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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.
A podcast for the ‘Brainland’ series
I have done an interview for the 'Brainland' podcast, a series 'where neuroscience, the arts and humanities mingle'. An old college friend, doctor and cellist Steve Brown, interviewed me about how I got started in music, how I got into chamber music, what motivates...
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Edinburgh Book Festival programme announced
The Edinburgh Book Festival has just announced its programme for this summer. I will be taking part on Sunday 11 August at 6.45pm, talking to Kate Molleson about my book Women and the Piano. I'm delighted to be included in this very popular festival. This year the...
La Puerta del Vino
Debussy's Prelude 'La Puerta del Vino', from his second book of Preludes for piano (written 1912-13), has been one of my favourites for a long time. I've always loved its evocation of harsh guitar music, flamenco singing and the rhythms of the habañera. Long ago I...
Ceylan’s ‘Anatolia’
Last night we saw 'Once upon a time in Anatolia', Nuri Bilge Ceylan's haunting film which won the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Reviews and viewers' comments had suggested it was either a masterpiece or a shocking waste of two and a half hours. Both...
Playing music during surgery
The press has been reporting recently on the successful use of music during surgery in a couple of different hospitals. Apparently it can 'lessen fear' and reduce the heart rate of patients who are played 'easy listening' and 'chart classics' while having...
Third anniversary of this blog
It's three years today since I started this blog, three years in which I've thoroughly enjoyed corresponding with readers around the world. I've also learned to use a camera (well, a bit). I looked at the website statistics to get an overview. The number of...
Guardian Open Weekend
King's Place, the building behind King's Cross which houses two concert halls and also the Guardian offices, was heaving today for the first Guardian Open Weekend (see photo). It was great to see the place so full, and full of such interesting-looking people too. I...
Parakeets in Richmond Park
This morning I managed at last to get a photo of one of the green parakeets which live in Richmond Park. They're usually too quick for me. The parakeets have been a feature of the park for some years, but still strike an exotic note with their vivid green plumage and...
Blood orange tart
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...
My youngest reader
Noriko Ogawa has finished translating my book 'Out of Silence' into Japanese, after more than a year's work. As Noriko zooms about the world, she and her editor in Tokyo have been corresponding about the precise choice of words and the appropriate tone, and I have...
To talk or not to talk
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...
‘I can’t talk right now’
Back in the seventies, a friend told me he was reading a book by Marshall McLuhan on how technology was beginning to intrude into everyday life. 'Apparently there is no activity which human beings will not interrupt in order to answer a ringing phone', reported my...
Masterclass report
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)...
‘Talking to the audience’ seminar
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...
London masterclasses this week
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,...