Nicholas McCarthy, who at one point was told he would never have a career, is not your average artist. Born in 1989 without his right hand, he only began to play the piano at the late age of 14, going on to become the first one-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in that institution's 130-year history. The same year, he performed alongside Coldplay at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in front of a televised audience of half a billion worldwide. Accessible yet surprising at every turn, Nicholas McCarthy’s debut album ranges from Wittgenstein’s arrangement for left hand of Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria to popular early 20th-century works such as ‘O mio babbino caro’ from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (arranged by Frédéric Meinders) and ‘Summertime’ from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (arranged by McCarthy himself). "I hope this album will offer a snapshot of the range of repertoire that exists for left hand. My selection also offers a portrait of me as an artist, including three of my own arrangements.” The final track is a new commission by the British composer Nigel Hess – a Nocturne for left hand, written specially for Nicholas: “It has a really simple, beautiful theme and I've I love the way Nigel uses harmony. He does some unexpected things that I really like.”

01 Eiunadi: I Giorni  - Nicholas McCarthy
02 Mascagni / Arr McCarthy: Cavelleria Rusticana: Intermezzo  - Nicholas McCarthy
03 Puccini / Arr Meinders: Gianni Schicchi: "O mio babbino caro"  - Nicholas McCarthy
04 Bellini / Arr Fumagalli: Norma, Act 1: Casta Diva  - Nicholas McCarthy
05 Rachmaninov / Arr Meinders: 14 Songs, Op. 34: No. 14 Vocalise  - Nicholas McCarthy
06 Liszt / Arr Zichy: Liebstraum No. 3  - Nicholas McCarthy
07 Chopin / Arr Godowsky: Études, Op. 10: No. 3 'Tristesse'  - Nicholas McCarthy
08 Gershwin / Arr Earl Wild: Étude No. 3 'The Man I Love'  - Nicholas McCarthy
09 Scriabin / Arr Cimmiro: 12 Études, Op. 8: No. 12 in D-Sharp Minor  - Nicholas McCarthy
10 Scriabin / Arr Cimmiro: Étude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 2, No. 1  - Nicholas McCarthy
11 Blumenfeld: Étude in A-Flat Major, Op. 36  - Nicholas McCarthy
12 Strauss / Arr Mann: Morgen, Op. 27, No. 4  - Nicholas McCarthy
13 Chopin / Arr Godowsky: Études, Op. 25: No. 12 'Ocean'  - Nicholas McCarthy
14 Scriabin: Prelude & Nocturne for the Left Hand, Op. 9: No. 2 Nocturne  - Nicholas McCarthy
15 Hess: Nocturne  - Nicholas McCarthy
16 Gershwin / Arr McCarthy: Porgy & Bess: Summertime  - Nicholas McCarthy