But we’ve all played the telephone game, right?

Our digitally connected age is amazingly good at illuminating dark places. It is even better at perpetuating lies — some of which are centuries old.

This does not mean a quick polish or two-hours of warmup, or even a last-minute tuning.

 

Lucky underwear, lucky ties, lucky dresses. Whatever works, but just don't say "Good luck".

Torontonian Tamara Bernstein explains it all in an essay included in the competition programme, where Banff competition director Barry Schiffman recalls the day when he and fellow St Lawrence String Quartet founding violinist Geoff Nuttall listened to a recording of quartets by Joseph Haydn performed on period instruments by Austrians, the Quatuor Mosaïques.

Ever wonder where the door knocking song comes from? We have the answer.

Sometimes we get caught in a vicious circle where people are intimidated by classical music or opera and, in return, those who love it try too hard in the wrong way to find the right introduction.