The German pianist Caroline Oltmanns ascribes her current success to a quiet place.

Oltmanns is Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University.

From the always-interesting Living the Classical Life:

The Polish-born Mexican pianist Eva Maria Zuk died on February 28 in Mexico City at the age of 71.

Originally from Lodz, she was taken by her family to Venezuela as a baby. Arthur Rubinstein, who heard her play as a child and came from the same city, arranged for her to study at Juilliard.

An outstanding Chopin interpreter, she settled in Mexico in the 1970s after marrying the conductor Enrique Batiz.

An Easter Sonata, rediscovered in the 1970s and mistakenly attributed to her brother Felix, will be performed this Wednesday on BBC Radio 3 under its correct authorship.

Fanny Mendelssohn was banned by her father from composing for fear she might steal her brother’s limelight and then suffered greatly from discouraging remarks by her brother. It was only in the last years of her short life that she resumed composing with confidence.

With slightly awkward timing, the Royal Opera House opened its box-office on Friday for sales of June’s Otello with the ephemeral German tenor.

The immediate sales are to Friends only. General booking begins March 28.

It was on Friday that Kaufmann’s New York manager Alan Green announced he was pulling out of the Metropolitan Opera’s season highlight.

Kaufmann’s cancellation reasons – ‘his personal life and professional obligations’ – may not apply in London. Also, he owes more of a personal and professional obligation to the ROH music director Antonio Pappano than he does to the Met’s Peter Gelb. Let’s see.

He couldn’t be bothered to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony, but the old rocker is booked to open La Seine Musicale, the new concert centre in the west of Paris next month.

Go figure.