Busman’s Holiday
Two weeks of music, sun, wine and good company in France? Yes, please! Summer festivals are one of the perks of being a classical...
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- Jul 17
The art of leading
INTERVIEW Making mistakes, giving everything and leaving ego at the door: concertmaster Andrej Power offers his insights into the skills...
- Jul 5
‘I prefer to play music, not to make music’
ARCHIVE On what would have been the 100th birthday of the legendary cellist János Starker, I revisit the interviews he gave me – and some...
- Jan 26, 2023
Turn off, tune out
A plea to end the wispy-bulgy school of violin playing Is there a particular sound that makes you reach for the radio off button? For me,...
- 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...
- Aug 16, 2015
How to be present
Great stage actors have an aura of positive energy and openness that musicians can access, too. Acting coach Patsy Rodenburg tells Ariane...
- 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 2, 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...
- 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 20, 2014
Mischa Maisky: ‘Bach is turning in his grave’
Mischa Maisky challenged the traditional notion of authenticity in his masterclass at the Amsterdam Cello Biënnale If any classical...
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