Stephanie McCallum | Piano
Appears by courtesy of The University of Sydney, Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

                                       

Works by Charles-Valentin Alkan
1. Nocturne in B major Op. 22
2. Le Tambour bat aux champs Op. 50bis
3. Notturnino-Innamorato No. 43 from Esquisses Op. 63
4. Le chanson de la folle au board de la mer (Song of the mad woman by the seashore) No. 8 from Preludes Op. 31
5. Allegro Barbaro No. 5 from Etudes dans les tons majeurs Op. 35
          
Described by Anthony Clarke (The Bulletin) as ‘one of Australia’s foremost pianists’, Stephanie McCallum enjoys an international career, appearing on over forty CDs (including twenty solo discs) and also making live solo and concerto performances. Playing a repertoire from the eighteenth to the 21st century, she is especially noted for her performances of virtuosic music of the nineteenth century, particularly the music of Charles-Valentin Alkan and Franz Liszt, also for her advocacy of demanding contemporary solo and ensemble scores.
          
Stephanie studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Alexander Sverjensky and with the noted Liszt player, Gordon Watson. After advanced studies in England with the Alkan authority Ronald Smith, she made her Wigmore Hall debut in 1982, when she gave what is believed to be the first performance of Alkan’s Chants, Op. 70. She is also credited with the first complete performance of Alkan’s Trois Grandes Études, Op. 76, in London. Her live performances of the Concerto, the Symphony and other works from Alkan’s Douze études dans les tons mineurs, Op. 39, have been described by critics as ‘titanic’, ‘awe-inspiring’, ‘stupendous’ and ‘virtuosic pianism of the highest calibre’.
          
Stephanie performs on a Sébastien Érard Grandpiano of 1853 that was restored by Frits Janmaat (Amsterdam) and purchased by Judith Neilson in 2019. This was the type of piano favoured and owned by Charles-Valentin Alkan as well as other famous musicians including Beethoven, Chopin, Fauré, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Verdi and Ravel.