Getting back home from São Paulo to my haven in the south of France, I knew I had no time to think of jetlag: >>>

Ambassador Paulo Américo W. had chosen to have the 1st Festival of Brazilian Culture in the summer resort of Varna, a charming little town in Bulgaria. (...) >>>

“A esperança é a última que morre” = Hope, is last to die. This common Brazilian saying comes to mind. (...) >>>

The phone rang in my hotel room while in Rio: it was someone from TUCCA, an association in aid of cancerous children which campaigns most effectively through events, asking me to do a very especial concert date for them. (...) >>>

At the end of April I had to make my way from London to Brasília, a trip which turned out one of the longest ever: first a long flight to São Paulo, with a lay-over of some 4 hours, before continuing on the domestic route. (...) >>>

The Baltic countries. (...) >>>

Lunchtime recital in Harrogate. I am always more than happy to try-out repertoire in the gorgeous acoustics of Wesley Chapel. (...) >>>

Back in Europe, my first scheduled concert was a repeat performance of Brahms’ Clarinet Trio, with Ashkenazy and Meneses, in St Émilion, last May. (...) >>>

2008

Another long trip back took me from home-Brazil to home in London…  Ahead of me was one week in which to prepare the two Piano Quintets by Gabriel Fauré. A few months back I was asked to perform/record them with the Fine Arts Quartet, for Naxos. (...) >>>

V. Ashkenazy’s Rachmaninov Cycle with the Sydney Symphony. Having done the same Concerto # 2 with the Maestro in Luzern many years ago to great praise both from him and his wife >>>

Arriving in the Chinese capital, I was disappointed in a way to find everything almost more westernized than in the west! So it was that it felt much the same as being anywhere else in the world. (...) >>>

Following the summer months almost totally spent abroad, how I looked forward to spending September in my haven in the south of France … my only commitments being two recitals at two weeks interval and in benefit of local churches in need of restoration (...) >>>

After a lot of quality time spent in Matão, town of my childhood where I had first unforgettable experiences, I went back to São Paulo to “face the music”. I had accepted to perform “Rachmaninov’s Concerto no 2” with the Banda Sinfônica de São Paulo. (...) >>>

Dental trouble was very unexpected and painful – but having already had trouble from that same tooth while sitting in the jury of that ‘eventful’ HK Competition two years ago, I shouldn’t complain since it left me untroubled for a long time . (...) >>>

I spent most of this month in France, between Paris and Bordeaux. The city of London hardly counts in my life these days. I miss it, but most of all I miss being missed (...) >>>

Oh, what joy to re-prepare Beethoven’s greatest, his G major Concerto. The writing of # 4 is like lace, making it the most exposed and lyrical of all 5. . (...) >>>

Having had the pleasure and relief of playing for the first time a group of Schubert pieces in Harrogate last month, it was that I to do the complete programme in Modena, Italy as the first of a series. (...) >>>

The experience in the Amazon left me sorry for one reason: coming back home I realized I never thought of asking someone to take a picture of the ‘opera house in the jungle’ (...)>>>

Ever since my honeymoon, light years ago, I never forgot the moment I gasped at the sight of perfection: the Teatro Amazonas, visible from the river and every angle in town. It had been inaugurated at the end of the XIX century, in the year of 1897. Coincidentally as I was due to play the massive Concerto in B flat by Brahms, 1897 had also been the year of his death. (...) >>>

The nicest thing about a crisis is coming out of it! In an “either/or” situation, there is bound to be some compromising, surely this happens in the life of most people! Having to make decisions brought about by unexpected circumstances can be a good thing (...)>>>

2007

The last engagement in 2006 was a production for TV with the lovely Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana led by Rumon Gamba. In the program: Shostakovich’s 2 nd Piano Concerto + the delightful Rondo in D, by Mozart. But because TV means big money (...) >>>

Intense inner conflict was alleviated one nice Sunday morning, while in Paris, by the opportunity to try the very promising newly revamped Pleyel Concert Grand. (...) >>>

