It's hard to believe that it's already five years since my Trasimeno Music Festival began here in Umbria. I've been working so hard he past ten days, that there has been no time to update my blog at all. It's always exciting when the first notes are played in rehearsal, and last week I went to Mantova for two days to work with the orchestra there who are featured in the concerts on Monday and Tuesday (see photo). Then it was back home to work with the violinist Giovanni Angeleri from Padova. Preparing seven different programmes at once is a challenge to say the least! Last night I gave the opening recital and probably offered the most difficult programme of the week: Rameau, Dukas, Mendelssohn, and Bach. It was so gratifying for me to see my fans from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the United States, Japan--and of course Italy along with many more countries--mingling and smiling together, and so affected by the music. The only thing was the weather last night. That I can't do anything about! We had terrible rain during the day, and so at the last minute decided to give the concert in the church rather than the castle courtyard, but at least we had a Fazioli concert grand in each so that wasn't a problem. Hopefully tonight we can be outside. Something really stupid happened in the afternoon. I left my house along with my record producer and assistant (who double also as cooks and cleaning staff at festival time!), and while discussing who had which key, I shut the door, then only realizing that the only key with the remote control for the gate to the property was inside in the lock. We tried to get back in the house, but it was like a prison. Then the storm came. So we sat in the car for an hour, waiting for somebody to come and rescue us which they finally did. At least I had my scores to study, but...! Today I have a 3-hour rehearsal with the orchestra in the morning; a dress rehearsal for the violin/piano programme in the afternoon, and concert at night. We still have tickets left for all events. The number to call is: +39 345 216 4548. Tickets are also on sale at the door.

Although I’m now in Italy again, last week I was in London and gave four concerts in six days. The “official” ones were in Reading Concert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London with an all-French programme of Rameau, Dukas, Couperin, and Ravel. That was a programme I had wanted to do for a long time, so finally it is done. After all the work I put into the Dukas, it went extremely well soI was happy. As a friend said, the concentration and attention from the audience in Wigmore Hall when I played it was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time of going to concerts. I agree. Reading was also a lovely occasion, and both audiences enjoyed Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” as an encore. But of course that’s not enough for one week. Along with putting together the 40-page programme book for my upcoming Trasimeno Music Festival (which nearly killed me and my assistant, but we survived), I also played two concerts in a lovely barn in Little Moorden (see photo) at the home of Shelley and Peter Phillips for about 85 people. It gave me the chance to play my solo Mendelssohn pieces, and also work for the first time with Dame Ann Murray and her husband Philip Langridge. We had such a fabulous time with Brahms’ Liebeslieder (with my teacher Jean-Paul Sevilla joining me at the piano), and Dame Ann sang her solo Brahms group with such wonderful feeling. Dame Felicity Lott was totally charming with a group of Debussy, Fauré, and Satie, and Jacques Imbrailo, a young prizewinning South African baritone, joined us to make up the quartet of voices. It was so good to see all those “personalities” together and nobody at all being a prima donna! That is the joy of my festival. If you are still thinking of coming, please do! We have seats left and need your support. Today at my home in Umbria I got stung on my left hand by a bee when I was briefly outside (and not at the piano!), but fortunately I thought to pour neat tea-tree oil and lavender oil on it right away which stopped the swelling and redness. One should always have them on hand.

