Poor old Beethoven has really had his party ruined this year. It’s already hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, I spent the weekend with thousands of other people in Sage Gateshead watching all the symphonies. My Mum’s friend Jim who is completely confined to his home right now has requested the final movement from Beethoven’s first piano concerto because the syncopated rhythm always puts a smile on his face. I listened to it earlier while I was cooking tea and feeling a bit gloomy because this should have been a manically busy musical few days, and it did the trick for me.