Simon Callaghan
With several recordings for the boutique label Somm, English pianist Simon Callaghan has gained a reputation for high-quality, intimate performances. His interest in neglected repertory has also led to his appearance in the Hyperion label's popular Romantic Piano Concertos series, dedicated to the revival of forgotten works.
Callaghan was born in 1983 in Stoke-on-Trent and took an interest in the piano early on. He enrolled at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester in 2000, studying with Bernard Roberts, and went on to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Yonty Solomon, a student of Dame Myra Hess. Callaghan was a finalist at the Bromsgrove International Young Musician's Platform in 2002. Signed as a Steinway artist, he has given concerts all over the world. Under Steinway's auspices, he has performed around Britain at major halls, including Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Bridgewater and Stoller Halls in Manchester. Abroad, he has crisscrossed Europe, traveled to the Banff Centre in Canada, and performed in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand. Callaghan has also toured as a chamber musician as half of the Parnassus Duo with Hiro Takenouchi and has performed at the Highgate, Husum, and Cervo Chamber Music Festivals. In 2012, he made his recording debut (with Takenouchi) in an album of music by Delius arranged for two pianos on the Somm label.
Callaghan's discography most clearly shows his orientation toward lesser-known music. He has issued several albums devoted to Roger Sacheverell Coke. One of these was on Hyperion, featuring three of Coke's piano concertos, and was issued as part of that label's Romantic Piano Concertos series; another album in that series, featuring concertos by Joseph Rheinberger and Bernhard Scholz, appeared in 2018. That year also saw Callaghan perform Nikolai Medtner's Piano Concerto No. 3 in E minor, Op. 60, a work of which he had given the first British performance since 1946. Callaghan maintains a busy performing schedule with recital partners, including Raphael Wallfisch, Adrian Brendel, and Sheku Kanneh-Mason. He remained busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing five albums in the year 2020 alone and two more in 2021; one of those, Josef Holbrooke: Late Piano Music, was on the Lyrita label, with which he has had an ongoing relationship. In 2022, Callaghan (with Adrian Farmer) returned on Nimbus with an album of duo piano works by Schubert. He also backed violinist Coco Tomita on her album Origins that year and released five more albums, three of them on Lyrita. His Romantic Piano Concerto album devoted to Carl Reinecke was slated for release on Hyperion in 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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British Piano Concertos, Vol. 2
Simon Callaghan, The BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Stephen Bell, George Vass
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Sep 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Coke: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4 & 5 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 73)
Simon Callaghan, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 27 Oct 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rheinberger & Scholz: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 76)
Simon Callaghan, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ben Gernon
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 29 Jun 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Origins
Chamber Music - Released by Orchid Classics on 4 Mar 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Reinecke: Piano Concertos Nos, 1, 2 & 4 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 85)
Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Simon Callaghan, Modestas Pitrenas
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 6 Jan 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
British Piano Concertos
Simon Callaghan, The BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clarke & Busch: Complete Piano Music
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 7 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Danza Gaya
Simon Callaghan, Hiroaki Takenouchi
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Mar 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Coke: Cello Sonatas
Raphael Wallfisch, Simon Callaghan
Chamber Music - Released by Lyrita on 3 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scott: Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 66
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 5 Apr 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Duos for Harmonium and Piano (Arr. for Classical Accordion & Piano by Miloš Milivojević & Simon Callaghan)
Milos Milivojevic, Simon Callaghan
Chamber Music - Released by Nimbus Records on 3 Feb 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sherwood & Parry: Music for 2 Pianos
Simon Callaghan, Hiroaki Takenouchi
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Feb 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 (arr. for two pianos)
Simon Callaghan, Hiroaki Takenouchi
Classical - Released by Nimbus Records on 4 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dyson: Complete Music for Piano
Simon Callaghan, Cliodna Shanahan
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 16 Oct 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Alvars: Music for 2 Pianos
Simon Callaghan, Cliodna Shanahan
Chamber Music - Released by Lyrita on 3 Jun 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Deeper the Blue...
Janet Sung, Britten Sinfonia, Simon Callaghan, Jac van Steen
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 15 Nov 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Holbrooke: Late Piano Music
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Music for Four Hands
Simon Callaghan, Adrian Farmer
Classical - Released by Nimbus Records on 7 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Chopin & Liszt Sonatas Arrangements for 2 Pianos
Simon Callaghan, Hiroaki Takenouchi
Classical - Released by Nimbus Records on 4 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
British Violin Sonatas
Chamber Music - Released by SOMM Recordings on 20 Feb 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Jean Louis Nicodé: Ein Liebesleben & Other Piano Works
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 31 May 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo