Whenever the phrase “British Light Music” is uttered, more often than not the name Eric Coates will never be far away. If you’ve ever listened to Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4, his piece By the Sleepy Lagoon has been used as the theme music since it began in 1942. His output is vast, yet relatively little of it is … Read More
Happy Anniversary…
Exactly one year ago today, March 7th, in Paris, was the last concert I took part in, with the BBC Concert Orchestra, that was performed to a ‘normal’ attendant audience. The virus was already spreading around Europe, but the audience wasn’t distanced, nobody wore a mask; though I do recall a little more hand-washing than normal happening backstage before the … Read More
Doo-Dah, Doo-Dah
When asked to name my favourite pianists, one that I always mention is Earl Wild: he possessed a classy turn of musical phrase and a twinkle in his eye. He was instantly recognisable, with his pearl-white hair, and I have friends that knew or met him, and they all have very funny stories about him and relate his anecdotes with … Read More
Twelve floors up with Mirga & Marzipan Maurice
There was an unexpected & collective sense of occasion about Monday’s concert with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg that seemed to defy normal behaviour. It was just a regular concert in a concert hall; the final concert of a relatively modest four-day German tour. It wasn’t being televised, recorded for radio, live-streamed online: it … Read More