At the very end of last month, following the “Les amis” festival, I was off to Berlin, once more in the quality of a juror ... had I gone back on my word, you might wonder? Not quite, I’ll explain. (...) >>>

When my good friend Werner Herbers and his wife Leonie came to spend New Year’s Day with us in the south of France, we talked over an idea I’d been mulling over of a mini-festival of chamber music but one with a twist : (...) >>>

Back to the Gironde if nothing else for some needed quiet time in which I tried to clear the still nagging discomfort from dodgy kidneys with a 3 rd course of antibiotics, prescribed this time by my ‘ médecin de campagne ’: would it ever end? (...) >>>

I knew that this July was going to be a busy month …Having not been to Tokyo for a few years it was nice to work again with the lovely NHK Orchestra, this time under the baton of the very talented Jonathan Nott. (...) >>>

And yet again, as I lay by the pool catching up on my reading, a cancellation which I very much hoped would happen came through! And because I knew of this possibility (a ‘déjà-vu’ sort of situation – v. February) I had Brahms 2 in top shape. (...) >>>

The combination of another empty month in my calendar of professional concerts with the prospect of an empty house, somehow gave me wings and I ‘migrated’ south to my French haven, like a bird in search of warmth. (...) >>>

Starting my favourite month in the year – you may not know: I was born in April! – I went to perform with the Promusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio. Rather a hard 5 day-stunt although given the most fabulous repertoire I had to play, it was pure bliss: Brahms’ Horn Trio, Mozart’s glorious Wind Quintet and that most elusive of Concertos, Wolfgang’s K 595, in B flat -- the moment its ‘spiralling’ 1st theme ‘hovers in’ and gently expands, it never fails: to me He seems to bid farewell to the world! (...) >>>

I needed all my strength to come out of the ‘mincing’ suffered last month (v. February) in São Paulo, and gasp for air, I did! I’d best jot it down as ‘a week-which-never-really-happened, or in the better-forgotten category. Taking a week off I decided to go to the town where I grew up: Rio de Janeiro, the most beautiful in the world! I will forever miss being there >my real home among all homes < and that feeling is unrivalled! Alone but, hey: what’s new? (...) >>>

After an appalling delay of 8 hours on my way back from Brazil – the joys of travelling! -- the airplane was about to land on a rare clear evening, when the realization that of what I had ‘lived for’ these last 6 months, the recording of the nigh-unknown work of a genius of orchestration, Villa-Lobos’ Choros # 11, which I regarded committing ‘to posterity’ almost a mission at this stage of my life, turned out a total failure instead of the triumph I had expected! (...) >>>

Never mind concerts: of late I have so enjoyed spending hours reading Music of my choice. Whereas some people seem to be reading several books at once, I enjoy forever deciphering the score of one piece of Music, reading between the staves so to speak, trying to scoop out the exact mood meant by Robert or Frederic, Johannes or Maurice, not to mention Ludwig or Sergei (...) >>>

2006

Having no concerts to worry about this month, time and opportunity were aplenty to enjoy freedom and do anything that took my fancy or go anywhere, whenever I felt like it! (...) >>>

The donation of a Steinway grand, prompted this month’s 1 st concert and I was the invited VIP soloist …but when i n rehearsal, the music that came out of a tired orchestra hardly sounded like Beethoven, I wondered whether I was really in Germany! In desperation, although tempted to giving up, I had long discussions with the friendly conductor and in the end, Music won! (...) >>>

When asked to learn Villa-Lobos’ Choros # 11, the only information I had was its length, all of 65 minutes! But the moment I read two or three of the most beautiful themes he ever wrote, my decision was made and I never flinched: the pleasure I would get from playing them, carried me all the way! (...) >>>

Arriving in beautiful Hong Kong, I had ‘great expectations’: the 1st International Piano Competition had put together a Jury impressive enough for rival organizers to ‘salivate’ at the sheer qualities of its members: solid musicianship, humility of character, intense commitment as performers, the mental strength needed by some to survive hard regimes, integrity as teachers at world-renowned institutions, intrinsic musical vision … and so on. (...) >>>

