Casals: ‘I am a simple man’
I just came across this lovely BBC documentary about Casals. I could do without seeing the researcher, Robert Baldock, playing Bach and...
top of page
- Nov 12, 2014
The unbearable lightness of being Gary Hoffman
Gary Hoffman is one of the music world’s best-kept secrets, a fine and uncompromising cellist whose rare appearances mesmerise. For him,...
- Nov 10, 2014
Eugene Drucker on Beethoven
I recently interviewed Eugene Drucker about his Southbank Centre concert with the Emerson Quartet on Sunday, 16 November, which you can...
- Oct 30, 2014
Who are the most popular string players in the US?
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has handily published this wonderfully detailed data about the concerts played in the 2014–2015 season...
- Oct 30, 2014
Written by Mrs Bach?
A new documentary suggests that Mrs Bach was behind the greatest works by her husband Johann Sebastian. But does it ring true? You know...
- Oct 5, 2014
The return of Kyung Wha Chung
The legendary violinist Kyung Wha Chung makes her much-awaited London comeback this December, after more than a decade away. On a recent...
- Sep 9, 2014
Should classical players cross over?
While I’ve been researching my article on violinists who’ve crossed musical borderlines, for Sinfini Music, I found myself debating with...
- Aug 29, 2014
Everything you need to know about violin playing (but were never taught)
Musical timing and closure, hearing and thinking for ourselves – just some of the things that teaching often fails to help us with,...
- Aug 27, 2014
Brahms as I’ve never heard him
Last night's Proms concert with the Budapest Festival Orchestra was ravishing, but raised an uncomfortable question I have a friend who...
- Aug 26, 2014
A plea on behalf of amateur violinists
Two weeks at a violin practice retreat were life-changing for me, but left me wondering why there aren't enough places for amateur...
- Aug 21, 2014
A Gershwin tribute to Leopold Auer
While we're on the subject of Leopold Auer, it's not possible to mention his roll-call of students without referencing this wonderful...
- Aug 21, 2014
Leopold Auer weighs in on the vibrato debate
Responses to my post about Menuhin's vibrato drew a mixture of responses. I’d remarked on it being ‘perfectly shaped’ and ‘fluid’ and...
- Aug 18, 2014
The best vibrato ever?
I came across this footage of Menuhin playing Bach's 'Air on the G String'. Just look at his left hand – is that not the most perfectly...
- Aug 15, 2014
Perlman discovers klezmer
I came across this lovely film while on my research into classical artists who have explored other genres. It's beautiful to watch the...
- Aug 14, 2014
Violinist Joshua Bell performs with Anoushka Shankar
I'm currently researching an article for Sinfini Music about violin stars who branch out into other styles, and came across this...
- Aug 11, 2014
James Ehnes on violin obsession and existential crisis
My latest interview for Cozio, with violinist James Ehnes, has just gone live, so please go and visit. He had so much to say about his...
- Aug 8, 2014
The shortcut to perfection? Or tendinitis?
The British Pathé YouTube archive is proving to be a charming source of films about the violin, in all its forms. Here is a soundless...
- Aug 6, 2014
An innovative solution to peg turning
I just came across this delightful footage on the British Pathé YouTube channel. It shows a class of 'budding Kreislers' from 1940...
- Aug 5, 2014
Charlie Chaplin's perfect film about the First World War
Amid the commemorations of the start of the First World War, you might like a bit of respectful levity, so here is Charlie Chaplin's...
- Aug 5, 2014
Charlie Chaplin and his violin obsession
The great screen comedian was an accomplished amateur violinist who composed many of the scores to his films At the height of his...
bottom of page