Steven Isserlis

A truly fascinating figure, Pauline Viardot, b otd 1821. By all accounts a wonderful singer (as well as composer). Brahms, Saint-Saens and many others wrote major works for her; Chopin allowed her to set words to his mazurkas; Fauré loved her; and Turgenev was in love with her!

Raymond Chandler b otd 1888 - the master of dark brilliance: “I was as hollow and empty as the spaces between stars.” "The girl gave him a look which ought to have stuck at least four inches out of his back." "The streets were dark with something more than night."

Thoughts from Edward Hopper (b otd 1882): "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." "Maybe I am not very human - what I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house."

The great violinist/musician - and major cultural figure - Isaac Stern b otd 1920: "Music is not an acquired culture... it is an active part of life." "A man possesses talent; genius possesses the man." "Music is like making love: either all or nothing."

Timeless inspiration from Petrarch (b otd 1304!): "Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good."

Returning from my first ever foreign trip in order to see an opera - Faurê’s glorious Pénélope (well worth the effort!). And the joy of travelling without a cello! Everyone should try it once…Only SLIGHTLY marred by the panics every five minutes :’Oh God - Where is it???’

Artistic wisdom from Edgar Degas (b otd 1834): "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do." "In painting you must give the idea of the true by means of the false." "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

A very happy 78th to the brilliant Brian May! Great man - AND hair, of course. I was once at a Paul McCartney concert in Tokyo. A group of young people rushed up: "Are you Brian May?" I still feel bad when I think of the disappointment in their faces when I told them I wasn't...

So sad to hear that Sir Roger Norrington has left us. Such a unique, life-affirming character and musician. I think that he always felt like an outsider - which made him insecure, but also contributed to the freshness and originality of his music-making. Farewell and thank you.

The great Donald Tovey b otd 150 years ago! We shall never make head or tail of the Ninth Symphony until we treat it as a law unto itself. Haydn’s jokes and drolleries tumble out helter-skelter with the absolute spontaneity and grace one sees in a kitten running after its tail.

Thoughts on mortality from Hilaire Belloc (d otd 1953): "Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun." "When I am dead, I hope it may be said: His sins were scarlet, but his books were read."

Swiss-American-Jewish composer Ernest Bloch d otd 1959. REALLY neglected these days - perhaps uneven (I don't know enough of his works); but at his best, truly great. And not just the Jewish music (wonderful though that is); the chamber/orchestral music can be stunning!

15 years today since much-missed Sir Charles Mackerras left us... On conducting: "I just give beats exactly as I feel; I try to express the music with my hands, and with my face - and that’s what I do with my gestures." On Dvorak: "I love Dvořák’s music with all of my heart."

Arnold Schoenberg b otd 1874! "My work should be judged as it enters the ears and heads of listeners, not as it is described to the eyes of readers." "if it is art, it is not for all, and if it is for all, it is not art." "My music is not modern, it is merely badly played."

Inspiration from Pablo Neruda (b otd 1904): "You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." "Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread." “To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.”

A very happy 98th (!!) to Herbert Blomstedt. He is a miracle - seems to have discovered the secret of eternal youth! And such a warm, refined, natural musician; and the same in personal terms - such a wonderful man. Thank you for the joy you bring, Maestro Blomstedt!

Marcel Proust b otd 1871! So wise... "We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes." "Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them." "We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond."

Happy birthday to David Hockney! "I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning." "What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing." "You must plan to be spontaneous"

Immortal lines from Percy Bysshe Shelley (d otd 1822): “I have drunken deep of joy, And I will taste no other wine tonight.” “Our sweetest songs are those of saddest thought.” “A poet is a nightingale who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds.”

Two rather different musicians b otd, exactly 80 years apart. On great composers: Gustav Mahler (1860): "In Bach, the vital cells of music are united as the world is in God." (On his deathbed): 'Mozart...Mozart." Ringo Starr (1940): "I like Beethoven, especially the poems." Haha.