Last Saturday (18th) I gave my first recital at the ESM, a remarkable venue near the Dean Bridge in Edinburgh. Things got off to a shaky start with Reger's Prelude and Fugue in E flat minor for the left hand, a piece I've coped with in the past. The reason? After a successful rehearsal, I neglected to move the piano stool an octave to the right (the standard position for lh pieces), so when I started playing, I sensed almost immediately something was wrong, and within a bar or two realised what was causing my sense of disorientation. I manoeuvred my way to the edge of the piano stool, which helped a little, but in general I feel it was a pretty unstable performance. Thatcher's comment on Duncan-Smith's leadership (we all die) went through my mind...perhaps her shade was in town for the General Assembly! Anyway, hopefully that lesson is learnt; the rest of the recital went pretty well, pieces by Ronald Stevenson, a patron of the society, and John Ogdon's Fantasia Busoniana (completed 24 years to the day before the performance) were particularly appreciated. Special thanks to the remakable octogenarian musician Colin Kingsley, who enabled the event to take place. As it happens, I recently discovered in the Scottish Music Centre a recording from the early 70s of Colin playing the solo piano version of Luminos by the Arbroath born Morris Pert, a composer I've been concentrating on in recent years. The following afternoon, Colin delivered a fascinating illustrated talk: One woman, two men....namely Clara Schumann,Robert and Brahms. The final item in my recital had been the latter's transcription for left hand of Bach's Chacconne, first performed by Clara.
Mark Spalding musicblog 
