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The Scotsman September 3rd 2007
Edinburgh International Festival with David Pyatt
A Recital for horn and piano appeared an odd way for the Festival to conclude its Queen's Hall series. Saturday's performance, however, by David Pyatt and pianist Leon McCawley was not only a triumph musically, but also a poignant tribute to legendary horn player Dennis Brain, who died 50 years ago to the day in a car accident when returning home from the festival.
Their programme could easily have been a collection of showy pieces. Instead, it was a coherent journey starting with Beethoven's cheerful Sonata in F, written for the most celebrated horn virtuoso of the time, and closing with the delightful, fast-moving Villanelle by Dukas. At the peak were Hindemith's challenging Sonata in F and Poulenc's Elégie, composed in memory of Brain.
Devoid of the splintering notes that loom hazardously for horn players, Pyatt's technique is unbelievably controlled, with a huge range of expressive dynamics. Playing with total integration as a duo, it was equally remarkable that McCawley switched unblinkingly to soloist in exhilarating Chopin and Schumann, giving Pyatt a couple of well-earned breaks.
*****
Carol Main
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The Irish Times August 21st 2007
Kilkenny Arts Festival 17th August 2007
On Friday night, pianist Leon McCawley explored the Classical and Romantic concepts of
fantasia, via five works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann. The precision at which
he excels was not at all at odds with the improvisational freedom essential to pieces such
as Beethoven's Sonata in E flat Op 27 No 1 Quasi una fantasia and Chopin's F minor Fantasie.
McCawley's deep understanding of the relationship between detail and large-scale design
helped make his account of Schumann's Op 17 Fantasie in C especially powerful, full of
insight into the inner aspects of a composer who, according to the 19th-century critic
Richard Pohl, was always writing "inside himself".
Martin Adams
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The Flying Inkpot August 21st 2007
Solo Recital at Chethams's International Music Festival, Manchester
His recital began with a very clean and crystal clear reading of Mozart's Fantasia in C minor K475 which sounded so austere to be almost modern. Beethoven's Sonata quasi una fantasia in E flat major Op. 27 No.1...shone brightly like the nascent morning sun. The hymn tune of the slow movement was beautifully carved out and on its return amid the final movement's busy country-dance, it appeared with the gratefulness of a long lost friend.
McCawley's piece de resistance was Schumann's Fantasy in C major Op. 17. His performance had everything- passion, nostalgia (especially in the Beethoven quotation), lots of technique to burn, and a gorgeous luminous sound, evident in the rapturous first movement. The march of the League of David went forth unimpeded and those horrendous octave leaps at the end posed little trouble. His sense of rubato was excellent in the slow and ruminating finale, bringing a slow but sure boil to the glorious climax- not once but twice. A more spiritual close to the great work could not have been desired.
His two encores were both by Schumann, a perfectly conceived Widmung (in Liszt's transcription) and the vertigo-inducing Traumeswirren (from Fantasiestucke Op. 12). Ronald Stevenson said he had not witnessed such pianism for fifty years, since the days of Mark Hambourg, Who am I to question that assessment?
Chang Tou Liang
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Daily Telegraph May 25th 2007
Brighton Festival May 21st 2007
Leon McCawley gave an absorbing piano recital focusing on fantasies, with Mozart's C minor K475 coupled with Schumann's Drei Phantasiestücke Op 111, Chopin's F minor Fantasie Op 49 and Beethoven's E flat Sonata Op 27 No 1, Quasi una fantasia.
With his characteristic poise and concentration, McCawley's playing reflected and enhanced the spontaneous invention of these pieces, one idea leading naturally to another, but with a shapeliness of structure and a dynamism of interpretation that gave the discourse both coherence and eloquence of expression.
Geoffrey Norris
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BBC Somerset Live May 1st 2007
Two Moors Festival
Immediately, one realised that the pianist, Leon McCawley, is probably one of the very best young British pianists around today. McCawley obviously relished the wide dynamic range, colour and tone he could produce on this
piano, and he has tremendous interpretive skills and is immensely musical.
