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.
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...
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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...
Mozart’s birthday (etc)
Today, January 27, is Mozart's birthday. 269 years since he was born! His is the only 'composer birthday' I regularly remember, I suppose because he is still my favourite composer despite stiff competition from about 25 others. I remember his birthday for its own sake...
The power of Radio 4
It was exciting being on Radio 4 yesterday, especially when I looked at my website afterwards and saw there was an enormous surge in the number of visitors – more than a ten-fold increase on the usual number. I had never seen such a number before on my ‘site stats’....
‘Between Ourselves’ on 26 April
On the last episode of 'Between Ourselves', the Radio 4 discussion programme, James Rhodes and I are talking to presenter Olivia O'Leary about what it's like to be a concert pianist. I haven't heard the edited broadcast, but we talked for almost two hours in the...
Isabella
The azaleas, camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons are nearly all out now in Richmond Park. Although most of the park is just green, there's an enclosed park-within-a-park called the Isabella Plantation. Why is it called Isabella? It seems that 'Isabel' is an word...
De Keersmaeker at Sadler’s Wells
I never used to follow contemporary dance, but a chance encounter with the Mark Morris Dance Group seems to have turned me into an Sadler's Wells groupie. I've gone on to enjoy Pina Bausch, modern flamenco, and on Saturday we relished the last night of Anne Teresa de...
First tadpole of spring
I can't help feeling rather proud of this photo, taken yesterday, of the first tadpole I've seen this spring. He/she/it was resting on a lily leaf under the surface of the water. There was an item on the radio this morning about the big increase in the number of...
Preparing for ‘Between Ourselves’
I've been trying to prepare my mind for tomorrow's BBC recording of a discussion between me and fellow pianist James Rhodes for Radio 4's Between Ourselves programme (to be broadcast on April 26 at 9.00 and again at 21.30). James has found a way to bring classical...
Lunch at Jamie’s
Suddenly the weather is good, and for the first time this year we were able to have lunch outside. Here I am, out for a treat at the Covent Garden branch of Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain, about to enjoy my antipasto plate of delicious Italian cured hams, pumpkin,...
Timing
I woke up early and went downstairs in my dressing-gown to bake a cake, but when I got to the stage of adding eggs, I found there were no eggs in the house. So I had to get dressed and run round the corner to a shop I knew would be open at that early hour. An Indian...
Jane Austen’s house
Here I am standing outside Jane Austen's house in Chawton, Hampshire. It was touching to see the quiet village in which Jane lived with her sister Cassandra and her mother, and to read about the circumstances which left the three of them dependent on the kindness of...
Duets on Woman’s Hour
Noriko Ogawa arrived back safely from Japan, and here we are playing piano duets for Woman's Hour. We're also talking about my book 'Out of Silence' which Noriko is translating into Japanese. The broadcast is on Tuesday 29 March sometime between 10 and 11am, and you...
Amid the azaleas
These two lovely ducks sat peacefully under a bush on Richmond Common amid fallen azalea flowers, and didn't even move or turn their heads as I passed close to them. Most of the azaleas in the park have yet to come out, but there were drifts of daffodils and...
Noriko and Susan on Woman’s Hour
Woman’s Hour, the iconic BBC Radio 4 programme, is to feature an interview with me and fellow pianist Noriko Ogawa on March 29. The interview was originally planned as a discussion between me and Noriko about my book ‘Out of Silence’, which Noriko is currently...