A beautifully whispered opening to the Mozart Fantasy which she miraculously repeated at the end of the ‘Allegretto’ instead of the more mundane chords that had been added to Mozart’s unfinished score.This of course would have been improvised by Mozart and it was this improvised freshness that brought Rose’s Mozart vividly to life with refined elegance and style.The ‘Adagio’ was played with a chiselled restraint of luminosity with some interesting inner counterpoints to the imperious ‘pesante’ before the beseeching agitation of the ‘leggiero’. Cadenza’s that shot from her agile fingers with the dynamism of a true musician before the sparkling charm of the ‘Allegretto’.Delicate embellishments that brought a smile for the unexpected charm that she delicately added to a piece we have all played in our own early piano lessons.It was just this ability to bring fresh light and simplicity to a well known score that showed her untainted musicianship.

It was the same simplicity that she brought to the last of Mozart’s 18 Sonatas but there was also a masterly control and brilliance of crystalline clarity that brought exhilaration and character to the opening ‘Allegro’. The ‘Bel Canto’ of the ‘Adagio’ was allowed to flow so naturally and with the same inflections of subtlety as the human voice. An architectural shape and forward motion that gave great strength to a work of deeply felt sentiment.Refined elegance and dynamic drive to the ‘Allegretto’ was combined with a masterly brilliance and ‘joie de vivre’ of its time.

There was a haunting beauty to the Janacek sonata with is strange brooding and kaleidoscope of magical sounds.Here Rose, like in her Debussy that I had heard in a previous recital, opened up a whole world of magical sounds and fantasy combined with passionate intensity and masterly control.

The highlight of the recital ,for me, was Rose’s masterly performance of the Corelli Variations.There was a fluidity and glowing beauty to the first two variations that just grew so naturally out of the simplicity of the haunting melody ‘La Folia ‘ with a continual flow of refined delicacy. A continual sense of forward movement that gave great architectural shape to the whole series of twenty variations. The capricious character she brought to the ‘Tempo di Menuetto’ led so naturally into the beguiling haunting beauty of the ‘Andante’ of variation 4. There was dynamic drive and subtle virtuosity in the next three variations where the 7th was played with sumptuous full sound and a remarkable sense of balance showing a masterly use of the pedal. Nonchalant charm of the ‘Adagio misterioso’ was followed by the gasping beauty of ‘un poco più mosso ‘ of the 9th variation.There was extraordinary brilliance and drive to the ‘Allegro scherzando’ and the following three variations before the intermezzo cadenza played with astonishing freedom and remarkable technical mastery.The return of the theme in the major is a master stroke and was played with poetic beauty as were the variations that just grew out of this magical moment. The final three variations were played with astonishing control and mastery and were quite breathtaking for their dynamic drive and fearless abandon. The final pedal of D allowed Rachmaninov to float ‘La Folia’ on a cloud of subtle unmistakably Rachmaninov tinged harmonies of extraordinary poetic beauty before coming to rest ( like the Goldberg Variations) having made peace with a world that we had experienced together twenty times over. A quite extraordinary performance of a work that had ignited Rose’s imagination and technical prowess and demonstrated the quite extraordinary artistry of yet another of the Mc Lachlan clan.

The first time I ever heard this work was when two fresher students from the Royal Academy had secretly visited Siena during the summer break to find the legendary figure that we had only heard about. Guido Agosti held court in his studio at the Chigiana Academy during the summer months and all those that visited him in this private world have never forgotten the sounds that he produced so miraculously at the piano. The great Maestro had interrupted the class to watch the first man walk on the moon and it was Peter Bithell who played these Corelli Variations immediately afterwards .We were all astounded at the superlatives that he bestowed on this first year student from the RAM. Agosti was a real task master and a tyrant in many ways whose only concern was for the absolute respect for the score ,any other human considerations did not apply for himself or for anyone who dared play for him. He took Peter under his wing who was to go on to be a top prize winner at the Busoni and Casella International Piano Competitions and now distinguished Professor at the Guildhall where Rose is now studying with Charles Owen ,Martin Roscoe and Ronan O’Hora.

Rose McLachlan comes from a family of musicians and began piano lessons with her father aged 7. Shortly after she joined Chetham’s School of Music where she studied with Helen Krizos. In 2020, she entered the Royal Northern College of Music, and now is at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the tutelage of Charles Owen, Martin Roscoe and Ronan O’Hora.  

Rose appears frequently with orchestra, making her debut aged 13 in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth and was broadcasted twice on Radio 3. As a result of winning the PianoTexas Festival concerto competition, she performed with the Fort Worth Symphony. In 2023, she performed Saint Saens ‘Carnival of the Animals’ in the Bridgewater Hall with the Hallé orchestra. She performs frequently around the UK with appearances in the Stoller Hall, Steinway Hall, St Martin in the Fields, and also abroad in Switzerland and Germany with violinist Esther Abrami.  She is extremely grateful to receive support from The Caird Trust, The James Gibb award, Michael McLean and she is a Talent Unlimited artist. 

Rose McLachlan inspires and performs 22 Nocturnes for Chopin by women composers

Rose McLachlan at St James Piccadilly -Je sens,je joue ,je trasmets -Artistry and Poetic imagination of a musician

Rose Mc Lachlan The birth of an artist at St Mary’s

Rose McLachlan and the amazing clan at St Mary’s

Mention should be made of the remarkable performance of Rose’s brother Callum at the Leeds International Piano competition where his studies in Salzburg and Cologne have given his playing an extraordinary breadth and beauty.

https://leedspiano.medici.tv/en/replays/second-round-callum-mclachlan/