Old head on young shoulders

Maurice Ravel has been an enduring part of my world, both as a performer and teacher. As a little girl I played the Mouvement de menuet from his Sonatine at a piano competition, which the renowned pia

Complete Suites and Other Music for Keyboard Cristian Sandrin (piano) SOMM Recordings SOMMCD0702 61:09 mins In the first complete recording of Purcell’s eight keyboard suites on the modern piano, Roma

Yunchan Lim Chopin Études, Opp 10 & 25 Yunchan Lim (piano) Decca 487 0122 The BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Year typically goes to a grand-scale affair – a giant symphony, perhaps, or an all-sta

Symphony No. 5; Swanwhite Suite etc Christian Tetzlaff (violin); Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon Ondine ODE 1468-2 77:16 mins One of the features of Finland’s impressive music educati

Krystian Zimerman (piano), Maria Nowak (violin), Katarzyna Budnik (viola), Yuya Okamoto (cello) Deutsche Grammophon 486 4650 77:10 mins Brahms’s Second and Third piano quartets tend to be overshadowed

First, a full disclosure: I asked four organisers of some of the most popular residential piano courses if they could put me in touch with former students who might be willing to share their experienc