A young lad from Manchester who has been transformed into a poet of the piano ……..one of the remarkable Mc Lachlan family .
I remember turning to the head of the clan and remarking how proud he should be of this member of the clan that could play the theme of Schumann Etudes Symphoniques with such a ravishing range of sumptuous colours .

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2019/12/19/the-joy-of-music-for-christmas/
That was almost five years ago and now after studies in Salzburg and Cologne I am lost for words by the sheer intelligence and beauty of this young man’s playing.
A young lad from the north who has turned into a great artist….Billy Elliot eat your heart out !

From the very first notes of the Bach Choral prelude one could feel that there was a sensibility to sound with slight rhythmic inflections that were deeply felt .Shaping this sublime creation with the same inflections of a singer with a flexibility and sense of breathing of someone truly in awe of the sounds that were being caressed out of the black and white keys before him.

With the superb streaming in Perivale we could see his search as he was more listening than watching.Scarlatti just shot from his agile fingers with great agility and a bucolic rhythmic drive.There was a beautiful preparation of that atmosphere needed for the entry of Greensleeves in Busoni’s rather pompously announced Elegie n.4 Turandot Frauengemach.In fact the technician in charge of the captions got completely lost .Callum on the other hand played the rhythmic perpetuum mobile with a scintillating display of bravura and style .Greensleeves has never had such a ride before. Of course Busoni has the last laugh with a surprise final chord that just puts a question mark over the whole adventure.The Barber Sonata has long been a work only for the most fearless virtuosi. Written for Horowitz and taken up by Van Cliburn and John Browning it is a remarkable work that needs not only a virtuoso technique but a sense of colour and architecture that can build this long work into the magnificent monument that it is.Callum rose to the challenge with these two movements full of remarkable changes of character.A second movement that was a continuous stream of notes played with luminosity and fluidity. Only four not five of the nine pieces from Waldszenen after this made one realise how Schubertian Schumann could be choosing the most poignantly beautiful from this wonderful collection This late work just poured from Callum’s fingers with a style and shape that made the music speak as indeed it was written to do.From the heart to the heart indeed.An ‘entry’ with a deeply nostalgic outpouring only to disappear into the distance at the end on a cloud of ravishing beauty.Have flowers ever seemed so lonely as these that this young poet allowed to flow so delicately from his soul to his fingers.Shaped like a great bel canto singer with an ease and naturalness of an artist of great aristocratic maturity.An ever elusive and coquettish Prophet Bird just searching with such timeless ease for the direction to take.To end with the sublime beauty of one of Schumann’s most poignant creations.An outpouring of searing nostalgia and enveloped in a warmth of heartfelt sentiment.Wonderful how he just slightly pointed to the bass at crucial moments that gave depth and direction to this poignant farewell of searing beauty.A remarkably mature performance for such a young musician and I look forward to hearing his complete performance of which he gave us such an enticing taster today.

Soirée de Vienne was played with great style and tantalising teasing rubato that made for a ravishing interlude between the two major works by Schumann and Chopin. Chopin Barcarolle I have heard Callum play before but today he had refined his performance into a stream of endless beauty .One of the finest performances I have ever heard and it was enough to see how he played the opening bass C sharp to know that we were in the hands of a true poet of the piano.

The Intermezzo op 118 n.2 by Brahms was a continuous stream of poetic beauty. There is no stopping this young lad from the north who will fill peoples hearts with his artistry for long to come.

A finalist of The 18th International Robert Schumann Competition Zwickau and Semi-Finalist of the XX Santander International Piano Competition Paloma O’ Shea, Callum Mclachlan, 24, has been described as ‘A born Schumann player’ with a ‘magical sense of colour and extraordinary technical prowess’ (July 2019, London recital). Born into a family of musicians, he first started piano lessons with his father at the age of 7, and entered Chetham’s School of Music at age 11, where he studied with Russian pianist and pedagogue Dina Parakhina. He was awarded the highest diploma from Trinity College – the FTCL, in his final year. He studied under Professor Claudius Tanski for Bachelors at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. He is now studying for Masters with Professor Jacques Rouvier in the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and Professor Claudio Martinez Mehner in Cologne. In 2023 he was named as the only pianist selected for the renowned ‘Deutschen Stiftung Musikleben mit dem Dinorah VarsiStipendium, which supports him with his musical solo career. In the 22/23 season he made his recital debuts in the Klavier Festival Ruhr, Menton International Music Festival, Wasserburg Klavier Sommer, Busoni International Piano Competiton and gave the Swiss premiere of Eric Tanguy’s Piano Quartet in Aubonne, Switzerland for ‘Classeek’. Most recently he was a finalist of the Royal Over Seas League Piano Competition in London, and was nominated for International Classical Music Classeek Award. He has performed at many of the most important concert venues throughout the UK, Europe, and USA, including Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Wien Konzerthaus, Pereda Hall Santander, London’s Steinway Hall and Manchester’s Bridgewater and Stoller Hall. Recently he performed with the renowned ensemble Casals Quartet and made his Japanese recital debut in Ginza Hall Tokyo.

Callum McLachlan the troubadour of the piano at St Mary’s