CONTENTS

5 EDITORIAL

Silver celebration

6 LETTERS

Your thoughts and comments

7 NEWS & NOTES

Nicolas Namoradze receives UK Critics’ Circle Award ••• Casio launches new digital pianos ••• New label promotes women composers

10 ONE TO WATCH

En Blanc et Noir festival director Bobby Mitchell

12 IN BLACK AND WHITE How spooky is the piano?

22 ECLECTIC REFLECTIONS

George Xiaoyuan Fu introduces his debut album Mirrors

30 SHARED DIALOGUE

France’s Long-Thibaud Competition gets a new lease of life

32 COMPETITIONS DIARY

Piano prizes in 2023 and beyond

FROM OUR ACHIVE 35 RUSSIAN REVELATIONS

Intimate insights from Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter

38 PAST MASTER

Claudio Arrau remembers Ferruccio Busoni

41 TIMELESS GREATS

Alfred Brendel discusses the music he loves most – and why

47 RETURNING TO THE PIANO

IV – Touch (Part 2)

SHEET MUSIC

51 REPERTOIRE RARITIES

Józef Krogulski’s La bella Cravovienna

65 NEW MUSIC

Rajarata by Nancy Litton’

70 FESTIVAL FOCUS

Piano City comes to Lecce in Italy

72-79 NEW RELEASES

CDs, DVDs, books and sheet music

80 IN CONCERT

Contemporary dance meets Bach’s Goldberg Variations

82 MUSIC OF MY LIFE

Sir Stephen Hough reveals his formative musical influences

SPECIAL FEATURES

14 ON A SOUND TRACK

Alexandre Tharaud champions great film scores and explains how they help him connect with audiences

18 A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Lang Lang plays virtuoso transcriptions from Disney movies

20 CELLULOID MAESTRO

Cate Blanchett reveals why playing the piano on-screen awakens memories from her childhood

25 LEADING LADIES

Why don’t more women pianists win major competitions?