Blog
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.
‘Search for a way to make it natural’
The other day I was listening to a pianist playing the fearsome second movement of the César Franch Sonata for violin and piano. The piano part is highly virtuosic and, apart from anything else, a very good proof of the fact that these big piano parts are not...
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Music and longevity
I go to quite a lot of concerts given by amateur musicians - partly because there's a big amateur music scene in the city where I live, and partly because I often have friends and neighbours playing in the concerts. Of course my particular interest is piano. It dawned...
Women of older generations
By chance, two different people have spoken to me recently about their late mothers, who experienced difficulties in following their chosen career when they were young. One of those women was born in the 1920s, the other in the 1930s. One was a doctor, the other a...
‘High art’ and politicians
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 joy of Mendelssohn
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...
Fame’s feathery crowbar
My days of being able to be knocked down by a feather are past, but you could have knocked me down with a full-grown marrow, or possibly a crusty baguette, when I discovered that my birthday was the featured one in The Times’ birthday column on Thursday, at the bottom...
Old roses
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...
Cygnet ring
... Couldn't resist the pun! After watching the swan on her nest on a little island in the middle of the lake in the local park for weeks, we were delighted to see her on the water with these handsome cygnets at the weekend.
Beethoven in China
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...
Connoisseurs
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...
Signs of spring
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...
‘Don’t be a DNA’
A hospital appointment date arrives in the post. Along with the letter is a leaflet pleading, 'Don't be a DNA!' It turns out that 'a DNA is someone who Did Not Attend hospital for an appointment and did not advise us beforehand. The clinic was ready, the staff were...
Remembering Jacob
A few weeks ago I attended an astonishing concert given by the pianist Jacob Barnes and three of his friends from the Royal Academy of Music. Jacob had been suffering from a rare kind of leukaemia for two years. His presence on the platform was a source of wonder and...
Shostakovich CD just out
I read last week of the death of ex-Sony chief Norio Ohga, the ‘father of the CD’. When Sony launched the CD format in 1982, Mr Ohga insisted that a disc must be long enough to contain his favourite piece, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. This determined the 75-minute...
Two years on
On the day the world is glued to the Royal Wedding in London, it seems slightly beside the point to mention that this is the second anniversary of my blog 'going live', but then, why not? I’m quite pleased about it. I wasn’t sure I’d manage to keep the blog going for...