REVIEWS of CDs
Scenes from Childhood: Piano Music
of Robert Schumann ABC Classics 476 3852 (2010)
"Australian pianist Stephanie McCallum is renowned for tackling
the 19th-century virtuoso repertoire. Schumann presents an entirely
different degree of difficulty. Though by no means easy to play,
his music also demands a high level of empathy... Schumann, like
Chopin, does not benefit from extra rubato or exaggerated dynamics.
Judging from this recording, McCallum feels the same way. Her
gradations of tone colour are subtly judged and discreet pauses in
the music's progress are never underlined. Nothing is
over-pointed." PS. Limelight, March 2011.
“...Much more interesting is Stephanie McCallum’s new Schumann
disc, Scenes from Childhood. All four works are previously
unreleased. The great virtue McCallum brings is an absence of the
usual foibles: sentimentality and over-interpretation. They are
performances of no-frills honesty and a fresh view of the
music....Child Falling Asleep is lovingly tender. The
essential domestic intimacy of Schumann’s music comes out well in
her playing. She surmounts the bravura power of Fantasie
Op.17 well but warms more to its quieter, heartfelt episodes.
In its Langsam third section she is exquisitely poetic.
Papillons are right in her territory: she gives these dozen
miniatures a delightful, easy vivacity, much colour and cheeky
humour in the playful finale.” Graham Strahle in The
Australian Classical music reviews August 7, 2010.
“...Stephanie McCallum’s new ABC
Classics release makes a strong bid to be the Schumann CD you
choose out of the plethora out there, not only for her loving
handling of the music’s various moods – hers is a straightforward
and clear reading – but also for her thoughtful programming of
other works to accompany this short ever-shifting work...The
Fantasie, Schumann’s longest solo piano piece and perhaps his
greatest...is a sweepingly passionate work in three
movements...each have memorable melodies and McCallum navigates it
all with flair and aplomb...one of Australia’s most talented
pianists.” Steve Moffatt in Mosman Daily and other
publications.
Beethoven: Für Elise. Complete Bagatelles for piano. ABC
Classics 476 6889 (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 hereto 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 ofsentimentality..."-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." -AndrewFORD 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!" - AndrewFORD 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.
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