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We watched the last two episodes of Downton back to back last night. The only way to watch the programme is via a recording so that you can fast forward through the interminable adverts. The scripts for the fourth series are better than for the third which were better than the ludicrous second, but goodness…
JEREMY NICHOLAS Towards the end of the 19th century, the eminent Austrian pianist and pedagogue Ernst Pauer (1826-1905) made a list of the twelve pianists who, in his opinion, represented the technical execution of the highest perfection between the years 1830 and 1870. Of the twelve, nine were men: Liszt, Henselt, Hallé, Tausig, Thalberg, Dreyschock,…
https://youtu.be/EKhozlz-F8I Patricia Rossborough (1900-92) having fun with Anton Rubinstein
For someone who made his living by playing the piano in public, Nelson Freire was quite extraordinarily shy and self-effacing, softly spoken and reticent when it came to talking about himself or discussing his art, neither of which he particularly enjoyed. It was not without reason that John Ardoin, in his booklet accompanying Volume 29…
I came across this article from August 1894 in To-Day, a magazine edited by Jerome K. Jerome. Richard Wagner had died just 11 years earlier and this encounter with his formidable widow fully justifies her reputation as the Queen of Bayreuth. She was a notably unpleasant human being with even stronger anti-Semitic views than her…
André Previn was the most complete musician I have ever met – I was lucky enough to interview him on three occasions. Everything seemed to come so easily to him, laid back and apparently effortless whether in the role of conductor, classical pianist or jazz pianist. He was also a marvelous raconteur, and one story…
Idon’t dislike all modern hymns – or ‘worship songs’ as they are called by the people who sing them – but I dislike most of them. The words are generally as unmemorable and as undistinguished as the latest teenage lament being belted out over the PA system in my local Co-Op. ‘Love’ and ‘Jesus’ are…
I went to two piano recitals last week: one by a famous international artist, the other by a young man who is still a student. They could not have been more different. Nor could my enjoyment of the two events. The first was given by Sir András Schiff at the superb Saffron Halls, the…
A few years ago, I was comparing quotes for house and contents insurance. One company called RIAS seemed to be a good deal – it specialised in insurance for the over 50s – but fell at the last fence as it couldn’t provide the minimum level of financial cover I required for one area. They…
IN THE WORKHOUSE – CHRISTMAS DAY This is the correct title for the monologue / poem better known as ‘It was Christmas Day in the Workhouse’ published in 1879 by George Robert Sims (1847-1922). It is a powerful indictment of the conditions of the Victorian workhouse. …