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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.
Take 1, 13, 21, 47, 109, 205
I've returned from London, where I recorded an album for Hyperion of piano music by some of the women featured in my book. I had a wonderful recording team. Incredibly, it's now 40 years since I first recorded an album with producer Andrew Keener, now a doyen of the...
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Unyoking the horses
Today's blog post is on quite a niche subject. When I was writing a short biography of pianist Sophie Menter (1846-1912) for Women and the Piano, I mentioned some of the extravagant things her fans used to do to show their adoration. When she played in Copenhagen in...
Proofreading your own words
I have been proofreading my book about Nocturnes, which has reached the stage of being typeset. This is the point at which it starts to look like a proper book. As the author, you dare to believe that it will one day really be published and start to live in heads...
Should we promote our own concerts?
There's been quite a lot written lately about the need for musicians to 'be their own promoters' and organise their own concerts. In the face of declining opportunities for classical music, many musicians have embraced the idea of putting on their own concerts and...
Competitions and boringness
Letter from a reader who mentions that he rarely goes to concerts these days because many performers are there as a result of winning competitions, and he finds that competition winners are usually, like Monty Python's celebrated accountant, 'too boring to be of...
Gathering round a new score
I've been rehearsing Judith Weir's 'Airs from Another Planet', a superb sextet for piano and wind instruments (in this case, the wind players of the chamber group Daniel's Beard). It's for the opening concert of the Cottier Chamber Project in Glasgow on 5 June....
Teaching Daisy to use a catflap
Lots of people have asked for news of our rescue cat Daisy (surely her adventures can't be more interesting than my ruminations on phrasing and pedalling?). Daisy's getting on beautifully, but can't understand how to use the cat flap which would let her out into the...
Chamber Music America magazine
The new issue of Chamber Music America magazine has as its endpiece an abridged version of one of the chapters of my book 'Sleeping in Temples'. It's the chapter called 'The Iceberg', in which I contrast the huge amount of time most musicians spend practising and...
The Highland Lady’s memories of practising
I wrote a while ago about the memoirs of Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchus, 'the Highland Lady', whose memoirs of life in Scotland in the early 19th century were so popular. Now I'm reading her later volume of memoirs, written when she was married and helping to run an...
Our new cat
We have a new cat, Daisy, adopted from a cat rescue shelter. After a wobbly start, she's settling down beautifully. Daisy is a very quiet cat who seems not to find it necessary to say anything. One of her few utterances was a moment after her arrival when she shot out...
American Library Association magazine review
My new book has had its first 'review' in the States. 'Choice', the professional magazine of the American Library Association, has recommended it for students, professionals, and general readers. This is a big step forward because 'Choice' is an important influence on...
Marking Criteria
The Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna came to an end on Wednesday with a prizewinners' concert and presentation of prizes by the sponsors and jury. Afterwards, there was a reception hosted by the university. Immediately I was approached by someone with a role in...
Gramophone magazine review
The March issue of Gramophone Magazine carries a review of my book 'Sleeping in Temples'. As the review is not available online except to subscribers, here's an excerpt: " 'Out of Silence' [my previous book] was written in diary form. 'Sleeping in Temples' is a series...
The character of each audience
After writing about my preparations for Monday's concert at Wigmore Hall with Erich Höbarth, I'm delighted to report that we had a wonderful time. In fact, it was one of my most favourite concerts of recent years. Erich was tremendous, and I felt that I was 'in the...
Schubert at Wigmore Hall on Monday
It's getting close now to my concert on Monday 16 Feb at my favourite hall (London's Wigmore Hall, in case anyone didn't know) with the marvellous Austrian violinist Erich Höbarth, leader of Quatuor Mosaiques, Concentus Musicus Wien, and an old friend of the Wigmore...