I was in London for my daughter’s birthday, and was very excited when I found out that Magdalena Kožená was performing at Wigmore Hall, with none other then András Schiff at the piano. This is a meeting of two great artists: one of the best mezzos of our time, and a wonderful pianist whose recordings of Schubert are almost legendary.

I have always been a big fan of Kožená, since the day I bought her recording of Bach’s Arias, and now, having the opportunity to hear her live was overwhelming. As for Schiff, the first time I heard him live was in San Francisco, when he performed one of Beethoven’s piano concertos. I was so impressed that I returned the next day to see the same programme. Thinking back, that was some 10 years ago now.

My second run-in with Schiff was in London. He was performing an all-Schubert programme at Wigmore Hall, but by the time I found out about the concert, it was already sold out. I had to use all my power and connections in order to get a secondary ticket which cost me a small fortune. I don’t know whether it was the jet lag or any other particular reason, but I almost fell asleep during the concert.
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I met my dear friend Guy in the early ’80s in Paris. We were young, innocent (at the very least, I was), fearless and full of foolish dreams… and then I moved to Hong Kong.

Over the past 20 years, we met several times: in Paris, Hong Kong, Montreal or London. And even after months or sometimes years of separation, every time we meet, it is like we just left each other the day before, and were able to pick up our conversation, feelings and bonding immediately. Guy is the most refined and delicate person I know, and probably the most knowledgeable in classical music.

The time we spend together could entail a nice lunch in a gourmet restaurant, a stroll in a museum, or just a walk through London streets, having him show me the hidden treasures of the city. It is always very inspirational to experience art and music with him.
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I always exercise to music, and Anthony, my better half,  kindly took the time to transfer all my music (yes, all) to my computer, so here I am every morning, stretching to Chopin’s nocturnes, weight-lifting to Vivaldi’s Sacred Music, or sweating to Bach’s Brandebourgeois.

Then one day, out of the blue, my computer went kaput, and I suddenly felt so lonely without my music, yet having to deal with my daily training.

Out of despair and looking for an easy solution, I turned to internet radio, which has a very extensive list of all sorts of topics and music. I stopped at the first decent-looking channel available, which was Sky fm, the music of 80’s…

Now, here I am again, counting beats this time to the soundtrack of Madonna, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Jackson, Barry White, etc, and it is like voyage down memory lane. I’m back in Paris, having evenings at Club Sept and Bus Palladium, squandering hours at the Palace or Les Bains Douches, reaching early mornings at Keur Samba.
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I am in love with YouTube. I am not here to advertise for the website or extol its virtues, but I must say that without it, I wouldn’t have discovered many classical music clips, featuring great musicians and beautiful pieces from composers whose existence I had never known.

A very good friend sent me this clip of Plácido in China, with a Chinese singer, Song Zuying, and… Lang Lang.

I think as a Chinese person, one would have mixed feelings while watching this video. This is a traditional folk song, and though Song Zuying sang marvellously, she had this ridiculous outfit, which might fit the song (I can’t say for sure as I would need to go into extensive search online) but it made her look like a greeting hostess at a Chinese amusement park. more »