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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.
When is a theme a melody?
I've now finished working my way through the volume of Mozart piano sonatas (a sonata a day keeps the doctor away) and have started playing through Beethoven's again. The early Beethoven sonatas have made me think about what makes the difference between a theme and a...
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Tricky fingering resolves itself
I've been gradually playing through the whole volume of Mozart piano sonatas, and the other day I reached the B flat Sonata, K333. This piece holds unpleasant memories for me because when I was doing my O-levels, or Highers, I forget which, I had to perform some of it...
Back story? A new weapon in career-building
A new series of Channel 4's 'The Piano' has begun. Judge Mika is still there, but Lang Lang has left the show and in his place is the multi-talented American musician Jon Batiste. For anyone who isn't familiar with the show, this is the concept: an upright piano is...
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...
At the Wigmore
Here's the Florestan Trio on stage at Wigmore Hall at the end of our Monday lunchtime concert. It was broadcast live on Radio 3 and will be repeated this Saturday 19 March at 2pm. It's also available this week on iPlayer. It's always a delight to play at Wigmore...
In Bruchsal
I have been in Germany, where one of the Florestan Trio's performances was in the beautiful 18th century Schloss Bruchsal, a place I admit I hadn't heard of. It turned out that Mozart had visited there, not to play, but to have a meeting with the powerful...
Giving credit for chamber music
After coaching chamber music at various music colleges this week, I’m still baffled about how chamber music can attain its proper status in higher education. My visit often begins with students explaining that they have struggled to find time to rehearse together;...