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Shining a new light on Ravel – Aïda Lahlou’s début album bridges time, place and memory – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Mirrors & Echoes - Aïda Lahlou, piano Moroccan pianist Aïda Lahlou makes an exciting and noteworthy recording début with Mirrors and Echoes, released by Resonus Classics on 19 September 2025. Supported by Les Amis de Maurice Ravel, the album offers a vivid reimagining of Miroirs, placing it in dialogue with lesser-known piano miniatures from across…
Meet the man who’s blogging every single Prom – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Social media, for all its faults, is also a force for good and can throw up unexpected encounters and delights. One such gem is Andy Lewis’s Proms blog, which I discovered via the music critic of The Spectator, Richard Bratby. Andy Lewis is blogging about every single Prom of this year’s season, mostly via the…
Introducing Cecile Chaminade’s piano music – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Guest post by Frances Jones One of the bonuses of teaching is that from time to time you are introduced to new repertoire. Sometimes, you get the opportunity to change your view of a composer that was really only based on a passing experience. A pupil of mine has recently been learning a piece by Cecile Chaminade, a composer whose music I had until now associated with a flautist house-mate…
Prom 35 Review: groovy Gubaidulina, jazzy Ravel, and a monumental Shostakovich 13 – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Sofia Gubaidulina Revue Music for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band UK premiere Ravel Piano Concerto in G major Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, ‘Babi Yar’ Benjamin Grosvenor pianoKostas Smoriginas bass-baritone Synergy VocalsBBC National Chorus of Wales (lower voices)BBC National Orchestra of WalesRyan Bancroft conductor It's eight years since I was last at…
Honouring Lindsay Gray: New Choral Anthem Released – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
‘May the Spirit Sing in Your Heart’ by Thomas Hewitt Jones is a choral single, originally composed for the 70th birthday of Lindsay Gray on 22 July 2023. This release marks the retirement of Lindsay from his role as founder and conductor of Caritas Consort, and celebrates his choral music legacy.
Stop Confusing Activity with Progress in Music – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Do Not Mistake Activity for Progress: A Lesson for Musicians The phrase "Do not mistake activity for progress" serves as a powerful reminder that being busy is not the same as being effective. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the life of a musician, where countless hours are spent practicing, refining technique, and mastering…
Pianists and their Composers: Franz Schubert – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
“Schubert’s music is the most human that I know.” – Sir András Schiff, pianist "I will never quite have the words to express what Schubert’s music has meant to me…and I will never stop looking for them. His ability to convey loneliness — and console in its wake — is perhaps his most ineffable quality..."…
Talented Young Musicians Shine at Weymouth Concert – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
The fifth Young Artist Showcase concert, hosted by Chamber Music Weymouth (formerly Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts) took place at St Mary's Church, Weymouth, on Sunday 6 July. Devised by CMW Artistic Director and concert pianist Duncan Honeybourne and Concerts Manager Frances Wilson, these events offer young musicians who are still in full-time education or are…
Celebrating 15 Years of The Cross-Eyed Pianist – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
This site celebrates its 15th birthday this month, a fact I find slightly hard to believe. It began as a kind of online practice diary for me: a few years previously, I had returned to playing the piano seriously after an absence of a quarter of a century, and by the time I started writing…
The Music and Poetry of Erik Satie – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Of What Is, and What Pretends to BeHoward Smith#note4notethebook Amateur pianist and author of Note For Note - Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered, Howard Smith, recently trained an artificial intelligence (AI) to think and write as Erik Satie. Using a custom GPT, Howard generated a series of beautiful images of the composer together with imagined statements,…
27 lost works by Erik Satie heard for the first time 100 years after the composer’s death – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Unearthed manuscripts reveal a new side of the eccentric French composer, brought to life by pianist Alexandre Tharaud in a recording of previously unheard works A century after the death of Erik Satie, 27 never-before heard works are released to the public for the first time. The landmark digital album, Satie: Discoveries, performed by acclaimed pianist Alexandre…
Agathe Backer Grøndahl Reimagined – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Guest post by Eva Doroszkowska If patience is a virtue, then it could be coined a female trait. Hildegard von Bingen waited 900 years for a resurgence of interest in her music. Fortunately for Agathe Backer Grøndahl, it was only a century before she was honoured with a republica-tion and urtext edition of 2 of…
The wisdom of Alfred Brendel – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
It’s hard to believe Alfred Brendel has died at the age of 94. He’s been a part of my musical landscape since I was a teenager, when my mother, who was an admirer of Brendel in concert and on LP, bought me an Edition Peters copy of Schubert’s Impromptus and Moments Musicaux to learn –…
The ’88-tooth monster’ – doomed to evolve or die – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
The 88-key piano looks to be headed for a major transformation in the coming decades. The mechanism under the lid is based on a 130-year-old design and many specialists believe it is time to dispense with those delicate moving parts. As innovative Australian piano builder Wayne Stuart says, “The piano has been crying out for…
Discover ‘Metropolis’ – 6 songs which capture the pulse of the modern city – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Tuesday 24 June at 1.15pm St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8AU World premiere performance of ‘Metropolis’, six songs by British composer Bernard Hughes and lyricist Chinwe D John that capture the pulse of a modern metropolis. These songs, which explore aspects of urban life, romantic love, and resilience, bring the emotional essence of…
Pianists and their Composers: Chopin – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sign of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it. They are moved by it. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people. Arthur Rubinstein Virtuosic, imaginative, and…
Hertfordshire Festival of Music 2025: A Journey of Musical Reflection – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Under the theme From Shadows to Light: Musical Journeys in Conflict & Peace, the 2025 Hertfordshire Festival of Music explores how music serves as a medium to document personal and collective struggles while also illuminating paths towards renewal.
