Superb Mendelssohn from Augustin Hadelich tonight at the Proms. And the arena really is the best place to listen. Apart from the sticky floor, which squeaks loudly whenever anyone tries to unstick a foot. Which is quite often. Don’t they ever clean it?

Interview with Augustin Hadelich The world’s busiest violinist offers his thoughts on a life in music, including how to play naturally, getting on with conductors, dealing with nerves and social media, and avoiding caffeine and sugar...

Just booked my ticket to see Augustin Hadelich tonight at the Proms, so I'm gratuitously reposting my interview with him. I wonder if we’ll hear him singing ‘deedle deedle, deedle-deedle, deedle deedle’…
www.elbowmusic.org/post/intervi...

Walton 1 on the radio now – one of the few symphonies that’s actually better to listen to than play, especially as enough time has passed since I played it with CCO that I can appreciate it without PTSD!

Question to a BBC Proms opener: Did you ever think of giving up? - Slippedisc The Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili will play the...

slippedisc.com/2025/07/ques...

The string wisdom of Alfred Brendel The legendary pianist, who died on Tuesday, was typically insightful and frank about fashions in string playing

‘Until the day before yesterday, string players as well as singers made use of various kinds of vibrato – faster and slower, wider and narrower. Fast vibrato seems to have become extinct.’ The string wisdom of Alfred Brendel...

elbowmusic.substack.com/p/the-string...

Scientists at Loughborough University create 'world's smallest violin' The violin is smaller than a human hair and has

‘The violin is a microscopic image rather than a playable instrument’ – ie not a violin in any sense of the word… 🤓

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Oh my. Just got home to find Bruce Springsteen and the E Streets in Hammersmith in 1975 on TV. 😍

Guess who’s got an interview with her favouritest favourite living violinist tomorrow and guess who it is??? 🤩

Clue ⬇️

So frustrating to think of the amateur music projects Rattle would have created with LSO, had he come to London. 😔

With the bad news about the closure of the Newark Violin Making School, my 2023 article on why it matters...

elbowmusic.substack.com/p/news-a-ver...

My latest for BBC Music Magazine, in which I break a classical music taboo and admit that... *whispers* sometimes I get bored in concerts. But it's okay – Bertrand Russell says so...

www.classical-music.com/articles/bor...

The History of Revolutionary Ideas: The Rite of Spring w/Dominic Dromgoole Podcast Episode · Past Present Future · 17/04/2025 · 47m

Fascinating episode of @ppfideas.bsky.social on Rite of Spring. Superb storytelling, including about Stravinsky trying to leave after 5 minutes and getting into fisticuffs with Nijinsky. Although I’ve never heard Stravinsky described as ‘a bit of a tart’ before! 😆

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

End of an era The death of renowned violin expert Charles Beare raises questions about how we can know what we know about instruments in the age of data

My latest: Charles Beare and the end of an era of expertise...

open.substack.com/pub/elbowmus...

A hundred days on On 1 January, I committed to the #100daysofpractice challenge – so what happened next?

If you wondered whether I completed the #100daysofpractice challenge...

elbowmusic.substack.com/p/a-hundred-...

As Heifetz reportedly said when someone complimented him on the sound of the violin after a concert, holding the instrument up to his ear: ‘I don’t hear it!’ 🤣

BBC Four - Omnibus, The Great Gatsby: Midnight in Manhattan A profile of F Scott Fitzgerald, author of celebrated novel The Great Gatsby. From 2000.

Fascinating and thorough archive Omnibus on The Great Gatsby on now, with talking heads including Christopher Hitchens, Garrison Keillor and Hunter S Thompson. And of course the theme seems very a propos…

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I shall definitely be returning to Søstrene Grene… #shazam #louiskaufman

Car finance case could spark billions in driver payouts Millions of motorists could be in line for payouts depending on the decision of Supreme Court judges.

Now do hidden commission payments in the violin business…

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is the angriest performance of this piece I’ve ever heard. Still love his sound and the unfussiness of it, but it’s definitely a mood.

A good @nytimes.com Spangram for classical music nerds today… 😉

⚡️Charlie Chaplin’s film music on BBC Radio 3 and Modern Times performed at London Soundtrack Festival – a good excuse to re-up my article on how his music obsession morphed from playing violin to writing lush scores.

elbowmusic.substack.com/p/charlie-ch...

Cyndi Lauper picks Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune on her (brilliant) #desertislanddiscs! Come and hear Corinthian Chamber Orchestra play it tonight with Leonard Elschenbroich at @sinfoniasmithsq.bsky.social!

www.sinfoniasmithsq.org.uk/book-online/

Lee Marvin Wandering Star 1969 HD YouTube video by Pimp Your Bushcraft

Been rehearsing Dvořák New World today with Corinthian Chamber Orchestra for our concert on Friday with Leonard Elschenbroich and now I can’t get rid of this earworm… 😳

youtu.be/-jYk5u9vKfA

Why did you confiscate some food I had in my bag at entrance bag search, @hackneyempire.bsky.social? If you think it’s going to make me buy stuff at your bar, that’s deeply cynical and unsuccessful, and leaves me with a really bad feeling about your organisation.

Just asked ChatGPT for examples of the voyage and return archetype in classical music and a) blimey it’s good and b) basically every piece ever written is voyage and return anyway! 🤣

Shostakovich Seventh play date with @kso.org.uk. Powerful stuff. Need to lie down for a bit.

Academics can be real killjoys, though…

Watching Bringing Up Baby, which is still brilliantly whipsmart. Would love to see these outtakes!

Is there any music more exquisite… ❤️

And I make no apology for flooding my feed with Fritz Kreisler today! ❤️ #kreisler150