Saved by the classics …

… Bryan Appleyard — James Rhodes: Art and Abuse. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

He is often said to be self-taught. This is half-true — he has had several brilliant teachers, one when he was at Harrow School and a ferocious Italian named Edo bequeathed to him by a music agent his playing had impressed — but, otherwise, he is an autodidact. Music hit Rhodes like a thunderbolt. Various pieces, including the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, seem to have been decisive. Classical music, he says, “saved my life”. He seized on music as a place of safety, beyond the reach of his abuser and his own mental turmoil.