The Souvenir Programme of my Bach World Tour is now on sale on the Bach World Tour website. It is a 64-page book that in fact is much more than a programme. Including many photos from my personal archives that have not been seen by the general public before, it has in fact become a major retrospect of my life so far, The Preface is written by acclaimed novelist, Ian McEwan. It can be purchased separately or along with my Bach DVD for a special price. To purchase your copy, please go to:

http://www.bachworldtour.com/programme.php

The DVD "Bach Performance on the Piano" can still be purchased separately on the same website.

With hardly a moment to catch my breath after my London recital, I was off again to Munich, this time to make my debut there. The hall was the famous Herkulessaal in the Residenz Palace where many a wonderful recording has been made by the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra and many others. Under the watchful eye of Hercules, whose heroic deeds are illustrated in tapestries around the hall, I performed Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (which seems to get better all the time). The audience was fantastic, and warmly appreciative at the end--with some members standing up (not a common thing in Germany in my experience!). I hope to return again very soon. I also did an interview for the Rundfunk, and was photographed by Michel Neumeister who carries on the studio established by his father Werner, one of the most famous photographers of musicians in the last century.

On another subject, single tickets to my Trasimeno Music Festival (June 28 to July 4 this year) are now on sale to the general public. I will perform in seven concerts in seven days in various formations with artists of my own choosing. If you are interested, please go to the festival website, where you can make your bookings or contact us. Although it is no longer necessary to be a friend in order to book tickets, donations are still welcome and indeed necessary to keep the festival alive! Thank you to all those who have donated so far this year.

http://www.trasimenomusicfestival.com

This afternoon I gave my second recital in London's Royal Festival Hall, completing the cycle of Preludes and Fugues which I started there in January. And it turned out to be another highlight of my Bach World Tour. I don't know if everybody there follows my website and therefore knows how much I appreciate a quiet audience, but they could not have been more silent today. Thank you! I can't begin to describe the stamina and concentration it takes to get through all of Book II from memory. It nearly kills me. But it's worth it--every second of it. It took two appointments at the osteopath this week to get my body back in shape for today's concert (the long flight home from Singapore didn't help),and now I think I'll need to go again! Trouble is, I have to leave for Munich in the morning, and from there straight on to Canada.

Earlier this week I was guest on "The Ticket", an hour-long radio show on the BBC World Service (the photo is of me in the studio at their rather battered piano!). I had the honour of sharing the billing with former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell. If you would like to listen, follow the link below. This morning I had a note from someone in Dubai asking me why I wasn't going there on my World Tour!

One more thing which I wish I didn't have to mention, but feel I should. At the Royal Festival Hall today, my Souvenir Programme was for sale, and all were sold in no time. The only thing is that somebody in the shop there made a mistake (do I have to check everything myself?) and sold them for the wrong price (£6.50 instead of £12). So if anybody who bought them for that bargain price notices that in my online shop they sell for £12, I just wanted to clarify the situation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/the_ticket.shtml

Singapore was the last stop on the Asian part of my Bach World Tour (for now--I will return to China in October). I must say I am now ready to go home. It has been a long time (over five weeks) to live out of suitcases. Mind you, I have less than a week at home before I'm off again, but at least that time will be appreciated. It's rather full of interviews and photo sessions, however, which I hope won't be too exhausting. My second concert in London's Royal Festival Hall (Book II) is next Sunday afternoon, and I want to be in the best of shape for that. Again I had a very young audience here in Singapore. A friend counted 150 people in the CD line-up, all wanting a snapshot on their mobile phones. It's hard to refuse (especially when, as tonight, there were two sisters about 5-6 years old, one clutching her teddy bear!), although it's very tiring after giving such a marathon performance. A Fazioli had been sent especially from Italy to Singapore for my concerts here, but then I was prevented from using it by the organizers. I was very upset by that, and hope that it won't happen again. Many people were asking why. Last night I gave a Bach masterclass at the Conservatory here which I very much enjoyed: I heard three very enthusiastic young players, and answered questions from the large audience. They all seem happy to be given the chance to make their Bach "expressive" and not to have to play it so rigidly. Many people still think that that's how you have to play his music--stiff and unbending. If I can change that misconception on this tour, then I will be very happy!

