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Jan 26, 2016
Jacqueline du Pré – a terrible premonition
On what would have been the 71th birthday of Jacqueline du Pré, the words of János Starker sound a provocative warning Jacqueline du Pré...
Jan 26, 2016
Careless talk costs lives
As Nigel Kennedy goes on Radio 4's Mastertapes programme to be rude about Baroque performance practice, here's a blog I wrote in 2011 on...
Oct 8, 2015
George Eliot on violin-making obsession and the genius of Stradivarius
To mark the UK's National Poetry Day, 8th October, here's George Eliot's great poem about violin making and the obsession with which...
Sep 24, 2015
We’re all misfit weirdos now
The breadth and success of David Byrne’s recent curatorship of Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival demonstrate how the curiosity and...
Aug 16, 2015
What do actors and musicians have in common?
A recent performance of the whole of Homer’s epic Iliad offered an opportunity to observe actors close up and to understand what their...
Jun 23, 2015
The curse of perfection
Perfectionism in music is a modern scourge, and Peter Cropper, who died in May, demonstrated that it is a distracting priority for...
Jun 22, 2015
Violin Utopia in Oberlin
As some of the world's finest violin makers gather in the small university town of Oberlin, Ohio, to share their knowledge at the annual...
Jun 14, 2015
The art of listening
The best musicians have special powers of listening, as pianist András Schiff demonstrated in a masterclass last week How can you tell if...
Jun 13, 2015
The Fiddler of Dooney
W.B. Yeats was born 150 years ago, on 13 June, 1865. Here's his poem The Fiddler of Dooney, written in 1889, when he was 24, celebrating...
Jun 11, 2015
Let’s show modern instruments some #love
The Elbow Music social media campaign puts modern instruments in the spotlight My recent article about Frank Peter Zimmermann’s dilemma...
Jun 6, 2015
Thomas Hardy and the violin
The great British writer Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June, 1840. His father was a fiddler in the village band and he himself also played....
Jun 3, 2015
Never too old to learn
How much can an adult amateur expect to develop as a musician in a short space of time? Quite a lot, it turns out, given the right...
Jun 1, 2015
Peter Cropper and the art of story telling
The great violinist, former leader of the Lindsay Quartet, and one of the unique and most charismatic voices in chamber music, died on...
May 31, 2015
Baffling results in Brussels
Jury places audience favourite in fifth place at Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in Belgium Music competitions get a lot of bad press...
May 8, 2015
Why you should stop practising
Observing masterclasses can be a brilliant way to learn and find inspiration, and yet students rarely turn up to watch. They may be too...
Apr 17, 2015
Wine and violins
Facebook just kindly reminded me that two years ago today I was in Sarasota, Florida, enjoying the La Musica Festival, and tasting wine –...
Mar 26, 2015
18 ways to support musicians
I have an article in today's Financial Times about music philanthropy, for which I spoke to some of the legion of generous souls who help...
Feb 23, 2015
The case for modern instruments
As two top violinists are forced to give back the classic instruments they've been borrowing, should more performers consider modern...
Feb 17, 2015
What makes a great performance?
How often do you leave a concert feeling as if you've experienced something special? As often as you'd like? If not, why not? My latest...
Feb 4, 2015
Spain’s Stradivarius quartet
A weekend in Madrid provided the perfect opportunity to view some unusual Stradivarius instruments There is a lot to do in Madrid –...
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