Archive for February 2010

Reducing numbers

Posted by Susan Tomes on 28 February 2010 under Daily Life, Musings  •  2 Comments

At this time of year in Richmond Park, I shudder when I see official notices warning visitors about the deer cull. The park is closed at certain times while its resident population of deer is ‘reduced’. It’s always a treat to see the park’s different herds of deer, some pale and dappled, others a darker [...]

Visiting from the Elysian Fields

Posted by Susan Tomes on 25 February 2010 under Books, Daily Life, Musings  •  2 Comments

Someone asked me today whether my new book, Out of Silence, is a collection of my blog posts. It isn’t; the book was written a year before I had the idea of starting a website or a blog. I suppose the experience of writing ‘a pianist’s yearbook’ may have given me an appetite for more of the [...]

Listening to Cortot

Posted by Susan Tomes on 22 February 2010 under Concerts, Daily Life, Inspirations  •  Leave a comment

I’m practising Schumann’s wonderful set of piano pieces, Davidsbündlertänze, for a concert later this year. As usual, progress is unpredictable. Sometimes things move on, sometimes not. Feeling short of inspiration one day this week, I sat down to listen to a historic 1937 recording by Alfred Cortot, renowned for his interpretations of Schumann and Chopin.
It [...]