We have been in snowy Vienna, where we were invited to hear a performance of Beethoven’s opera ‘Fidelio’ in the very theatre where it was premiered (see photo). We were sitting right behind Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the conductor. It was thrilling to be in the Theater an der Wien which, despite renovation of the foyers, must [...]

Out of the blue has come a letter from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, telling me that I have been awarded the 2013 Walter Wilson Cobbett Medal for distinguished services to chamber music. WW Cobbett was a successful businessman whose true passion was chamber music. Groves’ Dictionary observed that he ‘gave to commerce what time [...]

Which is the front of a church? At the weekend we had a disagreement about it. We were talking about somewhere we’d been on holiday. I referred to a certain road as ‘the one that goes past the back of the church’. Bob’s response puzzled me. From his description, he was clearly visualising the road [...]

Tune in to Radio 4′s ‘Today’ programme at 8.35am this morning, Tuesday 29 January, when I’ll be taking part in a short discussion about coughing in concerts. We’ll be discussing the research of Professor Andreas Wagener, who believes that coughing in concerts is both ‘excessive’ and ‘non-random’. Apparently people cough more in concerts than they [...]

The snow is causing all sorts of disruption. On Friday I went into town to meet someone who didn’t arrive because his flight from Austria was cancelled. On Saturday morning, I was supposed to be coaching a young German group, but their violinist was stuck in Germany because of the snow. They kept me informed [...]