Real vacations followed: from the end of July to mid-August as well as the rare company of my husband, I had the visit of some very dear friends (...) >>>

At the end of June I went to the south of France for an early start to Summer: travelling from there whenever necessary to the few concerts during the following 2 months (...)>>>

A quiet month of June lay ahead of me: a private recital in Paris, for the clients of COLT, generous sponsors of my new CD “Alma Brasileira”, -- for that I had conceived an ideal recital programme, mingling the composers, shoulder to shoulder (...) >>>

Understandably, after recording “Alma Brasileira” in Paris last month, my recital in Seoul, which started a mini-tour to South Korea, consisted of mainly Brazilian music combined with a few ‘forever-favourites’ from the French repertoire (...) >>>

This month saw me occupied with a long-drawn project. For a long while I had been trying to record Brazilian music “other than” that by Villa-Lobos, Music that I believed people should get to know (...) >>>

The thought of giving a Master Class at the Purcell Room, although daunting when at first considered, had not troubled me until I faced a nearly full-house, staring at me from down below!! Why, what were they doing there? Well, I can only be myself! (...) >>>

If I look back all those years, I don't think I could find a busier two months, repertoire wise, than last February and March (...) >>>

Going to Sardinia for the 1st time was how the year started for me. Playing Rach 3, twice over, with a conductor of my choice, at Cagliari's Opera House, of which Pietrantonio -- my loyal admirer and close friend from the Sorrento Festival -- is now the 'Sovrintendente'-- doing rather well, in sorting the many financial problems he inherited (...) >>>

2005

Preparations were on the way to welcoming Radu Lupu for rehearsals leading to our most expected 4-hands gig (...) >>>

I stayed on by myself in the south of France, to 'recover' from a surprisingly-taxing Piano and Strings Workshop (v. October) and was delighted to receive in the post, that poem written by a charming Chilean diplomat who attended my recital in Bangkok (v. July), and as promised, here goes (...) >>>

I could hardly wait for October to start: I was due to return to play for the Round Table Wels, in Austria, always a favourite place of mine, filled with wonderful friends, enthusiastic music lovers and ... quite a few tennis fanatics, like myself. Same program as that 'flight-path' nightmare, but no better way to erase a bad experience from memory (...) >>>

Following those unexpected concerts in mid-August: when ‘SOS-Ortiz’ once again stepped-in at short notice, to great acclaim, especially from the press in France (see Press Reviews) – nice, considering whom I had substituted — I was to serve on ‘jury-duty’, at a Piano Competition that is. Unfortunately, this taxing a job, leads me into deeply-felt frustration; I wonder if I will ever accept any future invitations! I’ll try to explain all that bothered me! >>>

I can't say I had much vacation this summer: by the time I had to travel to Poland to take part in a Chopin Festival, I had had all of 2 weeks free, down in the south of France ... better busy, one shouldn't complain!
I had always wanted to go back. to Duznicki Zdroj, and greeting everyone upon arrival, many people immediately remembered the party at the local bistro after my recital, 8 ys ago, never mind my music! >>>

Flying to Thailand -- all those long hours! -- is not something that anyone can convince me of facing with joy: this summer it was my first journey. Class-upgrading is not something I can boast about, unlike my lucky husband to whom this happens very often -- I suppose from looking at his passport alone, any sympathetic flight purser might feel inclined to oblige, whenever possible: he does clock-up on miles, phew! So when I was told that my pre-booked upper-deck window-seat was already occupied .. I half-expected to be bumped out of the flight altogether... >>>

I'd like to do some explaining here which concerns my website!
I'm not sure how many of you realized it went 'off-the-air' - so to speak God knows for how long -- perhaps one of you might know better!
Several friends and puzzled-fans wrote in to find out what happened, if I was all right, or had anything serious occurred ... Let's go back a bit. ...>>>

