Channel 4's series The Piano began its second series last night. It's always interesting to see the different playing styles of the pianists who put themselves forward to play a station piano in front of a crowd of listeners. Some of them play beautifully. However,...
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Today is 'World Piano Day' (as if every day wasn't piano day!) and Yale University Press has been tweeting a little clip of me talking about the French pianist-composer Hélène de Montgeroult. De Montgeroult is one of the pianist-composers featured in my new book Women...
On Monday there was a report in The Guardian about the benefits of being involved in music. This time it was, 'Playing a musical instrument or singing is linked to better memory in older age'. To my delight the next paragraph began, 'The piano was especially...
I have joined the roster of speakers represented by the Ed Victor Agency. If you are interested in booking me as a speaker, Visit their Speakers' Bureau and scroll down the alphabetical list until you come to T. I've always enjoyed speaking to concert audiences, and...
Last summer we brought back some pink garlic from the French village of Lautrec, where we visited a memorable exhibition of tableaux created using pink garlic cloves as the raw material. When we got home, we divided our garlic bulbs into single cloves and planted them...
This morning in the park I was trying to take moody silhouettes of my old friends the Egyptian geese (see photo). 'I wonder where the word 'silhouette' comes from?' I said to Bob. He thought for a moment and replied, 'Probably named after Alphonse Silhouette, the...
Yesterday I adjudicated a scholarship whose auditions were held at the Royal Academy of Music. Their Josefowitz Recital Hall is set into the ground at basement level. Half way up the wall behind the stage is a large half-moon-shaped window as wide as the room. This...
Last night I saw the Japanese edition (published by Shunjusha) of my book 'Out of Silence' for the first time. Its translator, the concert pianist Noriko Ogawa, flew back from Tokyo yesterday and very nobly came straight from the airport to visit me, bringing me a...
Adam Gopnik, speaking yesterday on Radio 4’s ‘A Point of View’ about the Beatles, ended his talk with a thought-provoking idea about melody and harmony. ‘Melody lies behind us, and calls us to our memories of a better past’, he said. ‘Harmony always lies ahead… as the...
After a week of dreadful weather, the sun actually came out in London this morning. Bob and I abandoned our plans and rushed up to the local Common, along with lots of other people who were clearly thinking the same thing. Grab a bit of sunshine while it lasts!...
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...
In this part of London it rained heavily during most of Sunday, the big day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Weekend. I can't imagine what happened to all the street parties. What strange weather we're having! A week ago it was glorious; we sat in the garden late into...
For weeks I've been watching the development of buds on our roses. The buds started to open last week, but the sudden burst of hot weather seems to have accelerated everything. The buds open in the morning, are full-blown by the middle of the day, and by the evening...
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....