Music to my ears

Simon Keenlyside Baritone

I’m knee deep in Debussy at the moment – Pelléas et Mélisande is one of my favourite pieces of music on the planet. But I’m working so hard on that that I actually clear my head most mornings with JS Bach, and always have done. I had some headphones made, for my motorcycle, and they’re really good. I also love the piano – perhaps it’s because I’m a Lieder singer – and at the moment I’m mining Clifford Curzon and Solomon, but my go-to would be Horowitz.

We went to Romania to premiere a fantastic new piece by Jonathan Dove and I had ten hours in a car to get to Bačau. I told my wonderful driver about my interest in Romanian folk music. He smiled, and for ten hours I got an education in the difference between Romanian folk and gypsy music. He had a rotten old