New from Somm is a recital album featuring the fine pianist and intelligent musician Leon McCawley: ‘Natural Connection – Piano Music Inspired by the Natural World’. Nine composers, to quote the release notes, ‘21 miniature gems traversing the inexorable turn of the year’s cycle’. Cards on the table: without a serious musical link, a recital programme like this easily becomes a mishmash of disconnected ‘miniature gems’ that reduces it to the level of a ‘great piano classics’-type compilation you might keep in the car.

This is not improved by the seemingly random running order of the pieces. In my view it would have been more logical to put items by the same composers in blocks that might have given more cohesion. This really is a pity because as a showreel for the talents of the superb McCawley it is highly persuasive, and if I were part of the Somm A&R team, I would first be planning a Bartók disc, closely followed by a set of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage, and then perhaps a Debussy and Ravel recital. The two Bartók items, ‘From the Diary of a Fly’ and ‘The Night’s Music’, are examples of magnificent pianism, and McCawley is equally impressive and sure-footed in the selections from Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage – ‘Au lac de Wallenstadt’, ‘Au bord d’une source’, ‘Orage’ and ‘Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este’. Given the somewhat routine performances of the three Grieg Lyric Pieces and Sinding’s once ubiquitous Rustle of Spring, I had the suspicion that McCawley himself might not have been totally convinced by this project. Obviously there’s room in the market for compilations like this, but Leon McCawley’s artistry surely deserves a better vehicle.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of International Piano. Never miss an issue – subscribe today