“…I don’t play for the audience, I play for myself, and if I derive any satisfaction from it, then the audience, too, is content.” Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) 20th March 2015 marks the centenary of the birth of Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter.

At the bottom of the string section stands the mighty Double Bass. With a body 45.5 inches (115 cm) and overall length of 74.8 inches (189 cm) the double bass both towers above and supports from below the string section

Aldo Ciccolini (15 August 1925, Naples, Italy; 1 February 2015, Asnières-sur-Seine, France) brought the world of Satie out of obscurity and showed his quirky qualities to a new generation of listeners. Ciccolini, who was born in Italy but made his

In a recital space somewhere in central London a group of people are seated in a rough semi-circle around a Fazioli 212 grand piano. Some lounge in their seats in a pretence of relaxation, others crane forward eagerly for a

The orchestra string section rests on two supports: the double-basses and their smaller cousins, the cellos. I say cousins because the cello and the double bass actually have different antecedents. The cello is part of the violin family and the

The following is a continuation of the story ‘A Day in the Life of A Musician’, starring the pianist Alexander Kravetsky. Having spent the morning adjucating a youth music competition, Sasha now faces a long afternoon of teaching… 1:50pm As

This is a fictional story about the pianist Alexander Kravetsky. All characters appearing in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. 8:45am I arrive at the foyer of the Rathborne auditorium, where

Ah, the poor viola, butt of a thousand jokes (What’s the difference between a violin and a viola? The viola burns longer), but, in the end, provides the warm sound that counteracts the often brittle violin sound. In a string