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I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, but there still seem to be plenty of interesting topics to mull over. You can subscribe (it’s free) to follow the blog by email – each new post will pop into your inbox.
Tasting notes
Bob went to the wine shop and returned with a few bottles and a page of 'tasting notes' supplied by the shop. As usual I was charmed by the poetic way that wine producers describe their products. 'Notes of ripe, dark fruit, tobacco, chocolate and spice'. 'Delicate...
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Wordsworth windows
On Wednesday I played a solo recital in Ambleside Church as part of the Lake District Summer Music festival. My programme contained six pieces by the female pianist-composers whose work I have been performing in the past couple of years. In the context, I was touched...
Playing music in a cherry tree
An old friend of mine, a fellow musician, wrote to tell me about a lovely dream he had had. He, I and another musician friend were sitting in the branches of a cherry tree playing music together. 'The cherries were the notes!' he said. He didn't say what instrument I...
Mozart K488 on the turntable
I'm currently practising Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major K488 for a performance with the New Edinburgh Orchestra on June 25 (please come along if you live nearby!) Mozart's glorious A major concerto is still probably my favourite (apart from all my other favourite...
Round stones
The other week I was visiting relatives in the south of England, and we went to the coast for an outing. The beach was covered in stones of attractive pink, white and russet colours, and as usual I found myself searching among the stones for examples of rounded ones....
More about Radu Lupu
A couple of readers said they'd like to hear more about Radu Lupu. I only met him a few times and didn't know him well, but I vividly remember the impression he made. When I went for my lessons, I was probably focusing on trying to play each phrase as beautifully as I...
Remembering a lesson with the great Radu Lupu
Very sad news today that the great pianist Radu Lupu has died. He was probably the first 'favourite pianist' I chose for myself rather than taking my teachers' choices on trust. I tweeted something about having once had a couple of lessons with Radu Lupu when he was...
Mozart Piano Concerto in B flat, K595, with Meadows Orchestra
A fortnight ago I performed Mozart's wonderful Piano Concerto in B flat K595 with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra, a long-standing amateur orchestra which has become an institution in Edinburgh's musical life. The orchestra celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The...
Playing along with someone else’s recording
On Saturday, I shall be playing Mozart's last piano concerto - the B flat major, K595 - with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra in Edinburgh. Since I don't have an in-house orchestra, I have been preparing by playing along with a recording. We have three CDs in the house...
Presto Music Award arrives
I have got so used to everything being online-only that I was very surprised when an Actual Thing turned up in the post to commemorate the Presto Music Award 2021 for my book The Piano. It's a nice little sculpture of the blue Presto Music 'arrows' logo. I knew about...
Good wishes for Hogmanay
At the end of December, I usually reflect on my favourite concerts of the year. This year however, as you will know all too well, we spent the entire year in a pandemic. Concert life is still badly impacted, and freelance musicians have been more impacted than most....
Presto Music Awards 2021
Today I learned that my book The Piano - a History in 100 Pieces has been named as a Book of the Year 2021 in the Presto Music Awards. I feel very fortunate that it has now been chosen as a Book of the Year in The Spectator, the Financial Times and the Presto Music...
Financial Times ‘Books of 2021’
The Financial Times has been publishing its 'Books of 2021', category by category across recent days, and now they have arrived at Classical Music. I'm proud to see that my piano book is one of their Books of 2021. This is the link, but unless you're a subscriber it...
My piano book is in The Spectator’s ‘Books of the Year’
An exhilarating moment in an otherwise quiet stretch of autumn: Jenny Colgan has chosen my piano book as one of her Books of the Year in The Spectator (the print edition comes out on 13 November). She calls it 'one of the two most beautiful books I got my hands on...
A ‘Strictly’ for pianists?
I was discussing 'Strictly' with a friend who's also a fan of the show. He asked me: 'How do you think it would work if celebrities were partnered with professional pianists, to learn to play the piano in a few weeks and then perform, say, a piano concerto in front of...