Richard's Blog

I recently had the good fortune to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, no.20, K466. The concert was held at G Live, the new concert hall in Guildford, and was a celebration of Cranleigh School's commitment to the performing arts, and a farewell to Headmaster Guy Waller, who retires this term. Here are my programme notes:   PIANO CONCERTO #20 IN D MINOR, K466               Allegro Romanze Allegro assai   Mozart’s Piano Concerto #20 in D minor is considered to be one of the greatest concertos in the repertoire, a masterpiece of form and structure, and a work of such drama and beauty that it has retained popularity for over two hundred years. Finished on 10th February 1785, and premiered the following evening, this darkest of concertos was an extraordinary departure for Mozart, anticipating the Romantic drama of Beethoven. Yet this is not Beethoven, and it would be misguided...

This has been a busy few weeks 'off the course', with some interesting developments away from the concert platform... I am delighted to be able to announce that I have just received confirmation that I have been elected to the official roster of 'Steinway Artists'. Around 1600 artists worldwide enjoy a special relationship with Steinway & Sons, from Lang Lang to Diana Krall and Billy Joel, and the roster also includes the 'immortals' such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Sergei Rachmaninov and Arthur Rubinstein. Angus Meryon (clarinet) and I have also just heard that we were successful in our application to the Concert Promoter's Group run by Making Music, and will be Selected Artists for the 2014-15 season. This means that any Music Societies or Clubs who are affiliated to Making Music will be able to book us at a reduced rate during that period, but from our perspective it is...