Today was the perfect day. At home in London. Only one phone call. No appointments except for a wonderful Swedish deep tissue massage around the corner. Lots of concentrated practise. Some programme notes finished. And finally a good sleep. I needed it after last week. Three recitals in Italy in quick succession with 2 different programmes. For the second time I was invited to play in the Festival Pianistico Internazionale Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, named after the famous Italian pianist who was born in Brescia. The Teatro Grande in that city and the Teatro Donizetti in neighbouring Bergamo were the venues for an all-Bach programme, the composer featured in this year’s festival. I dusted off four Preludes and Fugues, the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, the 6th English Suite, and performed the 2nd Partita for the first time I think since I recorded it in 1996 (has it really been that long?). That took a lot of work over the past month. Everybody always thinks I can sit down and play any piece of Bach with very little practise. They must be joking. It takes constant work, especially for the memory. The Bergamo concert was especially moving. Just a few hours before that concert I had given an hour-long talk in the company of music journalist and piano professor Riccardo Risaliti at Feltrinelli’s (bookshop)—of course all in Italian. The newspaper had put in a big ad but announced it for the following day, so unfortunately there weren’t many people, but it didn’t matter. We had fun. Then, after a brief stop in Vicenza and also one in Padova (to rehearse with the violinist Giovanni Angeleri who will perform with me soon at my Trasimeno Music Festival), it was on to Belluno in the Dolomites. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so the scenery was mostly hidden, but again the audience was so warm in their appreciation, and I was glad to have the chance to play some of the Rameau I am performing this week in England. A brand new Fazioli was brought from the factory not far away, and it was excellent (in the photo I’m standing against the underside of it when it was coming out of the theatre to go into the movers van!). After only four hours in bed, it was up again to get to Treviso airport for the trip back to London. My Italian assistant, who is half my age, asked me how I do it…he was worn out and didn’t even have to play!

For some reason jet-lag has hit me harder than ever this week. After five nights at home in London, I still can’t get adjusted. Flying east is the worst. That’s why I just told my Japanese agents that no, I won’t give a recital in Tokyo 48 hours after flying from Sweden playing a programme requested by the promoter (they didn’t accept what I originally proposed) that I have no time to practise. I’m becoming more difficult! But it’s necessary. Nevertheless, since returning home I’ve given a very enjoyable masterclass at Trinity College of Music (my first time with the students there), and last night performed another Goldberg Variations in Birmingham’s Town Hall. I must say that as thrilled as I was with the Chicago concert last week, this latest performance meant even more to me. And I think the audience felt it. You couldn’t have heard a pin drop despite the very large crowd; the Fazioli piano from London sounded even more beautiful than usual; I had lots inside me to express, and the venue was just perfect. I was extremely moved at the end, also by their appreciation. When I found out in the train going back to London afterwards that a very close friend in Canada (our family doctor who was like a second father to me) had died within an hour of the end of that concert, I felt it was “fitting” that the last concert I gave while he was alive was that one. Fortunately I had been able to visit him several times while in Ottawa, and although he could hardly speak, he knew I was there. Now it’s off to Italy and more concerts and more repertoire. The month of June is non-stop. Now if only I could sleep at the right time…!

Another completely full week. And now the flights back to London, England which are always exhausting. But I am so happy after today's recital in Chicago. It was an important debut--my first major recital there, and this one in the fantastic Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony. My performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations was part of their Great Performers Series (the poster in the photo was outside the hall) and we had a fantastic turn-out, especially considering it was Memorial Day weekend here in the USA. The whole audience rose to its feet after the long silence at the end of the variations--not a common thing I am told. And the CD line-up afterwards in the Symphony Store went on forever, zigzagging in the shop, then out the door. A man even came in saying he hadn't been at the concert but he had seen the line-up so thought it "must be something good" so bought a CD for me to sign! I think it was my best performance of the Goldberg in a while. Before the concert, I gave a pre-concert talk which I had actually requested to do (I don't think they had ever had a recitalist request that they speak beforehand!). There was a full house in the ballroom for that as well. It just helps me establish contact with the audience, and is much preferable to walking out "cold" on stage to play such a monumental piece. So many people said it enhanced their enjoyment no end.

I did that as well in Ottawa earlier in the week, in the company of CBC producer Jill Laforty, when I was performing one of my very favourite concertos, Beethoven's No. 4 in G major. It had been years since I last played with my home-town orchestra at the National Arts Centre in their subscription series, and this time I was beautifully partnered by Patrick Summers, conductor of the Houston Grand Opera. It had been years, also, since I've played that piece so it was good to experience it again. Hopefully I will be given more opportunities to play it in the future. Everybody always wants me to play Bach...! Of course it's always great to play in Ottawa in front of so many friends and fans. The Fazioli piano was the one that I had chosen at the factory in Italy last February (it is now with Merriam Music in Oakville) and I was pleased that it sounded so good in the big Southam Hall.

