Q. Dearest Oracle. On the South Bank Show, Chris states that he can't read music. Was he being sarcastic? Because if he wasn't then I'm gutted. He's an amazing pianist!

A few people have commented on this but it's not essential for people who write and perform music to be able to read it. He can obviously play other people's music too (for example Eric Satie) so although I can understand you being surprised, not sure why you would feel gutted. My Gran could hear any piece of music and immediately play it on the piano and she couldn't read music and never had a lesson in her life; some people are just naturally talented... sadly I didn't inherit that from her!