"It wouldn't be summer without a holiday from time to time," says concert pianist and artistic director of Music in Great Irish Houses festival, Hugh Tinney.
"I don't get a proper holiday every year, but it's exciting to go away. This year I'm going to France and Italy for 2½ weeks.
"I try and take a complete two-week break from the piano. I don't touch it. I think it's good for the brain. You come back refreshed, with more desire. The fingers need a little bit of work to get them fluid again, but not much. And it wouldn't be summer without reading, plenty of tennis and a swim in the sea."
In conversation with Catherine Foley
When in Thailand...
. . . do not make any derogatory public reference to the King of Thailand, even jokingly, or you may find yourself instantly deeply unpopular with the local people, to whom King Bhumibol Adulyadej is beyond criticism.
Rosita Boland
