The best musicians have special powers of listening, as pianist András Schiff demonstrated in a masterclass last week How can you tell if someone is listening? I mean really listening. Not semi-listening while they work out what to say next. Not mind-made-up listening. Not with their ears in the room but their thoughts on lunch. But genuine, in-the-moment, every-sense-primed, cold-bloodedly objective listening. What does it look like? After all, surely, to be a musician this

Observing masterclasses can be a brilliant way to learn and find inspiration, and yet students rarely turn up to watch. They may be too busy practising, but have they got their priorities wrong? They say that youth is wasted on the young. In one respect I concur. In the many masterclasses I’ve been to around the world, watching some of the finest players teaching, there’s often been barely a handful of students in the audience. It happened again yesterday. Shmuel Ashkenasi, f