Superb Mendelssohn from Augustin Hadelich tonight at the Proms. And the arena really is the best place to listen. Apart from the sticky floor, which squeaks loudly whenever anyone tries to unstick a foot. Which is quite often. Don’t they ever clean it?

Just booked my ticket to see Augustin Hadelich tonight at the Proms, so I'm gratuitously reposting my interview with him. I wonder if we’ll hear him singing ‘deedle deedle, deedle-deedle, deedle deedle’… www.elbowmusic.org/post/intervi...

Walton 1 on the radio now – one of the few symphonies that’s actually better to listen to than play, especially as enough time has passed since I played it with CCO that I can appreciate it without PTSD!

‘Until the day before yesterday, string players as well as singers made use of various kinds of vibrato – faster and slower, wider and narrower. Fast vibrato seems to have become extinct.’ The string wisdom of Alfred Brendel... elbowmusic.substack.com/p/the-string...

‘The violin is a microscopic image rather than a playable instrument’ – ie not a violin in any sense of the word… 🤓 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Oh my. Just got home to find Bruce Springsteen and the E Streets in Hammersmith in 1975 on TV. 😍

Guess who’s got an interview with her favouritest favourite living violinist tomorrow and guess who it is??? 🤩 Clue ⬇️

So frustrating to think of the amateur music projects Rattle would have created with LSO, had he come to London. 😔

With the bad news about the closure of the Newark Violin Making School, my 2023 article on why it matters... elbowmusic.substack.com/p/news-a-ver...

My latest for BBC Music Magazine, in which I break a classical music taboo and admit that... *whispers* sometimes I get bored in concerts. But it's okay – Bertrand Russell says so... www.classical-music.com/articles/bor...

Fascinating episode of @ppfideas.bsky.social on Rite of Spring. Superb storytelling, including about Stravinsky trying to leave after 5 minutes and getting into fisticuffs with Nijinsky. Although I’ve never heard Stravinsky described as ‘a bit of a tart’ before! 😆 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

My latest: Charles Beare and the end of an era of expertise... open.substack.com/pub/elbowmus...

If you wondered whether I completed the #100daysofpractice challenge... elbowmusic.substack.com/p/a-hundred-...

As Heifetz reportedly said when someone complimented him on the sound of the violin after a concert, holding the instrument up to his ear: ‘I don’t hear it!’ 🤣

Fascinating and thorough archive Omnibus on The Great Gatsby on now, with talking heads including Christopher Hitchens, Garrison Keillor and Hunter S Thompson. And of course the theme seems very a propos… www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I shall definitely be returning to Søstrene Grene… #shazam #louiskaufman

Now do hidden commission payments in the violin business… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is the angriest performance of this piece I’ve ever heard. Still love his sound and the unfussiness of it, but it’s definitely a mood.

A good @nytimes.com Spangram for classical music nerds today… 😉

⚡️Charlie Chaplin’s film music on BBC Radio 3 and Modern Times performed at London Soundtrack Festival – a good excuse to re-up my article on how his music obsession morphed from playing violin to writing lush scores. elbowmusic.substack.com/p/charlie-ch...

Cyndi Lauper picks Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune on her (brilliant) #desertislanddiscs! Come and hear Corinthian Chamber Orchestra play it tonight with Leonard Elschenbroich at @sinfoniasmithsq.bsky.social! www.sinfoniasmithsq.org.uk/book-online/

Been rehearsing Dvořák New World today with Corinthian Chamber Orchestra for our concert on Friday with Leonard Elschenbroich and now I can’t get rid of this earworm… 😳 youtu.be/-jYk5u9vKfA

Why did you confiscate some food I had in my bag at entrance bag search, @hackneyempire.bsky.social? If you think it’s going to make me buy stuff at your bar, that’s deeply cynical and unsuccessful, and leaves me with a really bad feeling about your organisation.

Just asked ChatGPT for examples of the voyage and return archetype in classical music and a) blimey it’s good and b) basically every piece ever written is voyage and return anyway! 🤣

Shostakovich Seventh play date with @kso.org.uk. Powerful stuff. Need to lie down for a bit.

Watching Bringing Up Baby, which is still brilliantly whipsmart. Would love to see these outtakes!

Is there any music more exquisite… ❤️

And I make no apology for flooding my feed with Fritz Kreisler today! ❤️ #kreisler150

Carl Flesch on Fritz Kreisler… #kreisler150

Read Kreisler’s own compelling and beautifully written account of his time serving as an officer in the Austrian army. #kreisler150 www.elbowmusic.org/post/2014/06...

Take a look at these hands! The hand speaks… #kreisler150

‘Everyone thinks, when you read a score, you have a canonical way of playing it. It is not so. Crescendo, accelerando, diminuendo, allegretto, presto, these are merely suggestions, and indicate different things to different composers’ – Fritz Kreisler open.substack.com/pub/elbowmus...

Happy birthday, Fritz Kreisler, my favourite of all favourite violinists! I delve into the archives, with contributions from Nathan Milstein, Oscar Shumsky, Gustav Mahler and Siegfried Sassoon... elbowmusic.substack.com/p/loving-kre...

INSANE concert with Jacob Collier, Chris Thile and Britten Sinfonia at Barbican. Ridiculous levels of talent, the two of them together like musical nuclear fusion. My highlights: I feel fine/Don’t look twice jazz odyssey mashup plus Thile playing Barber violin concerto and solo Bach. 🤩

Now do one for violinists! 🤯 www.thetimes.com/article/f495...

On Simon Rattle's 70th birthday, gratuitously reposting my article about my amazing experience being conducted by him in 2018... elbowmusic.substack.com/p/happy-birt...

My latest BBC Music Magazine article is out in the February issue – on the (bleedingly obvious) benefits of playing music. Get your copies now!

They are playing one of our tunes on @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social - Troika from Lieutenant Kijé. Come along to @southbankcentre.bsky.social on Saturday 25 January to hear it and much more live! P.S. We also have a surprise for you, watch this space! kso.org.uk/event/concer...

Murray training Djokovic is like Perlman teaching Zukerman, or vice versa. To a certain extent musicians are constantly coaching each other, but can you imagine: 'release your right hand, Izzy', 'give me 110 per cent, Pinky', 'play from the back of the court'...

Always lovely to hear violin on Radio 4, especially Broadcasting House, but why ‘concert violinist’? 🤔

Bingeing the 1980s Dorothy L Sayers series, which is just about perfect. Petherbridge and Walter are definitive Wimsey and Vane, it’s way pacier than today’s adaptations, plus a charming Joseph Horowitz score. Big recommend for a freezing weekend! youtu.be/Iv6L3RKsq6Q

Today year’s old when I discovered this existed. Perfectly pleasant and interesting but I can see why it hasn’t really broken through…

Very good guide to spotting AI text in The Times today – and why I’m not (yet!) overly concerned about being replaced.

PSA for anyone who is worried about sticking buds in their ears all day – I just got these Shokz bone conductor ones and really like them so far. Not good for walking down busy roads, but apart from that, very comfortable and great sound.

Robert Maxwell on Through the Keyhole! 🤯

Uh oh, I just got suckered into Hilary Hahn's #100daysofpractice – again! 😜 elbowmusic.substack.com/p/100daysofp...

I’d forgotten what a blast of wild, silly, surreal, sassy energy Hard Day’s Night is. And quite how beautiful the Beatles were in it. Imagine being there when it first came out. 🤩

So much love for this man, in so many ways and levels. Nearly three hours of wildly brilliant songs, with an absolutely crack band, great show and sound, plus Ringo bonus. Gig of a lifetime. ❤️ #paulmccartney