Steven Isserlis

…when to take a composer literally?

Even the question itself is problematic. Say that a composer marks a pianissimo, or an accent – what exactly IS a pianissimo, or an accent? So what is ‘taking literally’? Read more…

And now for something sillier… Sorry, perhaps it’s insensitive at this terrible time to complain about such trivial things; but I wrote this account of my experience at the airport yesterday for friends – and one of them suggested that I share the account on this page. So that’s what I’m doing, in the hope that some of you may find it amusing (not that I did at the time!): Read more…

It’s been a long time since I wrote about music for this page; so I thought I’d try to do so now – so much more enjoyable than writing yet another ‘in memoriam’… Read more…

After I’d last written a post for this page – a long time ago now – I told myself that the next article would be about music, not another ‘in memoriam’. And yet here I am, with another tragic loss of a very, very special person to whom I feel I must say farewell, on behalf of myself and of everyone associated with IMS Prussia Cove. Read more…

I have rarely seen such grieving as I’m seeing/hearing now at the loss of Rita Wagner/Rados. ‘How can it be possible?’ is the question on everyone’s lips. She WAS life! So full of joy, of celebration, of music, full – above all – of love, with her infectious giggle never far from the surface, her whole body radiating whatever emotion was possessing her at that moment. Read more…

Of course this news – conveyed in brief, shocked messages from old Oberlin friends – brought back a flood of memories. I started to ask myself when and how I first met Mikey (as we used to call him); but the answer is – I don’t know. I spent only two years at Oberlin, all […] Read more…

It is so sad that I’ve been compelled to write so many farewells within the last 12 months –mostly unrelated to the virus. And now another one – to the loveable, warm-hearted, indomitable Wolfgang Boettcher, for many years principal cellist in the Berlin Philharmonic and the Brandis Quartet, an important teacher as well as solo and chamber performer. Read more…

I should start this rant by admitting that I know that I’m very lucky. I’m not lying awake worrying about how to fund the next meal, or how to cope with horrible domestic circumstances; Read more…

You know the sort of day: when you get up in a bad mood already after a sleepless night, turn on your computer, and find urgent messages from musicians preparing to travel from afar, asking with understandable urgency whether the concert we’re all supposed to give in a few days’ time is actually going to happen in the new lockdown. Read more…

Hearing the very sad news of Fou Tsong’s death brought back recollections of the one time I met him. What a wonderfully charming man he was! And so warm. Read more…