mesmerising.”- Fred BLANKS. North Shore Times.
21 Oct.2005.
“…
McCallum’s playing strongly projected the drama of the first and
third movements [Mozart Piano Concerto in C min. K.491],
while the central Romance was a beautifully lyrical interlude…a
performance to savour with delight.”-W.L. HOFFMANN. Canberra Times
11 April, 2005.
"...Mozart's Piano
Concerto No. 18 in B flat received a fine performance from
Sydney-based pianist Stephanie McCallum, who made the often too
familiar language of Mozart sound quite new...McCallum was an
inspired choice of soloist, bringing an intense, almost cerebral
feel to the work. Her cadenzas displayed suitable flair and
technical mastery but the good stuff was in the detail: the
interplay between soloist and orchestra [Sydney Symphony Orchestra]
and a delicate touch which made the piano sing like a rare bird."-
Harriet CUNNINGHAM. Sydney Morning Herald. 11
February,2002.
"...McCallum is an
intelligent and passionate performer, whose thoughtful
interpretation of the last sonata, Op.111, was one of the
highlights of the series [Festival of Sydney, Complete Beethoven
Sonatas]...(she) brought an innate understanding of the music's
structure to works whose emotional power remains undiminished two
centuries on."-Hilary SHRUBB The Australian. 22 January,
2001.
"...McCallum was
well up to these extreme demands. Her playing was characterised by
attack, strength and admirable, even astonishing dexterity...such
was the richness of the grouping of these four sonatas and her
command of each, that the Appassionata, so familiar and so highly
vaunted, emerged as a triumph in itself, but not over its fellows
on this profoundly satisfying program."-Peter MORRISON. Australian
Jewish News. 9 February, 2001.
"... One
expects technical brilliance from Alpha, but the expressive content
depends much more on the repertoire. In this concert the emotion
crept up on me unexpectedly through the maze of notes, and blew me
away, particularly in the two solo piano works, Andriessen's almost
impressionistic Image de Moreau and Rihm's wonderfully inarticulate
Dialogues, played with quiet determination by Stephanie
McCallum"-Harriet CUNNINGHAM. Sydney Morning Herald. 20 June,
2000.
"There
could hardly be a more exultant way to conclude this week's review
than with the recollection of Stephanie McCallum's Art Gallery
recital of Weber, Debussy and Wagner...McCallum's virtuosic and
pulsating performance (on a Stuart piano) of [Weber's] second
sonata... to hear McCallum conquer Liszt's arrangement of the
Tannhauser Overture was a stupendous experience: the treble clarity
of the violins' figuration in the original, the richness that this
Australian piano allowed her to impart to the phrases intended for
winds and brass, the sheer pyrotechnics of it all!"-John CARMODY.
Sun Herald. 24 January, 1999.
" . . .
a revelation. A stunning account of [Alkan's] Allegro Barbaro, a
study in octaves from opus 35 was reminiscent of Horowitz on a good
day." -West Australian. 11 August, 1998.
"I went
principally to hear the brilliant Sydney pianist, Stephanie
McCallum, who played Weber's Concert Piece in F minor with them and
was extremely pleased with my decision. She raced up and down the
keyboard dazzlingly and in the more reflective moments showed a
superb technical and expressive independence of left and right
hand....She's another great Australian musician whose insufficient
renown in her own country is out of proportion with her abilities."
- Sun Herald. 11 August, 1996.
"Her
playing of this exciting work [Alkan's Concerto for Piano Solo]
. . . is one of the glories of Australian
pianism." -Sydney Morning
Herald 29 January, 1988.
" . . .
A gifted artist . . . Boldly beginning with a
refined yet well coloured reading of Ravel's Valses nobles et
sentimentales, she went on to tackle Beethoven's Appassionata
Sonata headlong, emphasising its quirkiness as well as its sheer
driving power with admirable clarity, weight and thoughtfulness
. . . Saint-Saens' Toccata, opus 111 No 6
concluded an impressive debut with Miss McCallum's playing all
colour and brilliant light." -Stephen PETTITT. The Times,
London.
" . . .
Her whole programme was bold and fresh . . .
Her special strengths are her clean, muscular technique and her
confident grasp of extended musical wholes. Her Weber had an apt
dramatic flair . . . The Moto Perpetuo was
exhilaratingly speedy and sure. She sounded utterly sympathetic in
Butterley's Uttering Joyous Leaves . . . Her
Alkan set amounted to a `tour de force´ . . .
a sense of rounded purpose informed all of it. In her immensely
capable hands both the outer etudes made great impressions
. . . Alkan's pianism was madly professional
and intricate (no lover of the Romantic piano should be unfamiliar
with it, for it carries a certain ideal of the instrument to a
magnificent extreme)."
-David MURRAY. Financial Times, London.
"No
review of recent events would be complete without mention of
Stephanie McCallum's gargantuan undertaking at the Wigmore Hall on
6th December . . . she tackled Alkan's
mammoth Three Etudes, Op. 76 for the right and left hands
separately and for both hands reunited . . .
for Miss McCallum the ascent to such austere pinnacles of the
virtuoso repertoire is an engrossing wonderfully worthwhile task."
-Bryce MORRISON. Music and Musicians,
London. | 