Last night I went with friends to a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Originally the six cantatas which comprise the ‘Christmas Oratorio’ were designed to be performed one at a time, in one or other of the two Leipzig churches with which Bach was associated, on the major feast days of the Christmas season (in […]

Today the Herald has an arts supplement with Books of the Year 2016 chosen by various guest selectors. Broadcaster Sheena McDonald has chosen my book ‘Sleeping in Temples‘ as one of her books of the year: ‘What makes a successful concert pianist? The internationally-acclaimed performer Susan Tomes explains using language as felicitously as she does […]

It is very sad news that the American violinist Ida Levin has lost her battle with leukaemia. Ida was devoted to the International Musicians’ Seminars in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. I met her there when she came to study with Sandor Vegh. He immediately liked her and her playing. She in turn instinctively understood his middle-European […]

Today I’m making my Christmas cake, a few days ahead of ‘Stir-up Sunday’ which is, I believe, this coming Sunday. It’s a traditional day for families to get together to make steamed Christmas puddings, and in these days when most households have their own ovens, baked Christmas cakes, though if you consult cookery books, many […]

The weather has been extremely humid lately and my piano doesn’t like it. I have a little device which registers the temperature and humidity; for weeks it has been announcing the humidity as 75%. I have an older piano with ivory key coverings (newer pianos have plastic or resin keys). When the air is damp, […]