Portrait of the artist

When you’re speaking to someone devastatingly fluent in four tongues (Italian, German, French and English) the subject of language naturally leads to some curiosity. Especially from a somewhat green-e

THE INSIDE TRACK

Norman Lebrecht on Music HE WORKED SO ...

When we think of all things Italian, in general terms, what do we think of? And how does that translate into music? As a musician, one might think of the heightened emotions of the Romantic era – spec

Ask if national schools of piano really do exist, and one might be tempted to reply that there are only as many schools as there are pianists. Yet, the idea of a distinctive musical heritage, preserve

The mayor of Fort Worth officially renamed it Piano City for the three-week duration of the Van Cliburn competition in June. A slick piece of marketing, you might think. When I arrived for the week-lo