POST 365. JUST FOUND ALEXANDER MALOFEEV.

A PIANOFORTE MAESTRO.

ONLY EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE. It would not have happened but, in the way of fortunate happenings, I skimmed along a haphazard video selection seeking a suitable follow-up to Brahms' Intermezzo in A Major (which you'll know, musician or not, if you've ever watched the Jessie Stone series on television) and there was this fair-haired Russian lad (pictured) performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 with all the passion and command of a seasoned veteran. A further search and I found him playing Mozart's 20th Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No 2, the Rachmaninov Piano No. 3 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. If you are not a lover of classical music none of that will mean a thing to you, but if you're a Classic Fm listener, a Proms supporter or simply, like me, a devotee of concert piano, this young man is a twenty first century pianoforte genius whose presence will, post pandemic, fill concert halls for years to come.

со всеми добрыми пожеланиями, maestro. I hope those who arrange the BBC Proms will have you in their sights for 2021 or 22. If, by that time, they can possibly afford you.

IN THE MEANTIME.

THANK GOODNESS FOR YouTube on television. Its boundaries are truly widespread. In the past fortnight I have listened to star soprano Grace Moore, who died in a plane crash in 1947, performing a duet with fine lyric tenor Joseph Schmidt, who died in 1942 at the age of 38. (Diminutive Herr Schmidt can also be found soaring to the top note of Nessun Dorma.) I have seen famous tenor Richard Tauber (who, bless him, never did quite hit the top note of Nessun Dorma) singing songs by Franz Lehar, with the composer accompanying him on the piano, and I have been transported all the way back to my WW2 Workers' Playtime days to watch Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth (soprano/tenor/married) gather lilacs on behalf of Ivor Novello. Add to that the opportunity to take in recorded appearances by just about any 'turn' I have ever enjoyed over the years and my admiration for those shrewd cookies at Google who bought YouTube goes up by the day. It is slightly tempered, though, by our daughter Jac's news that she still encounters difficulty sending comment to any of my blog posts. Well, Google's a huge employer and I don't know a soul who works there. I just hope things will right themselves. Or that this will catch someone's eye:

  Cheers.