Angela Boyd
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Musical Opinion November/December 2006
Rye Festival September 16th 2006
On 16 September Rye's St Mary's Church hosted pianist Leon McCawley who had been specifically asked by 2005 Festival goers to return this year. His capacity audience already knew that he is a deep feeling musician who plays because he enjoys the music and his craft and appreciated his fine sense of eloquence and expression which reigned freely in Mozart's D major Sonata K311. Schubert's A minor Sonata D537 followed, during which I could sense Schubert's approving presence in the Church. Hans Gál's Suite Opus 24, with which I was unfamiliar, opened with a sound reminiscent of Debussy and closed more akin to Stravinsky.
McCawley closed the evening with the second and eighth of Rachmaninov's Étude-Tableaux Opus 39 and the Variations on a Theme of Corelli, making a lustrous sound that flowed around the church and blessed the ears receiving it. Try and hear him if you can, you won't be disappointed.
Judith Monk
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New York Times October 10th 2006
The Frick Collection, New York
The room's reverberant acoustics highlighted the eloquently full-blooded approach of Leon McCawley, the 33-year-old British Pianist, Curtis graduate and multiple competition laureate, who made his New York recital debut on Sunday at the Frick.
Mr. McCawley began his program with a spirited and almost romantic reading of Mozart's Sonata in D (K. 311) with long expressive phrases and a liberal use of rubato. [In Schubert's Sonata in A minor], Mr McCawley...emphasised the harmonic shifts and contrasting moods in a lyrical, heartfelt performance.
After intermission Mr McCawley spoke briefly about Hans Gál-an Austrian Jewish composer whom he has championed and recorded. Mr. Gál's Suite for Piano (1924) is an instantly appealing work ... Mr. McCawley deftly contrasted the varied textures and harmonies.
Mr McCawley concluded his program with Rachmaninoff: first a poetic and mystical account of the Étude-Tableaux (Op. 39, Nos. 2 and 8), followed by a probing and virtuosic reading of Variations on a Theme of Corelli. Mr McCawley explored the variations on the majestic theme, ranging from languid to powerful, with sensitivity and style. The listener, meanwhile, was enveloped in an acoustical cocoon of bright, passionate sound.
Vivien Schweitzer
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Daily Telegraph May 11 2006
Leon McCawley and Emperor Quartet at Brighton Festival
Mozart was represented by the G major Piano Sonata, K283, played with fine focus by McCawley, Shostakovich by a searchingly intense account of his Seventh String Quartet, and Schumann by that apogee of Romantic chamber music, his Piano Quintet, here played with uncommon commitment and vitality.
Matthew Rye
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The Cumberland News March 10th 2006
Recital at St. Andrew's Church, Penrith
Rare player meets rare work
Leon McCawley, runner-up in the 1993 Leeds International Piano competition and one of Britain’s most prominent young pianists, was the guest in this penultimate concert of the current season.
The first half consisted of two sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven, each played with consummate artistry. Leon’s performance of Mozart’s Sonata in F, K.332, offered an authenticity rarely heard in modern performances, persuading with poetry and understatement in the opening movement, the most delicate of ornamentation in the slow movement and the most flirtatious of touches to the sparkling semiquavers of the finale. Beethoven’s Sonata in E flat, Op. 22 is a work of greater dramatic proportions. Again, understatement was the key to the performance: dramatic moments certainly, but also an invitation to discover so many of the subtleties of Beethoven’s style.
The second half began with a rare opportunity to hear the first book of Janacek’s On an Overgrown Path. The music looks back to experiences in the composer’s early life and there are some delightful miniatures, such as the fussy, gossipy textures of They Chatted Like Swallows and the nostalgia of Our Evenings. Other movements, however, are more soul-searching. Unutterable Anguish describes the death of his young daughter Olga with a real pain and desolation.
Next were the cascading scales, ornamented melodic passages and dramatic intensity of Chopin’s Scherzo No.4 in E. Two encores – Hans Gal’s evocative Melody and Poulenc’s quirky Toccata – sent the audience home convinced they had heard one of the best and most stylish piano recitals at the club in recent years.
Colin Marston
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel May 17 2005
Miami International Piano Festival May 14 2005
McCawley's rare artistry lifts Miami Piano Festival
English pianist Leon McCawley achieved international prominence in 1993 when he won first prize in the Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and second prize at the Leeds Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout England, and with the Dallas and Minnesota orchestras in the U.S.