After my very brief stay in New York, I took the train to New Haven, Connecticut where I performed for the first time. That is of course where Yale University is, and Woolsey Hall, with over 2600 seats, is their main auditorium. It is also where the New Haven Symphony performs, and it was a pleasure to work with their conductor, William Boughton, with whom I hadn't played a concerto in some 20 years (we worked together in England at that time). Not every seat was full, no (it's a big place to fill!), but the crowd enthusiastically received my favourite Mozart concerto, the one in D minor, K.466. Now I'm back in Ottawa (it's tulip time!) working like crazy on so much repertoire (Bach, Mendelssohn, Rameau, Dukas, Beethoven--and that's just for starters), as well as writing the liner notes for my Handel/Haydn disc which are already overdue. A very dear 92-year-old friend has been listening to me practise the past few days at home in Ottawa, and we had a good laugh today when in the middle of the horrendously-difficult Dukas "Variations on a Theme by Rameau" (which I must play in a few weeks time after a hiatus of some 30 years), which I am working hard to memorize, I suddenly stopped and said, "You know, there are people who ask what I think about when I play". Had they witnessed my practise, they might have realized a tiny fraction of all that goes into it.

Last night saw the launch of an important new offshoot of my festival in Italy. In New York we celebrated the formation of the American Friends of the Trasimeno Music Festival, a non-for-profit organization that has been formed not only to provide support to the festival in Italy, but also to organize events in the USA for members (private recitals, masterclasses, lectures, open rehearsals, etc.). It is something I have been wanting to have happen for a long time, and so I was thrilled to bits. For a by-invitation audience of about 35 people, I gave a short recital of Bach, Couperin and Beethoven at Klavierhaus in New York (Fazioli's dealer there), and spoke about my "baby", the Trasimeno Music Festival. My heartfelt thanks go to all my trustees who made it happen (in the photo I am with vice-president of the Friends, Alexander Crary) and to those who have already supported us.

If you would like to donate and become a member, please visit the festival website page dedicated to the American Friends at the link below. After this year's festival is over (it takes place from June 27 - July 3), we will be announcing a range of benefits for various levels of membership which will give you priority for booking in 2010. Any donation made at this time will give you priority for 2009, and also have your name included in the festival programme. A similar non-profit organization will soon be announced in the UK!

https://www.trasimenomusicfestival.com/donations_us.php

Tonight here in Tryon, North Carolina, I’m going to bed with a lizard in the bathtub, covered by the garbage bucket. I saw it this morning sticking its head out from under the dresser, told the staff when I had to go out to rehearse, and hoped they would get rid of it (in Italy they say a lizard indoors brings good luck, so here’s hoping…!). But obviously they didn’t. Now at midnight I’ve found it, just before going to bed. We are a bit out in the wilds here in Tryon, but it’s very beautiful. Last night I also had a cat scratching at my door and meowing away, wanting to get inside. I put in my earplugs. But the audience tonight for the concert I gave with cellist Daniel Mueller-Schott could not have been warmer, actually shouting out their comments during the standing ovation at the end! They had wanted to have me here for several years, but it simply wasn’t possible to fit in, and now only because yesterday Daniel and I performed at Spivey Hall in Atlanta. That was another lovely concert, and both the Canadian and German consuls (in the photo together with Daniel and me) hosted a reception afterwards. In Atlanta I also gave a Bach masterclass with three students performing in front of a very interested public. When a masterclass works well, it can make for a great few hours. A lot depends on the students, of course, and the repertoire they present (in this case the first 2 Preludes and Fugues and the Chromatic Fantasy). I’m not so interested in hearing Rachmaninoff. Let others do that.