Next I was to play the Emperor Concerto with the Vasterås Sinfonietta, with Koivula at the helm, I was very much looking forward to that experience: an what a joy to have such a small group of lovely and most commited musicians around me! And Hannu is so good: yet another very talented Finn. We had worked once before (Mendelssohn # 2); the nicest thing about him is that he's so down-to-earth and charmimg that the work load is made very light! Thanks for being a great guy! ...>>>

This month started with a bit of madness, which I hoped I could get away with: following that nearly 15 hr long plane-journey from the south of Brazil back to Europe, I had to fly to Milan the next morning, go almost straight upon arrival to the Teatro di Varese where the Rtsi Orchestra from Radio Lugano, was waiting to rehearse the programme done a couple of weeks previously-- Storgårds the conductor-violinist arrived late from Paris where he had been the soloist the night before-- but since we had already played a concert 2 weeks previously, it was OK. And the players really only needed to be reminded of a few corners so we just about went through it...>>>

Playing at Wesley Chapel, in Harrogate has become one of my favourite 'pastimes':
I will choose that venue for the run-through of a programme, any day, it has one of the nicest acoustics around the country. With much needed financial help from artists and good wishers, it could become mainly a Concert Hall; pity that for a recording studio too much would be required to sound-proof it. or maybe not? -Andrew Hitchen, my good friend, get to work!
A couple of concerts in Pamplona, Spain (of Schumann's A minor) coincided with those most appalling terrorist attacks in Madrid and therefore the 2 scheduled concerts were cancelled. ... >>>

The unique chance of performing the greatest Concerto in the piano repertoire, Brahms' Second, three times round, does not happen every day. Invited as the star- soloist by the Orquesta de Balears which was appearing for the 1st time in Barcelona's L'Auditori under their chief conductor Edmond Colomer I had the time of my life! Apart from the initial 'hiccup' of arriving in charming Palma, to hear that the 1st Cellist had been rushed to hospital ... >>>

Early in January, the day finally arrived when I was due to start rehearsals (in his home town) on Erwin Schulhoff's fan-tastic Piano Concerto op 43, which I adored from the moment I heard it on CD! I consider it the perfect Concerto: haunting melodies, mesmerizing sequences of fabulous harmonic effects, contaminating Jazzy rhythms, even a literally unforgettable dialogue, between the solo violin and the piano, before the exciting Coda… Advice to all pianists: have a listen! you don't know what you're missing! .… >>>

2004

In For free-lance orchestra players in the UK, December is a month filled with performances of Haendel's Messiah… whereas I only had one concert, in Antwerp: Beethoven's Emperor on a one-off date ! And the realization very late in the day that there was only one rehearsal fixed … an oversight by my agency … made me dither about doing it at all - I'm long past enjoying these half-baked performances from lack of rehearsal ! .… >>>

In November I had two enjoyable recitals to give: the first one for Cancerkin (a wonderful charity), to be played in the hall of a posh mansion in St John's Wood, which is really built around an indoors' swimming-pool; and the second, in St. Émilion, the delightful roman-town of the "Grand-Cru" wines' region, in the south of France. And 'comme d'habitude', it's a pleasure to share the enthusiasm, warmth and hospitality of Almuth & François Querre, plus , the bonus of a fabulous post-recital reception! I wouldn't complain when glamour comes in: it doesn't happen that often, believe you me! And how nice to be spoilt, once in a while! .… >>>

Having spent most of three months away from London, mainly in the south of France, it was good that in October there were no scheduled concerts, if only so that I could restore some order to my 'abandoned' house, re-pot a few orchids in need of attention or have fun completely changing the visual of the music-room or sitting-room. .… >>>

Up until mid-SEPTEMBER, following my eventful Workshop - a most enlightening experience (see last month's entry) - I had the chance of enjoying a well-earned holiday. But when the season started earlier than expected (yes… read on), on hindsight, it brought back that feeling of being "robbed" when the last morsel of your favourite dessert you'd saved for the last possible moment is taken from your plate, by your best friend (not for much longer, grrr!).… >>>

