Podcast: Godowsky’s Complete Piano Works • Konstantin Scherbakov concludes his masterly edition.

Raymond Bisha introduces the fifteenth and final volume in Konstantin Scherbakov’s recordings of the complete piano works of Leopold Godowsky, in which the programme comprises a number of the arrangements Godowsky made of Chopin’s Études. Reflecting on his mammoth undertaking, the virtuoso pianist notes that “this project to record Leopold Godowsky’s complete piano works began Read More …

Left to its own devices

In English, the word ‘sinister’ suggests a touch of evil, taking its cue from the Latin, in which it denotes the adjective ‘left’ and a perception that the left hand is weaker than the right. As a left-hander myself, I prefer the view that we’re noted for being more artistic than right-handers! But, as a Read More …

Classic tweets

I don’t know if the art of précis is still taught in the classroom. It was one of my stronger points as a teenager, although in a subsequent phase as a journalist, and in the face of a word count that exceeded the interest factor of the commissioned piece, it was easy to succumb to Read More …

Wine bars

At the start of my teaching career, way back in the 1970s, I had to drive through deep countryside to reach the school where I worked. One memory from that period recalls passing a farm where, every afternoon, strains of Elgar’s orchestral music wafted over fields of corn from the cowsheds. The farmer was convinced Read More …