Steven Isserlis

So Ida has left us – a legend has departed. What a violinist! What a woman! Magnificent, unique, incorrigible – she was a law unto herself. Read more…

Martin Lovett was one of the great characters in British musical life. It seemed to me when I was growing up that almost everyone I met knew him – and that they all loved him. Read more…

Greetings to all my fellow strandees in the music world! Isn’t this a nightmare? Suddenly our lives are filled with double bar lines, tacet signs – silence. Read more…

It is ten days now since the sad news arrived of the death of the cellist Marius May, in Jerusalem. Read more…

“In nothing, no profession, no occupation in the world – except psychiatry– are there so many prigs and humbugs and intellectual scalliwags as there are in the unfortunate industry, craft and art of music. The whole arena is littered with these dreadful asses.”
Thomas Beecham Read more…

Normally one writes an article about a famous figure on the occasion of an important birthday – or in their memory. But I want to write briefly about Ivry, because I’ve just seen him, and I want to pay tribute to him while he’s still here. Read more…

I’m often asked how I go about learning a new piece; so I thought I’d try to set down – more groping around in the dark than ranting this time – my way of doing so. I actually hate the process of note-learning. Read more…

Still reeling from the sad news of the death of this beloved figure, I thought I’d set down a few personal recollections. Of course I grew up knowing his name; and of course, like almost everyone else, I assumed for some time that he was a woman. Read more…

I have just finished my annual stint of teaching in Cornwall, and as so often have encountered a wonderfully idealistic group of young musicians in all the classes at the seminar. What I found perhaps most satisfying was the serious (though joyous) enthusiasm for chamber music shared by all the players. Read more…

Today’s little rant has actually been prompted by something positive. I have been in the US for a bit, where I have given a couple of classes; at both, I was struck by how supportive the atmosphere was among the students, each new masterclass victim coming onstage to waves of warm enthusiasm from their fellow-students. Read more…