TWO choc ices and an orange Kia-Ora, please.” He didn’t need to tell me what he wanted. As soon as the house lights went up, and he appeared in the aisle, I was already reaching into the illuminated t

However highbrow we think we are, we’ve all been guilty of it – that is, sitting in a concert or opera and waiting impatiently for ‘the famous bit’. In some instances, that well-known moment may be ju

IN the rear of her stationary motor-taxi, a young milliner reached up a careful gloved hand to pat her black-felt cloche, snug on her smart, fair curls. Constance Smart had been sitting patiently for

Rachmaninov himself at the piano, recorded in 1929, is bound to remain a benchmark, even after nearly a century. Like many performers at the start of the recording era, Rachmaninov was microphone-shy

A war of nerves

● A city beautiful, adamant and grey. So ...