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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.
The difficulty of ending in tempo and without a pause
When you play a lot of Romantic piano music, you get used to the final notes being extended by a written pause. Composers like Chopin and Schumann often wanted the last chord to ring on gently (or triumphantly) while the mood of the piece hung in the air. We pianists...
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Brian Kellock, great Scottish jazz pianist, has died
Very sad news that the Scottish jazz pianist Brian Kellock died last night. Brian was revered in the Scottish jazz world and far beyond. I didn't know him well, but I had got to know him a bit through attending his Sunday afternoon performances (with double bassist...
Signing paperbacks
Here I am signing paperbacks in Toppings Bookshop in Edinburgh this morning. Whenever I'm in a big bookstore, especially a well-curated one like Toppings, I look at all the tables with their piles of new books on a thousand fascinating subjects and wonder what chance...
‘Best modern recording of Schumann’s D minor Trio’
Yesterday Radio 3's 'Building a Library' feature on CD Review focused on Schumann's first piano trio, in D minor opus 63. Erica Jeal's overall recommendation was for a 1958 recording of Emil Gilels, Msistlav Rostropovich and Leonid Kogan, and her choice for the best...
Boydell’s widget
'A widget?' I hear you ask. No, I didn't know either. But it seems that a widget is a clever little package of information, in this case about my book 'Out of Silence'. Its publisher, Boydell Press, is embracing widgets as a new kind of promotional material. If you...
Cheese scones
I'm off to Scotland for the second concert in my Mozart Series with Erich Hobarth. While I'm there, I'm hoping to visit the newly refurbished Scottish National Portrait Gallery which has been closed for the past two years. It opened again in Edinburgh on December 1....
Herald interview
Today there's an interview with me by Kate Molleson in the Herald, one of Scotland's leading newspapers. The interview was triggered by the interest in my Mozart Series with violinist Erich Höbarth in Perth Concert Hall. The next concert in the series is on December...
Coping with unkind remarks
Since I wrote about attending a masterclass the other day, several people have told me about their own bruising experiences with ‘masters’ who specialised in devastating criticism. Years after the event they could still recall the words with searing clarity: ‘Shall I...
Sunday at Conway Hall
I've promised to help promote the Conway Hall Sunday Concerts, where I'm playing a recital on Sunday 4 December at 6.30pm. Conway Hall (25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1) is Europe's longest-running chamber music series, and has been going since 1887. The series...
‘The most dangerous words are whispered’
To King's Place to hear the Hungarian piano professor Ferenc Rados teach a public masterclass for several chamber groups. I know lots of people who have had memorable lessons with Ferenc Rados in recent years, though I myself hadn't seen him since I played to him in...
November sun
To Cambridge for a dinner at my old college. In order to check what I wore last year at this event, I looked up some photos I'd taken at the time (just as well, as I was about to wear the same thing) and was surprised to see how much colder it was last year in...
Perthshire Advertiser review
Lots of people seem to have been interested in the Guardian review, (see previous post), so here's another one of the same concert which appeared yesterday in the the Perthshire Advertiser: 'Since the opening of Perth Concert Hall, last Friday evening's concert was...
Five-star review in today’s Guardian
Blowing my own trumpet, or rather hammering my own Klavier - but it's not so often that one gets a five-star review in the Guardian! Here's the review of my concert in Perth last Friday with violinist Erich Höbarth: 'Some of the most intuitive, candid and affectionate...
Living with Mozart
I'm on my way to Scotland for the start of my Mozart Series with violinist Erich Höbarth. On Friday evening we're playing our opening concert in the Horsecross Concert Hall in Perth, one of Scotland's newest arts centres. For this series, I've been preparing nearly...
November roses
Although the clocks have gone back, the afternoons are growing dark between 4 and 5pm, and winter is clearly approaching, there are still roses blooming in the garden. I'm particularly pleased about one rose, an Ena Harkness, which has taken ages to get established in...