Literature for this day

This is from Ian McEwan's SATURDAY (published by Vintage Books):

There are those rare moments when musicians together touch something sweeter than they've ever found before in rehearsals or performance, beyond the merely collaborative or technically proficient, when their expression becomes as easy and graceful as friendship or love. This is when they give us a glimpse of what we might be, of our best selves, and of an impossible world in which you give everything you have to others, but lose nothing of yourself. Out in the real world there exist detailed plans, visionary projects for peaceable realms, all conflicts resolved, happiness for everyone, for ever - mirages for which people are prepared to die and kill. Christ's kingdom on earth, the workers' paradise, the ideal Islamic state. But only in music, and only on rare occasions, does the curtain actually lift on this dream of community, and it's tantalisingly conjured, before fading away with the last notes.

Questions and answers

A few answers to a few of the more colourful Googles that have provided links to this website:

CLASSICAL MUSIC TO MAKE YOU SMILE: May I suggest the following: Mozart Symphony Nos.29 and 39 to put you in a good mood, or 'A Musical Joke' if you want to take things to extremes; Faure & Messager's piano duets 'Souvenirs de Bayreuth' (the world's most brilliant Wagner take-off); Facade by William Walton; Saint-Saens 'Carnival of the Animals'; and Haydn 'The Creation' for the transcendental kind of smiling. Hope this helps.

HOMEOPATHY RSI: I took Rhus Tox when I had RSI as a student (too much Revolutionary Etude plus extension exercises) and it worked when everything else had failed. The nature of homeopathy, though, is that not everything works for everyone: it's about you as an individual. That remedy suited me but may not be right for someone else. So do consult a qualified homeopath.

a certain amazing pianist GAY: he's not. Bad luck, mate.

NIKOLAJ ZNAIDER GIRLFRIEND: Not me (sigh).

When Steven met Clara...

Here is Steven Isserlis's take on the Schumann, Clara & Brahms story, from yesterday's Guardian. Today, in Aldeburgh, he and Simon Callow will be giving their music-and-words account of it. I can't make it to Aldeburgh myself (I'm currently closeted in my study, in the last throes of finalising the manuscript of ALICIA'S GIFT), but would be very interested to hear from anyone who does. Please write in with your comments! I will post any newspaper reviews I find.

TODAY

A quick reminder that this afternoon, Saturday, from 2pm I'll be at Waterstones in Richmond (2-6 Hill Street), Surrey, signing copies of RITES OF SPRING.

Hmm...

An item in the redoubtable Hornblower's Diary of Classical Music Magazine draws attention to a resemblance between the Prime Minister of the UK and a certain Hungarian grand maestro of the piano. There is indeed something about that steady, steely gaze...

Perhaps Mr Schiff would do a more statesmanlike job of sorting out the current horrific world situation than Mr Blair...
[UPDATE, 10.45pm: Mr Blair has not, as we all thought earlier, gone on holiday today, though he was planning to. He's postponed his trip to Barbados for the time being.]