Costanza Principe at St James`s today. To say it was a beautiful recital by.a beautiful young lady would be a great understatement.

Her exquisite Allegretto from the Drei Klavierstucke was even more poignant for the exclusion of the other two.But to what effect!We are so used to having to hear the complete work it was very daring ,in this age of the Urtext or nothing ,to let this most beautiful piece stand proudly on its own and to separate the “little”Beethoven op 78 Sonata from Rachmaninoff’s rumbustuos second Sonata.

What she missed in the devilry and inexorable forward propulsion of a Horowitz in this Rachmaninoff she more than compensated for with such a beautifully nuanced sense of balance that she managed to seduce a very large audience on this balmy autumn afternoon.

Of course it was immediately apparent from the first notes of the Beethoven that here was a highly intelligent musician listening intently to the shape and beauty of the extraordinary opening of this “little” much underrated sonata.

No encore was offered so as we came out into the bright sunshine from this beautiful church in the heart of London we just had to thank Costanza for filling this lunch hour with such beauty.

“All things bright and beautiful…..” we used to sing at school sprang to mind as I crossed the road to the Royal Academy to see the 82 portraits that David Hockney painted in the summer of 2013.

All in the same studio on the same chair in his studio in Los Angeles.All friends or family .Now in his 80th year Hockney simply declares:”I don’t do celebrities,photography does celebrities.My friends are my celebrities”.Always a Yorkshire lad at heart,you see.Ca va sans dire