Details

Tracing the piano’s metamorphosis through time.

About the artists

Stephanie McCallum has become renowned for a pianistic practice based on refined control of sound, nuanced artistic instincts and fearless virtuosic control. Melbourne Recital Centre’s 2022 Artist in Residence and Artistic Director for Pinchgut Opera Erin Helyard is an acclaimed and inspiring conductor, an accomplished and expressive performer of the harpsichord and fortepiano, and a lucid scholar who is passionate about promoting discourse between musicology and performance.

About the concert

Their performance in Primrose Potter Salon takes audiences on a journey, tracing the piano’s metamorphosis from a straight-strung instrument of great clarity and transparency to a cross-strung marvel of unified power and tone.

The duo presents a stunning repertoire of Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata, Mozart’s Sonata in B-flat major, Schubert’s ‘Fantasie’ in F minor for four hands, Liszt’s Consolation No. 3, Schubert’s ‘Marche Militaire’ for four hands, and Debussy’s Petite suite. An illustrated lecture contrasting the twentieth-century Steinway and the nineteenth-century Walter & Sons, and Graf fortepianos.

Praise for the artists

‘McCallum and Helyard pair perfectly at the keyboard. Four-hand pieces obviously require a seamless blending of two musicians, but they also blossom when two different styles are brought to the work. These two together are a total joy both to listen to and to watch. It is obvious that as well as being technically outstanding pianists, they are up there having a lot of fun, bringing passion to the work, and taking the audience along with them.’ Glam Adelaide

‘The only word for the performances of Stephanie McCallum and Erin Helyard is perfection… In terms of musicianship, coordination of performance, and sympathy for the repertoire, this recording is a stand-out and I can easily imagine the composers themselves applauding it if they were here today.’ MusicWeb International

COVID Safety

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ARTISTS

Stephanie McCallum piano
Erin Helyard piano

Series

This production is part of the following series: