Masterclass: Saint-Saëns Havanaise op.83

Some pieces accompany a musician regularly throughout their lives. I first played Camille Saint-Saëns’s Havanaise for my final concert at the Menuhin School at the age of 18, but I only just came back to it this year for a concert, after a gap of over 20 years! Revisiting it was like holding a mirror up to my younger self, both technically and musically. With a much more fully developed practice ‘toolkit’ I found I was able to prepare it for a concert much more efficiently and enjoy the process. Good practice is always rewarding, and something I don’t think I always appreciated when I was 18. I hope the following tips will help anyone learning this piece to master its technical challenges and bring its character to life…