It was sad to read that the French cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé has died at the age of 89. I first came across his drawings when my French class at school studied Le Petit Nicolas, the delightful adventures of a little French boy in an idealised 1950s world. It was probably my first encounter with that […]

Limelight, Australia’s leading arts magazine, has reviewed my book The Piano – a History in 100 Pieces. The book came out a year ago, so I was surprised to learn about a new review. You can only read the whole review online if you’re a subscriber, but here’s an excerpt: ‘From Bach, it’s on to […]

There’s news today of an important new women’s health strategy in England. ‘Ministers have vowed to tackle decades of “systemic” and “entrenched” gender health inequality in England with plans to introduce compulsory women’s health training for doctors, more cancer checks and “one-stop shop” hubs across the NHS’, reports The Guardian. I turned on the radio. […]

Last week I was in Cerne Abbas, Dorset, for the Gaudier Ensemble’s annual festival of chamber music in the village church. I think I have played in 27 of the festivals. Of course, the pandemic blew a two-year hole in proceedings and this was my first visit since 2019. One of the works I was […]

I have just been reading an astonishing little book which a friend lent me  –  The Death of Franz Liszt, based on the unpublished diary of his pupil Lina Schmalhausen (Cornell University Press, 2002). The distinguished Liszt biographer Alan Walker came across Lina’s unpublished diary in a Weimar archive when researching the first volume of […]