On Saturday the Miami International Piano Festival afforded local audiences the opportunity of assessing this artist at the Lincoln Theatre in Miami Beach. McCawley's appearance as part of the Discovery Series conjured up memories of the late pianist Clifford Curzon. Instead of trying to knock us over the head with his admirable technique, McCawley -- like Curzon -- concentrated on the musical values of his program and accomplished what many pianists strive for but few have the musicianship to achieve.
Mozart was represented by both his Fantasy in C minor, K. 475, and his Sonata K. 457 in the same key. Each was lovingly phrased and presented a range of dynamics that demonstrated McCawley's total comfort with the music.
The 13 childhood memories that inspired Schumann's beloved Kinderscenen have a refined lyricism, and here McCawley's attention to phrasing made for a ravishing experience. Even in the faster passages his control held things fully in check, and his immaculate pedaling enabled the music to speak without blurring.
Four sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti were well chosen and deftly contrasted. McCawley's freshness and crispness of execution helped to erase any thoughts of the harpsichord for which they were originally composed.
If without the heart-on-sleeve lyricism typical of Rachmaninoff, his rarely performed Variations on a Theme of Corelli present plenty of opportunity for pianists to flex their muscles. McCawley rose to the challenge and delivered torrents of sound to contrast with the refinement of the rest of his program. Yet nothing was pushed, and nothing fell below the high threshold of taste and good judgment.
Alan Becker
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South Florida Entertainment News and Views May 17 2005
Miami International Piano Festival May 14 2005
England’s Leon McCawley took center stage on May 14 and offered an evening of sensitive, deeply felt music making. McCawley’s patrician musicianship and elegant pianism were indeed special. The strong profile and florid musical line that he brought to Mozart’s Fantasy in C Minor was mesmerizing. In Schumann’s lovely Kinderscenen, McCawley displayed supple lyricism and delicately sculpted phrasing. McCawley played Mozart’s Sonata in C Minor with brisk, classical precision. The Adagio sang from his keyboard like a finely spun operatic aria.
McCawley’s traversal of four sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti pulsated with rhythmic life. His lithe phrasing, idiomatic fluency and pianistic brilliance made this thrice familiar music sound new and vibrant. In Rachmaninoff’s awesome Variations on a Theme of Corelli, McCawley commanded fervent power and wonderful romantic coloration. Here was artistry of the highest order. McCawley is a great and unique musician!
Lawrence Budmen
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Daily Telegraph 7 May 2005
Classical: The Choice (Preview to QEH recital)
Leon McCawley is a pianist for whom the word "eloquent" could have been coined, combing as he does a wonderful sense of style with a discreetly telling manner of musical interpretation.
Geoffrey Norris
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Independent 3 May 2005
Preview of Queen Elizabeth Hall solo recital
There are many reasons for attending Leon McCawley's recital at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sunday- quite apart from the fact that he's the only Brit in the South Bank International Piano Series. Those who have heard him in concert- and he's starting to loom large in the pianistic firmament- will know what dependable pleasures he purveys;
those who have heard his Schumann recordings on the Avie label will be familiar with his uniquely measured musicality. He's only 31, but his playing has the mature wisom of a man twice his age...
Michael Church
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Birmingham Post 28th November 2003
Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
All the composers featured in this Barber Celebrity Concert were familiar, but certainly not all of the music. When a slightly off-centre selection is on offer, it is often only too obvious why the chosen items are less frequently performed. However, Leon McCawley’s carefully balanced programme, giving a rounded insight into more unusual pianistic gems from the greats, was indeed a joy.
With numerous prestigious prizes and international appearances under his belt, here is a young pianist to treasure. His quiet, unassuming manner belies his passion for and his obvious love of the music in his care.
There were smiles all round for an exquisitely lucid Bach Partita: No 5 in G. His flawless technique delivered quicksilver runs, intelligent and charming clarity in all part-playing and a complex Gigue in which a hair-raising double fugue posed no apparent problems. A truly superb accomplishment.
Chopin’s Mazurkas Op 24 were four thought-provoking refined dances, teasing the imagination with differing modes, sensuous poignant rubatos, and a final gossamer cadence left hanging in the air.
Beautiful tone is paramount for this pianist. Meaty chords are firmly centred, melodies delight with a pearly lustre. Mendelssohn’s Variations Sérieuses encompassed every mood, from sparkling high-stepping staccatos, to luminous singing cantabile.
The youthful Schumann’s curious Papillons are charming, short, contrasting waltzes, played with clean-cut precision and imagination.
