Amati: In which I treat a great cellist to lunch

The Amati Magazine, redesigned and under new editorship, kicks off in earnest today with my first Editor's Lunch: a series in which I treat hand-picked luminaries to lunch. Britain's greatest living cellist seemed like a good person for the first one... and I'm pleased to say that the man with the curls and the gut strings accepted my invitation to dine at Baltic. Here is the feature. Enjoy!

Amo, Amas. Amati

I have a little news. As from Monday, I am taking over the editorship of The Amati Magazine, the online magazine of the stringed instrument auction site Amati.com. We are hatching exciting plans to build it up into a valuable resource for music-lovers, musicians amateur and professional, and everyone with an interest in any aspect of the the stringed instrument world - and we will be kicking off with a major star interview over a little fine food. Watch this space: I'll put up a link on Monday. You can also "like" The Amati Magazine's Facebook page, for regular updates. And we will no doubt be tweeting a lot. I'll be carrying on with everything else I usually do, meanwhile.

Those of you who've read Hungarian Dances will know that an Amati violin is a vital character in the novel. This is complete coincidence, but a nice one. Amo, amas, Amati...

Rattle and the appointment headache

Appointing a music director is probably the hardest job an orchestra ever has to do, and appointing the right music director is the most important one. I have a few thoughts in today's Independent about why it's so tricky and why Sir Simon Rattle would be a Good Thing here...and why it's taking so long. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/will-simon-rattle-take-over-at-the-lso-10006409.html

Cheers to another British conductor, Jonathan Nott, incidentally: he's won a ballot by a rare unanimous vote, we're told, to become music director of the Suisse Romande Orchestra.

Now I'm off to Birmingham to talk about Korngold tonight at Symphony Hall, where the CBSO and conductor Michael Seal are doing the Symphony in F sharp, the composer's most important orchestral work. I've never heard it live before, having missed the Prom last year, and as Seal is fast becoming one of today's prominent Korngoldians I suspect we're in for a treat. Do come if you're in Brum. Talk is 6.15pm, concert at 7.30pm. http://cbso.co.uk/?page=concerts/viewConcert.html&cid=2971&m=01&y=2015

WAM. Wunderlich.

It's Mozart's birthday. I'm on a bit of a Mozart high at present - doing a talk about him last night at the Wigmore Hall has left me a bit tearful and giddy and lovestruck, even though this is music I've known for more than four decades. It's so easy to take him for granted. We shouldn't. He's a miracle. And for those of you who were at the Wigmore last night - the more I think about it, the more I really believe that he was indeed the first Romantic.

Here's the great tenor aria from Die Zauberflöte, sung in 1965 with piano accompaniment by Fritz Wunderlich.

Next few days...

Tomorrow (24th) I am at the Richmondshire Subscription Concerts in North Yorkshire for a welcome reunion with Bradley Creswick (violin) and Margaret Fingerhut (piano) in Hungarian Dances, the Concert of the Novel. Do come along for Gypsy-style virtuoso thrills, gorgeous repertoire and a roller-coaster narrative from the book. Here's the link: http://rsconcerts.org.

On Monday evening (26th) I'm doing a pre-concert talk at the Wigmore Hall at 6.15pm about MOZART. The Hagen Quartet are continuing their Mozart Odysseyand Monday's concert features the second three of his "Haydn" Quartets. Talking about Mozart quartets at the Wigmore is a kind of a scary thing to do, so please join us in the Bechstein Room and smile - it will help. http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/pre-concert-talk-jessica-duchen-37085

On Wednesday evening (28th) I'm in Birmingham to introduce Korngold's Symphony in F sharp at Symphony Hall. The CBSO will be playing it in the second half of the concert, conducted by that Korngold aficionado par excellence, Michael Seal. http://cbso.co.uk/?page=concerts/viewConcert.html&cid=2971&m=01&y=2015

Busy. Backson.