Toccata TO 0139
John McCabe – Farewell Recital
On 29 August 2010, at the Presteigne Festival on the Welsh borders, John McCabe gave his last public piano recital, bringing to an end a career as solo pianist that had lasted half a century. McCabe – born in Liverpool in 1939 and a composer-pianist in the tradition of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff – has always championed the music of his contemporaries alongside his own and that of the masters of the past, and this farewell recital included two works by friends and colleagues as well as his own grandiose Tenebrae.
"...McCabe’s playing in Presteigne showed why he has been a key performer for over 50 years. His Schubert was more muscular and robust than that of many rivals ... with no loss of sensitivity... overall, one of the finest accounts I have ever heard.... McCabe brought a composer’s as well as an executant’s sensibilities to his interpretations, providing a depth and range of response not often matched by non-composing virtuosi. This quality was fully evident in his account of the Valses an the two premieres. Howard’s Sky and Water, inspired by Escher’s famous etching, was rendered with delicacy and feeling."
Guy Rickards - International Piano magazine - May/June 2012
"This is an unusual release. It is valedictory by design yet displays the performer at the top of his game - and what a truly excellent pianist and interpreter John McCabe is. It is moving and inspiring to hear these performances."
Colin Anderson - Classical Source.com - 12 October 2011