All the “juicy bits” were there in the original of Rachmaninov’s formidable Sonata No 2, sweeping romanticism, with seamless torrents of virtuoso Slavic outpourings. A well-earned “Bravo”, indeed.
Maggie Cotton
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The Birmingham Post/05 May 2003
Leamington Festival
Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington
The theme of this year's Leamington Festival was Vienna, where Leon McCawley began Saturday afternoon's memorable piano recital with Beethoven's Variations on God Save the King.
The quality of the magnificent Steinway instrument showed immediately in McCawley's crisp, well-rounded announcement of the Anthem, his witty, affectionate treatment of Beethoven's subsequent variations a continual delight.
Lightness of ornamentation and an exuberant, almost improvisatory approach followed in Haydn's E minor Sonata, its directness a world away from the tortured, febrile outpourings of the engrossing Sonata by Alban Berg, the last great Viennese sonata to travel the world.
McCawley paced the events of its single movement with persuasive sensitivity, and concluded with an absolutely triumphant Beethoven A major Sonata, Op. 101, where pearly chording combined with Handelian grandeur to create an experience which will not easily be forgotten.
Christopher Morley
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Musical Opinion/December 2001
Ryedale Festival, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall University of York / 17 July 2001
Leon McCawley first attracted our attention as runner-up in the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1993, as much for his personal as for his musical qualities. Beethoven and Barber were given prominence in his recital at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall in the University of York on 17 July. The brittle Allegro of Barber's Excursions, his subtle Blues rhythms and the brilliant trumpet-like interjections during the finale all made their mark convincingly.
Beethoven's Sonata Op. 31 No. 2 was distinguished by a varied touch, brilliant articulation, unforced drama, a deeply thoughtful Adagio and the beauty of McCawley's tone throughout the whole work. To Chopin's 24 Preludes, McCawley brought an astonishingly wide range of pianism. Not for him a kid-gloved effeminacy. Through a succession of contrasting moods he still managed to establish a relationship between its components. The concluding D minor Prelude was truly a tour de force.
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Berlin Morgenpost 30/04/01
Berlin Konzerthaus
He is not in the business of drawing attention to himself at any price through exalted interpretations. McCawley wins you over through delicacy, security of approach and a balance of heart and understanding.His programme was like a two-hour piano journey through the universe of changing emotions: the silken delicacy of Mozart, an enchanted, easy-going celebration on the keys. This brocade music was followed by the summons to the soul in Beethoven’s TempestSonata, inspired by the late work of Shakespeare: piano growls as though from the throat of Caliban, contrasting with Ariel’s disembodied spirit of wind. McCawley played with rich fantasy his English Beethoven. Or perhaps his German Shakespeare?
Klaus Geitel
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Philadelphia Inquirer 15th February 2000
Alumni Recital Series Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia
Leon McCawley was the latest arrival, playing a recital of Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Prokofiev on Sunday afternoon at the Curtis Institute of Music, his alma mater….
McCawley dedicated his recital to Eleanor Sokoloff, his teacher at Curtis who has been assigning etudes and sonatas to pianists at the school since 1936. McCawley, 26, uses physical signals to help convey his emotional intent. Shoulders go up in passages of anticipation, head pops upward with a smile when the music turns euphoric. But look away, and the full-blooded expressiveness remains fully evident in sound as well.
McCawley makes the music his own without straying too far from performance tradition. One of the nicest touches he brought to Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Op. 13), the Pathetique, was the use of silence. He used it to solve transitions that seem like traps for awkwardness to other pianists. He brought astonishing clarity and speed to Beethoven’s Six Variations in F Major (Op. 34).
In Chopin’s Nocturne (Op. 27, No. 1), McCawley avoided making too much of the rubato possibilities, opting for a cleaner, more straightforward account. Likewise his approach to the Op. 27, No 2, which he used as an encore - accepting applause for just moments before turning it back to Sokoloff, who sat proudly in one of the last rows of Curtis Hall.
