William Vincent Wallace (1812‑65) enjoyed an eventful life to say the least. Born in Waterford, he showed great aptitude on a variety of instruments from an early age. As an orchestral musician in Dublin, he encountered many of the biggest musical personalities of the day, most notably Paganini (who left an indelible impression) and the pianist-composer Henri Herz. In July 1835 Wallace journeyed to Australia, where he gave a series of concerts (often playing a concerto for violin in the first half and one for piano in the second), founded that country’s first music academy and festival, and acquired the nickname of “the Australian Paganini”. However, he left under a cloud, having amassed considerable debts and with scandalous rumours concerning extra-marital shenanigans (his wife and young son had already returned to Ireland without him).

Between 1838 and 1854 the versatile and charismatic Wallace travelled and performed extensively in the Americas and Europe, conducting two seasons of opera in Mexico City and New Orleans (where he took under his wing a gifted young pianist by the name of Louis Moreau Gottschalk) and writing his first opera, Maritana, which proved an enormous hit in London and Vienna. In 1864 he moved to France, where he was befriended by Berlioz, Meyerbeer and Rossini, but by now he was in poor health and he died the following year.

Both these enterprising Cala discs make enjoyably undemanding listening. The Scottish and Irish folksong arrangements of the Celtic Fantasies are consistently diverting, full of heartwarming poetry, caprice and glitter (Chopin provides the overriding stylistic template), while the companion collection boasts even more in the way of extravagant display (witness the barnstorming antics of he 1842 grand fantasie and variations La cracovienne); indeed, one can readily visualise the flamboyant Wallace wowing many a spellbound auditorium with these entertaining vehicles for his own finger-twisting virtuosity.

That any relative longueurs are few and far between also speaks volumes for the wholly winning efforts of Australian pianist Rosemary Tuck, whose ideally deft and scintillatingly assured performances have been most truthfully captured by producer/engineer Phil Rowlands working within the kindly acoustics of Waterford’s City Hall and St Silas’s Church in Kentish Town, North London. Cala’s presentation, too, could not be more helpful, and inquisitive readers can purchase with confidence