Mention on The Times by Matthew Parris
At home with a star
House concerts — staging musical recitals in your home for invited guests — strike me as a rather 18th-century custom but, if so, my neighbour in east London, Sir Ian McKellen, is reviving it. Flying in from New Zealand where he’s been Gandalfing for the cameras, Sir Ian presided over a huge party for the young Lithuanian pianist, Kasparas Mikuzis. Seated at McKellen’s black grand piano, Mikuzis gave us Bach, Ravel and Prokofiev with a spirit and passion that had his audience spellbound. Then we all munched cucumber sandwiches, wandered out onto the balcony over the Thames and made the choice — difficult at teatime on a Sunday — between tea and wine. What hospitality. What bliss. Mikuzis is performing at London’s Wigmore Hall on February 2, but you’ll have to bring your own cucumber sandwiches. I was lucky.