Peter Dobrin
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Der Tagesspiegel 22nd February 1999
Berlin Philharmonie
Understatement is the probably the most British of all virtues. Leon McCawley proved his understatement already with the programme choice for his recital in the Kammermusiksaal. Refreshingly, he is somebody who does not try to immediately tackle the musical heights but, for the time being, contents himself with playing the smaller pieces, not trying to only achieve world records in virtuosity. In Haydn’s C minor Sonata McCawley did not stress rhetorical sharpening or the rough "Sturm und Drang" elements of the piece. With discreet and shadowy touch he drew a pastel sound dominated by details and subtleties, with rubati and gentle arpeggios generating an atmosphere of sensitivity and melancholy. Yet McCawley is much too good of a pianist to let this become a depressive affair: The trills which he played gloomily, using the pedal, at the beginning of the slow movement, gained more and more sharpness- the whole movement gradually developed from an improvising , thoughtful mood into its energetic character.
After the serious Haydn, McCawley played Beethoven’s Eroica Variations, a wonderful example for musical humour. When had one heard this piece played with such charm, wit and grace? The variation cycle developed almost immediately- with swinging elegance and the glitter of a dance ball. At the same time McCawley succeeded to keep the musical punch line of the clumsy motive witty until the very end. His humour seems sunny- he is not in favour of dry and sarcastic exaggeration which could have been another way of interpreting the fugue. He provided first class piano playing, without extremes. His Chopin Impromptus were of a very pleasant naturalness, without questioning the fugitive charm of these pieces. Even the over-refined music of Scriabin sounded round and healthy.
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Die Welt 22nd February 1999
Berlin Philharmonie
All young pianists who win awards at international competitions are capable of playing the piano well, yet one rarely encounters one who plays as captivatingly as Leon McCawley. The 25-year old Briton performed in the Deutschland Radio Debut Series at the Kammermusiksaal in the Philharmonie. The programme: quite conventional, with a Haydn Sonata, Beethoven’s Eroica Variations, Chopin Impromptus and Scriabin. His technique: Next to impeccable with glittery jeu perlé, a most controlled touch and perfect use of the pedals. The very special thing was McCawley’s courage to fully indulge in his musicality and to give the pieces his very personal touch. His interpretations make sense even when he seems to be close to capriciousness- they are not only well-devised but appear natural, breathing, talking- and persuading. McCawley makes sense of every note and thus one happily accepts his pianistic plea.
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Cleveland Plain Dealer 3rd July 1998
Cleveland Art Museum
It’s not easy for a classical musician to perform a serious recital on the popular Summer Evening Series at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The atmosphere is casual. The crowds are large. People come and go between pieces. The artist who presents substantial repertoire is challenged to capture and sustain the audience’s attention.
British pianist Leon McCawley succeeded brilliantly Wednesday night in Gartner Auditorium. His sensitive performance was so involving that he not only drew listeners into the music but held them mesmerized through an intelligently planned program of works by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Liszt.
McCawley, 25, gave a memorable debut recital last year in Gartner Auditorium. On his return visit, he reaffirmed his outstanding qualities as a pianist of assured technique and fine musicianship. Though he is gifted with the virtuosity to play demanding pieces with ease, he does not show off at the keyboard. An unassuming personality, he creates a world of lovely tone and flowing phrases that he seems to enjoy sharing.
First-prize winner of the Ninth International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and second-prize winner of the 1993 Leeds International Piano Competition, McCawley devoted the first part of the evening to two complimentary works by Beethoven. The seldom-performed Andante favori, WoO 57, contrasted with the well-known Eroica Variations and Fugue, Op. 35. The lyrical opening was given a sensitively nuanced interpretation that effectively set the stage for the drama of the variations.
McCawley played both pieces with the freshness of youth and the excitement of discovery. He presented contrapuntal voices with clarity and stretched rhythms just enough to avoid metronomic monotony. After etching the variations with a crisp touch, he unleashed his power in the fugue.
In the romantic repertoire, McCawley heightened the expressivity of his interpretation. In the first eight preludes from Rachmaninoff’s Op. 32, he made the piano sing. Allowing the music to ebb and flow on an undercurrent of supple rhythm, he shaded dynamics with subtlety and shaped phrases with naturalness.
Wilma Salisbury
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Washington Post/28 March 1998
Kennedy Centre, Washington/March 1998
So much dazzled the ear in pianist Leon McCawley’s recital at the Kennedy Centre Terrace Theatre on Saturday…In an imaginative and challenging programme, the youthful pianist securely rolled out a full range of technical brilliance. There is much to commend in McCawley’s sparkling passage work, delicately shaded tonal colouring and intelligent artistic choices.
Laura Young
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