Whenever I tread unknown territory, which is often, I choose not to expect that anything will go wrong. As among my eight guests there were Irish, Brazilian, Malaysian, Italian, New Zealander, Czech and British subjects, some unusual behaviour - due to background alone - could be expected. But to judge from this experience, there were moments when I thought I should have provided expert psychiatric counsel as well as a doctor in-residence, to deal with what was in store… >>>

Normally while on holidays, I prefer time to stand still … But this year there’s a difference. 5 chosen participants plus 3 supportive friends will spend about 8-10 days at my place; my ‘summer camp’ idea has blossomed into a Concerto workshop ... >>>

I was asked to play an all-Spanish recital in Burgos, Spain. Over the years, this repertoire has kept me close company. But one-and-a-half hours of it? I must admit that I had to pull all stops to find my usual eagerness when tackling a new program, and move away from that dangerous “another Triana?” kind of approach ... >>>

Before arriving in Berlin for performances with the excellent DSO, I heard that Kreizberg, one of my favourite conductors, had cancelled! And unfortunately, the young Estonian they found as a replacement - no easy matter when Mahler’s 1st Symphony is in the program ... >>>

How ironic then that in early APRIL - to counter the annulment in Israel? - I was asked to perform “Rach-Pag” 3 times, in Florence with the Maggio Fiorentino, due to Bunin`s demise: there I was, relaxing, day-dreaming about my own Festival when: BANG, once again I had to step in to save the day ... >>>

FEBRUARY and MARCH were 2 very calm months in my Calendar: apart from a short trip to beautiful Istanbul, for a Duo Recital with cellist partner A.Meneses, the engagement where I was to perform Beethoven # 4, in Jerusalem, was unfortunately cancelled, due to that Orchestra’s threatening insolvency… sad! ... >>>

After some quiet time ‘en famille’ during the festive season, 2003 started with a trip down to Jacksonville, Florida: 4 performances of Prokofiev’s Concerto # 3, under Fabio Mechetti, the calm Brazilian conductor (he proves the exception rule!) who has been in charge of several American ... >>>

2003

meant no concerts for two weeks, and very welcome that time was too: I had to recover from that … “Handshake from Hell” - see November’s entry! Luckily that rest was long enough and happily I could breathe more freely, realizin ... >>>

The whole of November was taken by a tour of over 3 weeks in my home country Brazil. Months of oh-so-cool British-surroundings gets to be too much for a hot-blooded soul like me. And I also embarked on a sort of Crusade, by playing ... >>>

Sometimes a good break makes it harder to get back to serious work, but with the onset of OCTOBER, I had to look forward to all sorts of new challenges: putting together a new all-Spanish recital programme from material I haven't touched for ages, and ... >>>

September happened to be a month totally free from concerts ; to me that's sometimes most refreshing. Especially when it means you can enjoy yourself, at unexpected times of the year. And having led the life of a concert pianist, I hold on very seriously to the luxury ... >>>

August then, takes me almost immediately to Oxford's Philomusica Festival where this time (third successive year) I will make a recital appearance and teach a couple of Master Classes ... >>>

Come July, I can usually look forward to a long break from civilization, literally. When my two girls were little, summer meant sacred quality time and space, and I remember how I tried to live their waking hours as if I weren't a pianist at all ... >>>

In June I had to worry a bit about something quite out of the ordinary, but which only happens every 4 years? You guessed it: the World Cup! And how very exciting! ...>>>

May took me home to Brazil, where I had the pleasure of launching a new CD alongside Brazilian cellist , Antonio Meneses: The complete works for cello and piano by Villa-Lobos. We not only played for a full Sala Cecilia Meireles in Rio (it poured with rain!), but went ... >>>

April started with a challenge: I was offered to step-in for an indisposed pianist in the Harrod's Series at the QEH in London. Something which, throughout my career always gave me a buzz, but this time with the slightest of hesitations ... >>>