The other day I was part of a coffee gathering where people from various lines of work were talking about their experiences of writing 'risk assessments'. They described the complicated forms that had to be filled in and the efforts to explain what preventive measures...
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Two weeks today I'll be playing a recital at London's Wigmore Hall to mark the launch of my new book about the history of women playing the piano. My programme consists of music by some of the historical women featured in the book. I've been wondering how many of...
I was looking through the list of candidates for a concerto competition recently and was struck by the list of pieces they were playing. Mozart (lots), Haydn (several), Beethoven (several), Mendelssohn (several), Schumann (several), Chopin, Brahms (several), Grieg,...
Went to the Royal College of Music to see their end-of-year student production of Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro'. Whenever I go to see Mozart operas, I'm struck by how one gets to see a side of Mozart not so much in evidence in his purely instrumental music. How to...
On this morning's 'A Point of View' on Radio 4, Adam Gopnik shared some amusing thoughts about how authors deal with negative reviews. He described how many authors write fierce late-night responses and reubuttals, which they're usually dissuaded from sending. He...
Booking for Wigmore Hall's 2012-13 season opens to the general public today. You can browse the new brochure online or download it from here. This seems a good moment to mention that on the evening of Sunday, September 30, violinist Erich Höbarth and I will be playing...
As part of the Cerne Abbas music festival in Dorset, members of the Gaudier Ensemble have been giving masterclasses in the church to some local young musicians. Two years ago I had the pleasure of teaching a talented young Dorset pianist, Max Blass-Laker, and...
I'm down in Dorset for the annual music festival of the Gaudier Ensemble in Cerne Abbas. Last night I finished my rehearsals in time to join a crowd of people walking from the centre of the village and up the hill where the famous Cerne Abbas Giant is depicted. On top...
I don't think I've ever played and listened to so much Brahms as I have this week. The Orion Quartet and I have now done three Brahms concerts this week in Oxford and London, and there's another tonight in King's Place. Every programme has been a mix of Brahms string...
It's just a week now until the first of my three concerts with the Orion Quartet at King's Place. Quartet fans will know that the Orion are, indeed, stars. Our concerts are part of the 'Brahms Unwrapped' series at King's Place in London. They're on May 31, June 1 and...
A very interesting discussion the other day at an event organised by the Worshipful Company of Musicians to find out whether young musicians feel they're getting enough career advice. Many young musicians said sadly that in music the bar is set very high for...
Last night my TV recorder failed to record the Final of BBC Young Musician. I had been so looking forward to it and was crushed to find that I couldn't watch it when I got home from a coaching session. BBC iPlayer tantalised me with 'Coming Soon', but didn't say when....
On Wednesday, Erich Höbarth and I played the final concert in our Mozart Series in Perth Concert Hall. It has been a lot of work, and a lot of travelling (especially for Erich, coming from Vienna each time) but it has been very satisfying. In fact, it has been one of...
When I was in Cuba last week I saw something sweet at a concert. My daughter and I were in the Gran Teatro in Havana to see the graduation show of ballet dancers from the national ballet school, and musicians from the national music school. During the instrumental...
King's Place, the building behind King's Cross which houses two concert halls and also the Guardian offices, was heaving today for the first Guardian Open Weekend (see photo). It was great to see the place so full, and full of such interesting-looking people too. I...