No, I am not all of a sudden back in Venice! Despite the Rialto Bridge behind me, I was in Macau, China when the photo was taken! I could also have taken a photo in "St. Mark's Square" or on a gondola with a singing gondolier (no kidding!), or outside the "Ducal Palace". Instead I just went shopping for an hour at The Venetian resort which has all these things, Las Vegas-style (I gave the casino a miss!). But I also played Bach to a wonderfully attentive audience of 800 people at the Macau Cultural Centre, a lovely hall built 10 years ago. I wasn't sure what to expect from the audience there, so was truly delighted by their reception. Again there was a large percentage of young people, many accompanied by their parents. One small boy in the first row within my sightline seemed to fall asleep during the last four Preludes and Fugues, but he at least looked peaceful. Another man sat on the edge of his seat for the entire two hours of music. Yesterday I also gave a masterclass in which four female students played Preludes and Fugues. I was happy to give them some idea of the main things one has to think about while playing Bach--and the piano. After my class, several of the young pianists ran to me outside and wanted to know how I play so softly. How to explain that? I told them to think of velvet (I had a velvet jacket on)--not of denim jeans! But of course it has to be first in the imagination, and then in the fingers which need to have substance and control. Many people came on the boat from Hong Kong (Macau is an hour's ferry ride from there). They were happy to know I will be in Hong Kong to play both books of the WTC in October.

Macau is the most prosperous place in Asia at the moment because of the revenues from the 29 huge casinos (they just announced a moratorium to stop any more from being built). Its Portuguese history is still in evidence, and you feel a bit more at home being able to read the signs in that language. The staff of the Cultural Centre were very welcoming and gave me a tour of the island (there are 520,000 inhabitants in 11 square miles). The beleaguered Olympic torch is supposed to pass by there on May 3rd. Now it's on to Singapore!

One note about my Wigmore Hall concerts in September:

The booking period for Friends of Wigmore Hall opens on May 1st. On September 22,24,26,and 28 of this year, I will present a special mini-festival to celebrate my (oh dear!) 50th birthday. Tickets will sell very fast, and for sure you will need to be a friend to get one (unless you are lucky to get a return on the day). If you are not already a friend of Wigmore Hall, and would like to become one, please call them on +44 (0)20 7258 8230.

The recital last night of Book I in Tokyo Opera City was one of the highlights of my Bach World Tour. A near-capacity audience of about 1400 gave me the great gift of their total silence (I have decided that coughing or not coughing is a matter of discipline and respect and has nothing to do with whether people have colds or not--there were at least 3 people sitting in the front two rows with face masks on last night who didn't make a sound throughout). It is a fabulous hall to play in, and I had a wonderful Fazioli piano to match. Evidently tomorrow's concert of Book II is virtually sold out, which is terrific. For the first time, I was able to have on sale the Bach World Tour Souvenir Programme which arrived from Italy (where it was designed and printed) three hours before the concert! Unfortunately only 50 copies were on sale because we never expected them to arrive on time, so hadn't risked sending more, but those 50 were sold in a flash. Next week they should be on sale in my online shop. It is great to see it after all the hard work I, and the four or five very special people who worked on it with me, did over many months. More about that soon!

I was out in the street again today (photo) in search of my rye bread that keeps me going (I found it in a World Foods shop), along with Quaker Oats--without which I can't survive.

