A recital by a serious, thoughtful and accomplished colleague is always a great delight. Yesterday was such a performance by Margaret Mills. She performed one of the great piano works of all time, The Suite Bergamasque by Debussy, which includes the famous Clair de Lune, one of the pieces that was almost done to death when I was a youngster. This suite has the capacity to utterly change one's approach to the piano, to rhythm, to harmony and a bunch of other similarly elusive elements. Mills gave it its due measure of attention and I was delighted.

She then played three Preludes by Ruth Crawford, one of my heroines. Fantastically difficult works, wild in every respect. I was suitably impressed.

These were followed by some "Picturesque Pieces" by Chabrier which I had never heard before. Beautifully played, they aroused my curiosity to look these works up for myself. A better result one cannot ask for.

Look her up at www.margaretmills.com. An interesting woman.