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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Erich Höbarth and I are travelling down to Bath today to prepare for our concert in the Mozartfest on Saturday morning. Our programme is all of Mozart, interspersing duo sonatas with piano solos, but it’s a different programme to the all-Mozart one we played in the Wigmore Hall in September. Of course, with several dozen [...]

I’ve been exploring some of Dorset’s villages and churches. Milton Abbey was a lovely surprise -set in grounds wonderfully landscaped by Capability Brown. Close by is the picturesque village of Milton Abbas, one of the first examples of English town planning in the sense that it was designed by a rich man who didn’t want [...]