In the morning it’s back to Ottawa where on May 9th I will make a brief performance with the National Arts Centre Orchestra during the Governor General’s Awards ceremony to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the orchestra. But before that, I’m going to finish my oatmeal porridge (I never got dinner tonight). It was either that or sardines and I’ve had it with sardines. Maybe the lizard would like them….

Prince Charles and Camilla were not the only ones in Rome the other day. Just a few steps away from the Vatican where they visited the Pope, I was performing at the Auditorium on the Via della Conciliazione, that long street that runs up from the Tiber straight to St. Peter’s. It used to be “the” auditorium of Rome, before they built the new Parco della Musica. I gave 2 performances of the Schumann Concerto with the Orchestra Sinfonica da Roma, and at each concert played 2 encores for the enthusiastic crowds. I was also very touched by the warm reception from the orchestral players—most of whom lined up to thank me at the end. Otherwise I saw nothing of Rome as I also had to give 8 hours of masterclasses (I was more than a little put out that they ended up being nothing much more than private lessons which I always refuse to give—I simply have too many requests and no time), and do my own practise, for which there was hardly any time. I did do a few hours in a venue where I played 25 years ago, the Teatro Ghione, also near the Vatican, which is run by a dear friend of mine. Here I am eating my rice cakes while practising! Then it was back to London for a "Goldberg" concert at the Royal Festival Hall last night. I must say I was extremely moved by the quietness of the audience, from the first note to the last. I think I could have counted the number of coughs on one hand. And then at the end they erupted in such warm applause, and many stood up, which is a rare thing for London audieces to do. The Fazioli from Jaques Samuel Pianos sounded great to me. This was a concert originally to be given by the Russian pianist, Sokolov, but he cancelled protesting about visa regulations. In any case, I was happy to be their first choice for a replacement! Now I'm already at Heathrow about to board the flight for Canada. I have 4 suitcases, one of which contains only scores and weighs an absolute ton. This month is my only chance to have some quiet days to learn all my repertoire for June and July, and there is so much of it. So the phone will be unplugged, and I will just shut myself in as much as possible to have the necessary peace to learn new pieces. It' not easy!

At the moment things are so busy there is hardly time to write. And only now I can find the time because my pick-up at the hotel in Rome has been delayed 15 minutes because of the traffic! Those empty days on my calendar as usual are completely full and deceiving. Back in London from Hamburg, I gave two private recitals as “rehearsals” for my Trasimeno Music Festival. Along with my former piano teacher Jean-Paul Sevilla, we played works by Brahms, Debussy and Ravel for piano duet first at Jaques Samuel Pianos in London (Fazioli’s dealer) and then at a lovely event at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex. That castle is affiliated with Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and the intrepid Dr. Agnes Herzberg every year puts on a conference there at which she invites musicians to perform. This was my third time to be invited, and besides the pieces with Jean-Paul, I also played a Bach Partita and a Mendelssohn Prelude and Fugue. Such a concert reminded me why I put such enormous time and energy into my festival, because they are very special events at which the audience can hear the best music played by artists that are rarely in combination together. After that, I was driven to a hotel at Gatwick airport where I got a grand total of under 3 hours sleep before taking off on a 6 a.m. flight to Rome. Immediately I was thrown into teaching for over 4 hours at the Arts Academy, and then taken to orchestral rehearsal where I played the Schuman Concerto for 2 hours with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma. To say I was tired after all that is an understatement. But today feels better after a good sleep--just that I desperately need time to myself, and I am given so little of it. All I want to do is practise my upcoming repertoire, and I get very anxious when days go by and there is no piano available for me to practise on, let alone the hours. Today is another similar day, but I will have to find some time somewhere, and just eat tinned sardines rather than going to a restaurant for lunch! By the way, for my Italian readers, there is evidently an article on me and my new Bach recording in L'Espresso this week. I will go out and buy it now on the way to rehearsal!