On the day in between concerts in Seoul, I made a surprise visit to the one shop there that sells nothing but classical CDs. They were all very happy that I showed up, and it was good to meet some more Korean music-lovers who are obviously passionate about what they listen to. The concert of Book II the next day was another big success, and the audience even more quiet and appreciative. Then it was on to Tokyo. I actually had a free day, so was taken by friends to the Izu Peninsula (photo), famous for its hot springs (which I tried!). Back in Tokyo yesterday, I went to hear the concert of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under its Music Director, Kent Nagano, in the same hall where I will perform tomorrow, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. It was a thrilling concert, and it was nice to see some familiar faces and meet Maestro Nagano again. Today was a day of practise and interviews, followed by an excursion to the basement of the Keio Department Store which is an immense food hall. It has to be seen to be believed. It took me a while, but finally I found the corner devoted to fresh fruit and vegetables. It's best not to look at the prices!

My first recital here in Seoul was attended by about 800 people in the excellent hall of the LG Arts Centre. A Fazioli piano was provided by Cosmos Music, and the audience was extremely attentive throughout. At the end, shouts of bravo, rather uncommon to me in this part of the world, were coming from all over. It is amazing to an observer from the West to see so many young people at a classical recital--especially one of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. I would say that 80% of the audience, if not more, were well under the age of 30 if not 25. Classical music is seen as "cool" here. When crossing the street in front of the concert hall before the event, a car went by with its windows down, and the CD player inside blaring away at full volume. Do you know what the music was? The D minor Prelude from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (and I'm pretty sure it was my own performance of it!)! Amazing! This for sure would never be heard "at home". The photo taken during the CD sign in the lobby proves my point. The day before the concert, I was featured in a live interview for almost an hour on Korea's national radio station devoted entirely to classical music (with a translator, of course). The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (who is in the midst of cutting most classical music from its airwaves) should take note.

Yesterday I arrived in Seoul, Korea after a long trip from Cleveland. The pilot for the Toronto-Beijing flight turned up late, and so my stopover time in Beijing was considerably shortened. I was, however, met by Air Canada's concierge who whisked me through the new Beijing airport in which you walk for miles. He warned me that my baggage wouldn't be so fast, and that it probably wouldn't make it--and he was right. Today at an interview, there was a photographer present to take photos of me for a major Korean newspaper. I said absolutely not, especially as I was still wearing the clothes I had had on for two days, and looked like a drowned rat (no curlers or hairspray!). He wasn't too pleased, but said he'd get me tomorrow (in the meantime my bags have shown up). The photo is of the huge poster in the lobby of the concert hall where I will perform.

Today I learned that I've been nominated for "Female of the Year" at the Classical Brit Awards. My competition is soprano Anna Netrebko and cellist Natalie Clein. The results are announced May 8th at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Another pair of Well-Tempered Clavier concerts this week brought a lot of happiness to the audience in Portland, Oregon (many of whom had travelled from quite far away). It is always a pleasure to perform there, and to catch up with friends (photo on stage taken by Peter Schutte). The concerts were sold out (in fact, when I was passing by the entrance of the hall on my way to stage door, a young man waiting outside stopped me and asked me if I had any tickets to spare…!). I also gave an hour-long lecture on playing Bach on the piano, followed by a masterclass in which three students played Preludes and Fugues. A big crowd of almost two hundred people turned up for that. Back in Ottawa for a few hours before going to Cleveland, I learned that my recitals there in May, which were only just announced, have already sold out! Seven hundred tickets for each concert have been sold in less than a week. I’m sorry for the people who don’t already have some and who were planning to come. But on the other hand I’m thrilled because all the proceeds of the concerts will go to the scholarship fund named after my father, Godfrey Hewitt, which helps a deserving organ scholar each year.

At the moment I am so busy not just with my Bach World Tour but also with planning my festival in Italy, so I am a bit slow in updating my "blog"! Today I gave another masterclass at one of the most famous music colleges in the USA, the one in Oberlin, Ohio. It is a joy to share my thoughts on Bach with the students and to try to help them a bit with this most difficult music. Last night I played Book I in Finney Chapel. The last time I played there was with the Cleveland Orchestra, playing Ravel, so this was a bit different!