If you’d told me, when I started this blog two and a half years ago (time flies!), that one day I would be writing a piece on body confidence, I would most certainly have laughed at you. This is partly because, two and a half years ago, I didn’t really
Well, we’ve reached December once again, and that means ʼtis the season for irritating Christmas compilations in the supermarket, a brass band on every street corner… and carols. Lots and lots of carols. Last week, I was present at two events which were scheduled to feature festive singing for one
It is no secret, to anyone who knows me, that I am complete murder mystery addict. Spy stuff is fine, action and adventure all very well, but TV channels like Alibi were made for people like me. Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Margery Allingham, Colin Dexter… it’s all about the
A couple of days ago, I received an email which is not completely uncommon for me – but which I suspect most people don’t tend to receive. ‘Dear Katy,’ it began, ‘I have another Armenian piano editing job for you.’ This is one of the great delights of working for
Safe. Adjective. Six definitions, according to the OED: Protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed or lost Not likely to cause or lead to harm or injury; not involving danger or risk; (of a place) affording security or protection (Derogatory) Cautious and unenterprising
Today, I’m off to beautiful Bath to give a talk as part of the Bath Mozartfest. It’s a place close to my heart: I went to school not very far from it, and remember weekend visits as a teenager, sitting in the cinema with my friends trying to recreate that
Today, I’m off to the Wigmore Hall to hear a new English-language translation, by Jeremy Sams, of Schubert’s Winterreise, performed by Roderick Williams and Christopher Glynn. I was fortunate enough to hear this at the Ryedale Festival in July, and can’t wait to listen again – it’s an astonishing piece
OK, it’s not my catchiest post title. No puns, no clever sideways references. But I mean it. Really. Because I’m sick and tired of reading about happenings labelled as ‘tragic’, and outcomes leaving people ‘disappointed’. We are way beyond disappointingly tragic. We have officially hit catastrophically, potentially permanently disastrous. So
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Great Composer, over the course of their life, and however Great a Composer they are considered to be, is likely to write something that is actually not so very Great at all. Something a bit under par. Something you might even be
A few days ago, a friend directed me to a fascinating article on the ever thought-provoking Aeon magazine site, about stupidity at work. Not the sit-on-the-photocopier-with-your-pants-down kind of stupidity – nor indeed the stupidity of getting something catastrophically wrong and landing your superiors in hot water. This is about the
