Monthly Archives: March 2011

The King’s Speech – and Beethoven

Posted on March 30, 2011 by

We’ve all heard about it, and many have seen it – this Oscar-winning film. The scene that struck me was the one pictured left, towards the end. It’s a climactic scene, but it was the music that gripped me – … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

For Sale – Recording Studio

Posted on March 29, 2011 by

Sitting here at midnight in Melbourne, catching up with online news from the UK, it was sad to see this report (scroll down to the 29 March blogpost) of Potton Hall being up for sale. My Liszt CD was recorded there a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

A quick trip Down Under

Posted on March 24, 2011 by

I’m off soon to Australia to give concerts and masterclasses. The repertoire features Liszt – no surprise there – also some Chopin (transcribed by Liszt), Mendelssohn and Alkan, Hewitt Jones, and some Grainger, since it is an anniversary of his too, … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Places | Tagged | 2 Comments

Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa – or Bononcini?

Posted on March 22, 2011 by

‘Vado ben spesso cangiando loco’ goes this bright and cheerful marching-song, with a catchy melody long attributed to the poet/painter/actor Salvator Rosa , but in fact written by a fellow-Italian, Bononcini. Liszt’s straightforward transcription of it in the Italian Année is the perfect foil for … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Pianists, Places | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Room With a View – or not. Il Penseroso

Posted on March 13, 2011 by

Watch the film ‘A Room with a View’ on a cold, wet, grey, dismal day in winter, and within the hour you’ll be planning a summer holiday in Tuscany. That’s how we ended up staying near Florence one year, seeing for ourselves the piazzas, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Places | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sposalizio and the Golden Legend

Posted on March 9, 2011 by

Raphael’s oil painting Lo Sposalizio della Vergine was completed in 1504, and hangs in the Brera  Gallery in Milan. It depicts the marriage of Mary and Joseph, and illustrates a legend in which Mary’s suitors each placed a branch on an altar; Joseph’s branch blossomed, and  thus he … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Places | Tagged , | Leave a comment

And so to Italy…

Posted on March 6, 2011 by

Fast-forward to August 1837. Liszt and Marie d’Agoult are crossing the Simplon Pass from Switzerland to Italy. They have visited their daughter Blandine, en route; she lives with a foster family. Marie is pregnant with their second child, who will … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Pianists, Places | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lisztomania hits London

Posted on March 2, 2011 by

Lisztomania, the Royal College of Music’s Liszt Festival celebrating the bicentenary of his birth, gets underway on March 4. It features solo and duo performances, a lecture-recital from Leslie Howard, a masterclass with Tamas Vasary, works for organ, and Csárdás - a whole day of … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Pianists, Places | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment