Wales, London, Dorset…

Machynlleth, on the west coast of Wales, seems to be one of those places which has increasingly made its mark on the musical map of the UK recently, particularly as a result of its prestigious summer festival, directed by Julius Drake. Our concert last night was part of Machynlleth Music Club's year-round concert series, using the same venue as many of the festival concerts – The Tabernacle, a beautiful converted chapel attached to the Museum of Modern Art. This intimate and resonant space, combined with the excellent responsive and colourful Steinway, made it a beautiful place to repeat last week's programme with Marcus Farnsworth (Schubert, Mahler, Barber, Finzi) and it was a privilege to have such a warm reception. A speedy journey back across the country ensured that I was back in London in time to rehearse at Emile Woolf's stunning house for tonight's concert there with the Hampden Quartet: having played the Schumann Quintet here with the same group last year, it was a joy today to return with the Dvorak Quintet. One of the particular delights of performing here, aside from the excellent hospitality, is the use of Emile's wonderful piano, apparently the former concert instrument of choice for Rachmaninov when it was a Steinway concert hire instrument and he gave concerts in London! Now off to Dorset for a week to play cello music, as one of the resident pianists on Sue Lowe's Cello Gathering course at Bryanston.