Thinking about the Mozart Sonata in A, K.V. 331 – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Guest post by pianist Beth Levin Theme - Andante grazioso * Upward, Upward! leaving the ground and ordinary life behind, a steady bass line in 6/8 but flexible, sforzandi mere pin pricks; a statement of simplicity, of purity https://open.spotify.com/track/3AMBAlniMkoHehdRm7dQRg?si=9d0945be09eb448b * * * Variation I Sixteenths everywhere now, a driving bass line 2- note slurs, 3-note…
Sing her Tune – Corra Sound premieres remarkable new works for upper voices – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
SING HER TUNE 6-7pm, Sunday 18th May 2025, St Mary’s Church, Guildford GU1 3UA Corra Sound, conducted by Amy Bebbington Corra Sound, an all-female choir and dedicated advocate for upper voice music, announces its May concert, Sing Her Tune - a unique opportunity to experience a stunning medley of dynamic compositions from some of today's…
Notes from the keyboard – From frustration to fulfillment: The rewards of revisiting the same old – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Guest post by Dakota Gale, the latest article in his series aimed at amateur adult pianists I clearly remember the first time I rode Tyler’s, a popular bike trail near me. I walked some rocky uphill ramps, awkwardly landed jumps, and generally hacked my way down it like a noob. I still had a hell…
Masterchef Insights: Developing Your ‘Pianist’s Head’ – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Watching Masterchef The Professionals, a series to which I am rather addicted (mainly because my son is a professional chef), I have noticed a certain expression from chef Marcus Wareing during the preliminary Skills Test section of the competition. In this round, contestants' culinary skills and nous are tested with a set of technical challenges,…
Repertoire in Focus: Rediscovering Germaine Tailleferre’s Piano Concerto No. 1 – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Guest post by Frances Jones I’ve never found it easy to keep New Year’s resolutions. Often, they are admirable but just not sufficiently motivating and are inevitably dropped before ever really achieving anything. Last year, though, I decided I would practice the piano more often and also give a concert, however low-key, for my students,…
Contemporary Poetry Meets Choral Music in Living Voices – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Living Voices is a new collection of ten inspiring choral pieces composed by Russell Hepplewhite. This innovative project brings together the talents of Hepplewhite and ten of Britain’s most outstanding contemporary poets, each commissioned to create poetic responses to our world today.
Reimaginings and Transcriptions: Vivaldi and Bach in London – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
The penultimate weekend in March saw me in London for two exceptional concerts in particularly lovely settings. The experience was enhanced by the company of friends and a delicious meal with a wonderful view across Smithfield (former meat market, now the new site for the Museum of London) to St Paul's cathedral. A Season to…
Anima Mea: Minimalist music ‘chiseled in crystal’ – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Guest review by Michael Johnson It is a rare occurrence for me to slide a CD into my player and fall immediately under the spell of haunting, hypnotic music I had never heard before. But “Anima Mea” (La Musica LMU 094), performed by the Pascal Trio and the young counter-tenor Paul Figuier, did just that.…
London Piano Festival 2025: Celebrating 10 Years of Music – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
The tenth London Piano Festival takes place between 9 and 12 October 2025 at Kings Place, London Three world premieres written to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Festival by composers Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Stephen Hough and Elena Langer The central Gala, featuring co-founders Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva with Stephen Hough, Ingrid Fliter, Ronan O’Hora,…
Hertfordshire Festival of Music 2025: A Week of Musical Discovery – The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Last week I went up to Hertford, the attractive county town of Hertfordshire, to attend an inaugural concert and reception, ahead of this year's Hertfordshire Festival of Music (HFoM) which runs from 7 to 14 June. I have been involved in the Festival since its founding by conductor Tom Hammond (who tragically died in 2021)…