The other day I came across an article called 'The Pianoforte Recital'. It was published in The Musical Times in 1911 - over a century ago. The author, Frederick Kitchener (himself a pianist), complained that piano recitals had become far too numerous, and that...
Interested in what Susan has to say about all things classical music? Subscribe below and whenever Susan writes a new blog post you will be notified by email. Simple!
Last night I appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, discussing my latest book with broadcaster Kate Molleson (see picture of me turning away from the piano after playing one of the pieces we were talking about). Conversation turned to the idea of...
To Cambridge, where I heard a fine May Week concert at King’s College. (As Clive James pointed out in the title of a book of memoirs, May Week is in June.) It was great to hear that the tradition of excellent music-making continues, even though ‘performance’ is only a...
I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during the jury’s deliberations on the Cardiff Singer of the World final on Sunday night. I’d watched most of the other rounds and had realised it was going to be a difficult choice. It was an exceptionally good line-up, and...
After I had finished my rehearsal in Rye Church in East Sussex the other day, I was standing outside the church waiting for the rain to stop, and my eye fell on the War Memorial commemorating local men who had given their lives in the World Wars of 1914-19 and...
I yield to no-one in my devotion to The Guardian, which I read every day, but I’ve been struck recently by what seems to be a disturbing policy of excluding classical music from discussions of ‘music’. A few weeks ago the paper published a 50-page guide to summer...
I'm off to the Florestan Festival in East Sussex today. I always enjoy imagining people setting off towards Peasmarsh from many different compass points. Most of our rehearsals have happened to the accompaniment of pouring rain, so we can only hope the spell of wet...
A lovely evening at Wigmore Hall last night listening to jazz from pianist Gwilym Simcock and 'reeds' player Klaus Gesing. What a well-matched duo they are, both superb musicians and excellent instrumentalists as well. Their ensemble playing was a lesson in how to be...
On Monday, Mark Lawson wrote in the Guardian about how politicians are averse to being associated with 'high art' because they don't wish to be seen as 'élitist'. In today's paper there are several letters in reply, one of them from me.
The July issue of Classic FM magazine, just out, is devoted to 'discovering the genius of Mendelssohn'. They asked me to write a little 'artist's view' of playing Mendelssohn's piano music, and my article is on p48. For those who don't have the chance to buy the...
Isn't it funny how our tastes can change over time? I used not to like the 'old English roses' as much as the simpler kind. I found the structure of 'old roses', with their mass of tiny petals, too fussy and complicated. I preferred the classic rose of the kind that...
I've been adjudicating a couple of prizes recently at music colleges. As usual these days, some of the most striking performances have been provided by musicians from China, Korea and Japan. I'm starting to get used to the excellence of their contributions, but from...
A while ago, Bob was given a special bottle of wine by way of thanks for something. We kept waiting for the perfect opportunity to drink it, but as nothing perfect ever presented itself, he finally decided that we should stop being so fussy and just drink it to...
Children collecting tadpoles in our local park this week. The things frogs have to put up with! I looked up 'tadpole' in the dictionary. 'Tade' is the Old English word for toad. 'Poll' means head. Toadhead: a rather graceless image, I find. Somehow the tadpoles' tails...
