Tracking down a teacher

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

Itzhak Perlman has just turned 80, but it’s a milestone this warm and wonderful violin virtuoso is in no rush to acknowledge. ‘Don’t hurry me,’ he jokes when I wish him an early Happy Birthday during

In the 19th century there was a widely held belief that technique could be gained by devoting many hours a day to the practice of specially composed exercises and studies, and that the skills gained c

Norman Lebrecht on Music HE WORKED SO ...

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

Each person is unique. And we all function differently. In terms of how we go about learning a craft, some of us thrive on the visual/reading aspect while others prefer to be ‘hands on’ from the outse