Natural Connection

Works by Sinding, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Debussy, Saint-säens, Ravel et al

Leon Mccawley (piano)

SOMM SOMMCD 0680 78 mins

Never heard these days in serious recitals, Christian Sinding’s ubiquitous Rustle of Spring opens a programme that takes its own picturesque intent seriously enough. So the first thing to note is that it is a pleasure to hear the filigree writing in this work – the piece that made Sinding’s name – played with such poise as Leon Mccawley supplies here. Though his programme of pieces inspired by nature is not arranged as a seasonal cycle, it does visit the ‘Autumn’ movement of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons before coming full circle to another Norwegian thaw, ending with ‘To the Spring’ from Grieg’s Lyric Pieces.

The main element that unites this series of 21 small piano pieces (ranging from 90 seconds to over seven minutes) by ten composers is that they are all miniature tone paintings. There are some masterpieces among them, not least the works from Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage. The first book of this great musical travelogue depicts Swiss scenery in all its grandeur, and to say that these pieces have received loftier interpretations is to miss the point of this recital, with its emphasis on clever and attractive programming. In any case, Mccawley is a sensitive interpreter, not least in Debussy and Ravel.

Nor is his programme all about Romantic or Impressionist scenes; there’s humour, too, in ‘From the Diary of a Fly’ from Mikrokosmos by Bartók (who’s also represented more seriously, and in nocturnal mode, by ‘The Night’s Music’ from his Out of Doors suite, again beautifully played). Even more ubiquitous than Sinding, there’s Saint-saëns’s ‘The Swan’, but transcriptions find their place here thanks also to Rachmaninov’s own piano versions of his songs. John Allison PERFORMANCE

RECORDING