14-20 December - Indonesia with Damien Ventula

Indonesia - a country of staggering contrasts, natural beauty and statistics. It comprises 17,508 islands and is home to 234 million people, 23 million of whom live in Greater Jakarta. Java, the island on which Jakarta lies, has an average population of 2435 people per square mile. A motorcycle is sold every three seconds, something you can well believe as you drive around the city (or more likely as you sit in a traffic jam). Many will borrow money to buy a motorbike and set up a taxi business (left) to pay it off.

The flight from London Heathrow was a nightmare. Perplexed by Damien's cello having it's own seat (though it doesn't get any food), the crew instructed me to wait until the plane was fully boarded before being seated. The only possibility, I was then informed, was to be squeezed between two very fat men, one of whom had a fixed grin of a lunatic, stroking nearby passengers with a hand puppet. I simply couldn't bear the thought of several hours trapped between them and at the last minute found another empty seat, though covered with bags. The Australian gentleman in the aisle seat kindly asked why "I didn't have my own f****** seat" and made a point of sticking his elbows as far out as possible during the whole flight. Window-Seat-Man had a terrible cold, which he seemed very eager to share. We had stops in Colombo and Singapore which we hadn't reckoned with and the whole flight ending up taking twenty hours.

After this bumpy start my first visit to Asia couldn't have been more wonderful. Leonard van Hien, himself an accomplished cellist, and his wife Indre hosted us in their beautiful home, complete with swimming pool and deer park. Having a bath, a delicious meal and sinking into bed in my air-conditioned room was nothing short of bliss.

Our first concert was in Bandung, organised by Mutia Dharma, who exemplifies the great warmth and generosity of the Indonesian people. There were many young people in the audience, which was encouraging. Her mission to bring classical music to Indonesia seems to be very successful.

The train ride back to Jakarta gave us our first glimpse of the beauty of the Indonesian countryside.

The second concert was in Jakarta's impressive Erasmus Huis Hall, which has an excellent acoustic. Our concert was sandwiched between visits to two luxury hotels - to the Mandarin Oriental for a bath (Leonard van Hien is country chairman of the company who owns it) and the Marriot for a post-concert buffet of incredible splendour.

I also had the privelege of giving masterclasses to several students from the music school. Amongst them were some incredibly gifted ten year-olds.

Our flight back was infinitely better with some spectacular views over the desert and the Zogaso mountains in Iran.

12th July, 2007 - Vilnius

24th September, 2006 - Zwickau

Zwickau is a beautiful little Saxon town about three hours train-ride from Berlin. Robert Schumann was born 150 years ago in the house on the left, which is now a museum and concert venue. "Brücke" artist Max Pechstein was also born there.

My recital comprised works with a Schumann connection - Gade, Clara Schumann, Franz Xaver Mozart (Mozart's younger son), Chopin's Second Ballade and Liszt's B minor Sonata, both dedicated to Schumann. The main Schumann work in the programme was Faschingsschwank aus Wien, the autograph of which is kept in the museum. Many thanks to the director Thomas Synofzik for allowing me to examine it and to Dr Ute Bär for her kind help. Yesterday I also acquired a facsimile of the Liszt. It is fascinating to see the passages he finally decided to discard. For example, he initially ended the sonata with fortissimo chords (left) instead of fading away to ppp.

4th August, 2006 - Treasure!

My lovely neighbours Sylwia and Rüdiger share my passion for mysteries. Last autumn I set them a treasure hunt on the island of Tenerife and recently they did one for me, only much better! It all began with a secret wooden box which, when we eventually managed to open it, revealed a parchment with a wax seal. Their ingenious riddle lead us to Potsdam and the "little" Brandenburg Gate, through the Sanssouci park and finally to the "end of the rainbow" - a sparkling crystal, buried in a branch of an ancient Bignonia Catalpa tree.

I think music is a bit like a treasure hunt - if you keep on digging, there are many sparkling musical crystals to be unearthed!

16th July, 2006 - Love Parade

Burning with curiousity, I cycled down to the Brandenburg Gate where the famous Love Parade was geting into full swing. Walking down the Strasse des 17. Juni boulevard the crowds became thicker towards the Siegessaeule to the point where it was difficult to move. Like small ships the floats slowly plowed through a choppy sea of people, all possessed by several hundred watts of techno-music. I enjoy watching people who can move naturally to a beat. I want to dance too, but as I always end up being rather awkward and self-conscious I usually content myself with being an envious audience.