A little while ago I wrote something about a piano piece by Robert Schumann, in which he had instructed the player to play 'con accurezza' - with accuracy. It still seems an amusing little moment because of the questions it raises. I came across another such moment...
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The other day I was playing through some of Schubert's 'Deutsche Tänze' or German Dances, little dances in triple time which were very popular in Schubert's day. His many 'Deutsche' were clearly designed for practical use, such as someone playing them on the piano...
I've been watching the BBC Young Musician competition on television for many years now. Slowly, the competition has slipped from the major channels and is now shown on BBC4, whose output currently seems to consist of repeats, archive material and cultural things that...
Bob made a gorgeous tart using blood oranges and lemons (see picture). The colour was quite lovely, a deep golden yellow which reminded me of Renaissance fresco paintings. I started to search around on art-history sites and paint history websites for a description of...
Our discussion at the Guildhall on Friday, about talking to the audience, turned out to be unexpectedly interesting. It would take too long to report on all the facets of the discussion, but here's one of them. All the performers agreed that talking to the audience is...
Here I am working with the Trio Paul Klee, from Paris, at my London masterclasses last weekend (I was pointing something out to the audience at the moment the photo was taken). I thoroughly enjoyed working with the eleven young professionals (three trios and a duo)...
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Silk St, Barbican, is running a seminar and 'round table discussion' on Friday 9th March from 5.30-7pm. The topic is 'Talking to the audience'. It's part of the 'Understanding audiences' series. Is talking to the audience a...
On Friday and Saturday, I'm giving two days of my own masterclasses in 'The Art of Piano Chamber Music'. (Click on my Concerts and Events tab for more details.) I have some great participants this year - the Trio Paul Klee from Paris, the Trio Atanassov from Paris,...
I'm on my way to Perth in Scotland, for the third of my Mozart Series programmes with violinist Erich Hobarth. We'll rehearse today, and the concert is on Saturday evening at 7.30pm in Perth Concert Hall. Please come along, Perthshire music-lovers! Mozart popped up on...
It was lucky I didn't have to play the piano much while I was in Austria, because I have been nursing a small injury to my right hand. It happened back in December when I was playing a solo programme including Ligeti's 'Musica Ricercata'. In the second piece, as the...
Here are all the winners of the Graz Competition on stage at their Gala Concert on Thursday evening. Two piano trios, three Lieder partnerships of singer and pianist, and three string quartets (not all of whom are visible in the photo). For details of who won what,...
The final of the Graz competition ended last night with no first prize being awarded. We had been following jury rules which obliged us to give our scores anonymously, and to refrain from discussing the competitors with one another. Consequently the result of every...
We have now arrived at six finalists for the piano trio competition in Graz. Each group has to play a contemporary work, plus one of Schubert's late, great trios in the Final on Tuesday. This will be the first time I have ever had to sit and listen to six consecutive...
I'm in Graz, Austria, on the jury of a piano trio competition, 'Franz Schubert and modern music'. Graz is a beautiful city and even more so in the snow. The competition has several parallel categories: piano trio, string quartet and Lieder. The idea behind it is that...
This morning we listened to a delightful edition of 'Desert Island Discs' featuring Sir David Attenborough, irresistible as always. What a lovely voice he has! 'Desert Island Discs' is a long-running radio series in which each 'castaway' chooses the eight records...