Three Feet from the Piano

Three feet from a grand piano is an unexpectedly physical place to be.

And that’s what you get at 1901 Arts Club if you arrive early enough to bag a front-row seat. From there, I could watch the hammers strike, feel the thud of the pedals and see the tension travel from the pianist’s face into his hands. The music itself didn’t entirely capture me, but at that distance it almost didn’t matter. I loved watching the performance.

The room was exactly how I imagine the Victorian parlours where the well-to-do once entertained, and for a while I was transported to one of those salon afternoons.

The first-floor bar didn’t disappoint either. Beautifully styled in early 20th-century fashion, it has the feel of a private club: small, eccentric, intimate and slightly hidden.

But what I loved most was the audience. Among perhaps forty people were young music students, after-work couples, artists, tourists and a small group of older regulars. Different generations, different worlds, all squeezed into one tiny room for a piano recital.