“Turn the wobble box off gentlemen. You sound positively geriatric.” Sir John Eliot Gardiner, celebrating his 70th birthday is back. This is his way of asking the choir to sing with less vibrato. He may be at an age where most of us would be considering slowing down,...
It’s always the little things on tour that make the difference. The comfortable bed, the unexpected phone call from the family, the free wifi in the hotel, the bus leaving half an hour later in the morning. The list is endless. As we approached the end of the first week away...
It takes a while until I am absolutely sure. The volume is low and the aeroplane engines are beginning their pre flight whine; momentarily the rising pitch of the engine and music randomly coincide in Cagian cacophony. Rather than sitting en masse, the orchestra has been...
When the ghosts of music past are looking over your shoulder, the steely glare of silence falls upon the orchestra and the conductor makes a minute gesture for you alone begin the concert, this is the moment when the men are sorted from the boys. This time however, I am far from...
Brussels. The centre of European bureaucracy and, if you read the right newspapers, the enemy of our proud British traditions. Leaving the Euro debate alone for the moment, Brussels has been accused at various points in the last decade of trying to force UHT milk on us, dilute...
If an alien life form were to land unannounced backstage at a concert in 2012, they would make some basic assumptions about human behaviour which I once would have thought unfounded. Now I'm not so sure. One of the many changes I have seen in my time on the world touring...
I remember walking down the Nanjing Road in Shanghai a couple of years ago and being offered goods aplenty. This week however it seems worse than ever. As I get further down the road, I can always see people suddenly step out from beside the shops and walk alongside me asking me...
Walking around Beijing, I find it hard to tell whether my lips are numb because of the cold, snow-laden wind blowing in my face, or the Szechuan peppers which were liberally sprinkled on my lunch. If you've never had them before, their effect on your mouth is an exciting...
The cultural differences between nations are never more pronounced that when in transit. The British, being a nation of enthusiastic queuers, are left apoplectic with rage when confronted with a country full of people who do not understand this basic concept. I am told that...
From the comfort of the train speeding through the Spanish countryside, you could be forgiven for thinking that it is summer. The sun is high and the deep blue stretches far into the distance, the only clouds visible on the horizon look like chalk cliffs. But the thermometer...
