CharlesHutchPress, 1st April 2025
Solo recital at Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York, 26th March 2025
Leon McCawley’s performance [of Scarlatti’s Sonata in F minor K.69] was incredibly tender and emotionally charged, giving it a haunting quality. The way the pianist delicately caressed the cantabile imitations, enhanced by the subtle ornamentation, was very moving. By contrast, the performance of [Scarlatti’s] Sonata in C, K.159 positively zipped along without a care in the world. The phrasing was crisp and clear, and the elegant melodic embellishments added to the sense of spontaneity. Another striking aspect was McCawley’s embrace of the music’s theatrical quality, as evident in the leaps between registers.
As far as charm and elegance go, it doesn’t get much better than McCawley’s interpretation of Beethoven’s standalone Andante Favori in F major, WoO 57. Leon McCawley possesses a remarkable ability to captivate the listener. The playing was characterised by richness, nuance and warmth. Moreover, like the entire programme, the performance conveyed an expressive depth that left a profound impact.
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (Waldstein) is a musical masterpiece that continues to captivate audiences. What truly impressed me about this performance was the controlled elegance and precision of the playing. The dramatic shaping of the music was seamless and well-executed, without resorting to excessive virtuosity or raw power. The Introduzione: Adagio molto had a mysterious, even dark quality that created a hypnotic spell that seamlessly blended into the Rondo: Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo finale. McCawley’s playing here was simply impeccable. There was a genuine sense of majesty combined with the driving, flowing lyricism.
Chopin’s Trois Écossaises, Op. 72, No. 3, were simply delightful. Each of the three pieces exuded a charm and elegance that we associate with these popular and lively dances.
The performance of the composer’s Berceuse, op.57 was the highlight of the second half. The pianist’s control was remarkable; the delicate ebb and flow of the music had a Zen-like quality. In the end, as the lullaby had sung itself to sleep, there was a feeling of absolute relaxation. The performance was simply sublime.
The performance of Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp, op.60 once again projected an assured grasp of all that mattered. The rubato phrasing shaped and caressed the melodies, while the balance between the right-hand song and the left-hand rocking ostinato effectively imitated the rhythmic sway of a gondola. While there was certainly a dramatic climax, the serene coda concluded the performance on a note of tranquillity, suggesting a sense of harmony and contentment.
Steve Crowther
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ReviewsGate, 18th November 2024
Solo recital at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 17th November 2024
5*****
Leon McCawley was the second recitalist this season, with an instinctive grasp of the sort of programme which works in this context. His programme certainly fitted the bill. And it had all those ingredients to which audiences are most susceptible on Sunday mornings, including delightfully succinct (but informative) chats before each piece.
It was a good idea to start with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 2 as it reflects the young composer at his wittiest. Leon McCawley obviously shares Beethoven’s musical sense of humour and has both the technique and timing to make this mischievous music really tell. He was equally good when the music calls for a very different approach. The slow movement was noble and full of high seriousness. The scherzo was charming and the finale witty, graceful and distinguished by carefully calculated dynamic contrasts and precise ornamentation.
Next came one of Rachmaninov’s Etudes-tableaux (Study-pictures). Leon McCawley managed all the music’s fierce technical demands with apparent nonchalance and injected it with a vivid sense of drama and emotional intensity.
The final two works on his programme could hardly have brought a greater contrast: the monumental arrangement by Franz Liszt of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A minor for Organ (in which Bach’s complex musical architecture emerged with breath-taking clarity) and finally Mendelssohn’s Rondo Capriccioso, Op 14, a piece which fuses a lushly romantic opening with the composer’s trademark fairyland style, with lots of delicate dancing and lighter-than-air musical acrobatics.
As an encore Leon McCawley played more Rachmaninov: the sadly lyrical Prelude in G, Op 32 No 5. It brought to an end a recital whose programming was as thoughtful as its execution was brilliant.
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El Norte (Monterrey, Mexico), October 3rd 2023
Solo recital for 27th Festival Internacional de Piano Sala Beethoven, Monterrey, October 2nd 2023
Leon McCawley displayed to the audience that attended the Auditorio San Pedro not only his immaculateness and level- headedness in the interpretation of classical repertoire (which included the Sonata No. 38 in F major of Haydn) but also an elegance and virtuosity very much in tune with the quality of performances to which this festival has accustomed us.
The recital began precisely with Haydn’s work in which the pianist displayed clean, thoughtful articulation and phrasing, with rhythmic clarity. Later, he performed Two Nocturnes Op. 55 by Chopin. The deeply emotional interpretation of these melancholic pages drew ‘’bravos’’ from the public. McCawley continued with Beethoven’s Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, known as “Les Adieux” where he gave a measured, reflective, technically impeccable reading, capturing the author’s emotional chiaroscuro in his touch.
The second part of the recital consisted of Two Rhapsodies Op. 79 by Johannes Brahms, in which the pianist overcame the technical challenges, and to conclude, Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Jest from Vienna) by Robert Schumann. Structured in five contrasting movements, the work allowed for a virtuoso and dynamic display by this master pianist from the Royal College of Music in London. The audience gave him a standing ovation.
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