Allan playing at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory
Duo with the Bulgarian cellist, Stefan Popov
Soon after my arrival in Moscow I met Stefan, a student of Rostropovich, and he asked me to accompany him to Bulgaria for a series of recitals during the Winter of '62-'63. The programme consisted of sonatas by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Kabalevsky. I travelled with him to a number of international competitions including Geneve, Munich and Moscow.
We made a good duo partnership and continued to work together in recital, on recordings and at the BBC for many years. One of our many interesting tours was for Giovente Musicale in Northern Italy.
This photo was taken in the early '70s.
With Rosemary on Tour
Rosemary, my wife, often comes with me on the cruises which take me to many corners of the globe. Sometimes I act as an 'escort' i.e. counting passengers out and counting them in again! On this occasion we were visiting Norwegian ports and took the opportunity to visit the wonderful Briksdal glacier.
After being dropped by our coach we had a 40 minutes walk to the face of the glacier - it was our first time being so close, and what an experience it was!
My debut with the Halle Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli was the conductor of the Halle Orchestra when I made my debut at Leeds Town Hall in September 1953.
He was a most wonderful man to work with and I was fortunate to play with him a number of times during the early part of my career.
With Hugo Rignold
The conductor with me is Hugo Rignold and the photo was taken after a performance with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels. The date was April, 1955. I had just played the Concerto in D by Haydn.
With Eric Robinson
At the age of 13 I was invited to appear with Eric Robinson on his BBC TV programme 'Music for You' playing a movement of a Mozart concerto. Eric (a fellow 'Loiner' - i.e. a native of Leeds) was a great favourite on television and helped popularise the Classical repertoire.
Soon after my arrival in Moscow I met Stefan, a student of Rostropovich, and he asked me to accompany him to Bulgaria for a series of recitals during the Winter of '62-'63. The programme consisted of sonatas by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Kabalevsky. I travelled with him to a number of international competitions including Geneve, Munich and Moscow.
Rosemary, my wife, often comes with me on the cruises which take me to many corners of the globe. Sometimes I act as an 'escort' i.e. counting passengers out and counting them in again! On this occasion we were visiting Norwegian ports and took the opportunity to visit the wonderful Briksdal glacier.
Sir John Barbirolli was the conductor of the Halle Orchestra when I made my debut at Leeds Town Hall in September 1953.
The conductor with me is Hugo Rignold and the photo was taken after a performance with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels. The date was April, 1955. I had just played the Concerto in D by Haydn.
At the age of 13 I was invited to appear with Eric Robinson on his BBC TV programme 'Music for You' playing a movement of a Mozart concerto. Eric (a fellow 'Loiner' - i.e. a native of Leeds) was a great favourite on television and helped popularise the Classical repertoire.